The magic was all in the finishing touches. Ashley was sure of it, just as she was sure her 4-year-old daughter, Londyn, would go home with the Ultimate Grand Supreme Beauty Queen title. After all, they’d been working on enchanting judges at dinky county fair pageants for the past two years.
Not anymore though. Now they were on to far more bigger competitions which would lead to big time fortunes. Ashley was sure of it.
“Uh, that’s not at all what I want,” Ashley spat at the pageants’ hair designer.
“Oh Londyn, I have no doubt you can rock this, you can rock anything. But it’s not at all what I wanted!” Ashley snatched a piece of the blond hair extension the stylist weaved into Londyn’s hair. “This is too floppy. It’s gotta be fixed.”
“Yes ma’am, I’m doing what I can.”
“Well you need to do better than that. We gotta be perfect!” Ashley took the Mountain Dew from Londyn’s hand and finished what was left.
“MOM!”
“Oh hush, you’ve had enough.” Ashley fished around a large pink tote bag laying atop the bed in the hotel room they were in. “Now less get your flipper in.”
With a small set of fake teeth in her right hand, Ashley pushed down on Londyn’s chin with her left.
“No Momma!”
“This is always such a bitch to get in,” Ashley mumbled, jamming the flipper into Londyn’s mouth. “Now lemme see that million dollar smile.”
Londyn grimaced, “It hurts.”
“Tough,” Ashley answered and turned her attention back to the top of her head and hair. “You need to get this higher and it better not move when she’s up there. We gotta be perfect!”
The magic was all in the finishing touches. Ashley was sure of it.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
This piece brought to you by too much Toddlers and Tiaras and the fine folks at the Yeah Write Speakeasy who've requested we use use of the following photo prompt and the first line, "The magic was all in the finishing touches."
Also brought to you by the groovy peeps at Trifecta who've requested we use the third definition of a favorite word of mine:
BITCH (noun)
1: the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals
2 a : a lewd or immoral woman
b : a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman —sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse
3: something that is extremely difficult, objectionable, or unpleasant
2 a : a lewd or immoral woman
b : a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman —sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse
3: something that is extremely difficult, objectionable, or unpleasant
Oh, boy... This is funny and sad and awful all at once. And I'm kinda shuddering...
ReplyDeleteNicely done!
Love it. I'm a total Dance Moms and Toddlers and Tiaras addict!
ReplyDeleteNightmare! Well done. (What's a flipper?)
ReplyDeletecrazily it's a friggin mouth piece of fake front teeth the little girls wear in the bigger glitzy beauty competitions so their gaps or lost teeth don't hinder their beauty!
DeleteWell executed. That awful mother made me cringe.
ReplyDeleteYikes, I have heard of those moms. Well done!
ReplyDeleteToddlers and Tiaras. Nightmarish!!! You nailed that nasty mother.
ReplyDeleteThis is so well written. Ashley sure is "hell bent and determined" isn't she?
ReplyDeleteWell written but I hate this bs! I love it how Londyn calls her Mom Ashley but still can't enunciate properly - very nice touch!
ReplyDeleteI do not like this woman. She is sick!
ReplyDeleteYikes! This is why I can't watch those shows. The can of Mountain Dew brought to mind Honey Boo Boo. Oh my gosh I could rant on about that, but I won't. Obviously you did a great job of eliciting the emotion!
ReplyDeleteThis little slice of life is so lacking in magic! Great characterizations.
ReplyDeleteI love this! Great job using both prompts - and wonderful job with developing such an unlikeable character. Very well written piece!
ReplyDeleteYou nailed this. I went to a taping of Anderson Cooper and the topic was Toddlers and Tiaras. Those little girls and their mothers were up on that stage, the little girls shaking their little booties and the moms talking about how their kids just loved what they were doing. And then there was the grown up pageant contestant who'd hated it her whole life and resented her mother for forcing her to go through it. She talked about how much the flipper hurt and how agonizing it could all be. After the show, we saw one of the girls with her mother at FAO Schwartz, dressed in play clothes and jumping around on the "Big" piano. Just being a kid. Sad things, these pageants.
ReplyDeletesad. very sad. I feel so sorry for those kids.
ReplyDeleteSad - making our little girls grow up way too fast. :(
ReplyDeletewell done - you have invoked much comment and emotion. :)
Nailed it!!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved this and loathed it at the same time, which means that you did an awesome job. You evoked some powerful emotions with this one!
Oh!what a horrid woman!Doesn't deserve to be a mom-piling her ambitions of fame & money on her little one & forcing her to suffer like this!
ReplyDeleteExceptional piece of writing by you:-)
I hate those competitions. But your piece is excellent (:
ReplyDeleteUgh. There's a petition going around to take Toddlers and Tiaras off the air. I signed it tout suite. Great piece!
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time I wanted to enter my daughter into those cutest baby contests...Then I caught a couple episodes of those kind of shows and vowed to never put her into one! The moms drive me nuts-but occasionally they make for good entertainment, especially in your short story!
ReplyDelete