Daily Flash Fiction Entries

The Great Annabelle Fontaine

Prompt:Your character meets a famous thespian and learns s/he is quite different than his/her public persona.

Winning Entry for 04/24/06

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Annabelle Fontaine is the most beautiful woman in the world, and since watching her rendition of Helena in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, I knew I was very much in love.

So one can only imagine my pleasure at being the lucky winner to go backstage to meet the enigmatic actress. Although she is famous, no one really knows about her personal life. I plan to leave her with a good impression, hoping she’d remember me from the millions of fans she gets to meet all over the world.

The show’s over and I’ve been forced to wait in the wings for Ms. Fontaine to be ready for me. But being naturally curious, I decide to steal a peek into her room before I am caught.

Holding my flowers, my heart thumping wildly in my chest, I knock gently on the door to her room and hardly waiting for her response, I all but burst in and thrust them forward like a lovesick fool.

“Ms. Fontaine!” I blubber. “I’m your biggest fan and I think you’re the most amazing act…ress?”

“Great. Busted,” says the young slender man, still dressed in a bathrobe and in the process of applying his make-up. “Don’t they teach people how to knock and wait for a response?”

“You’re a…a…a guy?!” I squeak in disbelief.

“Surprise.” He gives me a wan smile and waves his hands gently. “I know. Most fans can’t deal with the shock either. I hope this doesn’t stop you from coming to future shows. Just don’t faint on the floor, okay? It’s always a pain to drag out the bodies.”

And as I’m dragged out by security, I’m left with the indelible image of my idol in polka-dotted boxers. Oh woe! My sweet Annabelle Fontaine will never be the same for me again.



Word Count: 300