#23: Masquerade
Title: Everyday Masquerade
Word Count: 552
Rating: PG
Fandom or Original: Original
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/etc): none
Summary: Brandon gets his dream job, but it's harder than he expects.
Brandon wasn't sure when he changed his mind.
His parents never took vacations, they were both workaholics who had an aversion to spending money. Their idea of summer vacation was sending him to day camp and sending him to the pool after hours. They took him camping once a year faithfully, to the same tired campground that wasn't really in the woods or on a lake or anything special. It was on the edge of a large field, 50 miles from nowhere.
His grandparents visited once or twice a year, but when they moved to Florida, it became harder for them to make the trip. So his parents shipped him down there for a week during winter vacation the year he turned eight. Brandon thought he'd be bored in their condo. Their pool was closed. There were old people all around.
But his grandparents surprised him with tickets to the world famous theme park only two hours away. And for one magical week, they did nothing but ride the rides and explore the perfect theme park. How could he ever forget the little moments? Eating sticky chicken wings on the sidewalk. Waiting 90 minutes to ride a flying monkey and doing it again just because he wanted to. Meeting his hero, the friendly mascot character named Leo the Lion.
So when Brandon was a college freshman and heard about the internship at the theme park, he didn't hesitate. He applied and after a long, complicated process, he got his dream job.
The moment Brandon put on that costume, he was changed. He became the character, the huge stuffed lion that came to life every night. At first, he loved every moment. Hugging the excited little kids, trying to comfort any kid that was scared or upset.
He didn't even realize it at first. The lion head was hot and tight after wearing it for hours on end. The kids were whiny and they demanded all of his patience. Slowly, the daily masquerade grew weary. He couldn't wait until the semester was over.
He started looking at the kids, trying to get some inspiration. There were a lot of kids who came to the theme park on those programs that gave dying kids one last wish. Most of them had no affect on Brandon. A lot of them were having such a good time that they almost didn't seem like they were dying. Brandon supposed that was the point of the program, after all.
One day, a small, unremarkable boy approached him. He was wearing a Leo the Lion mask, like a lot of kids did. Brandon leaned down to kid's eye level to say hi and say one of his canned lines. Brandon's eyes were almost glazed over, wondering how long it was until his next break. Suddenly, Brandon saw the scars around the boy's eyes, stretching out past the edges of the mask. The boy's whole face must have been marked. Yet he was smiling, feeling completely normal for once, behind that mask.
"I'm gonna be Leo the Lion one day," the boy said. "I'm gonna work here one day too." Somehow, he realized that Brandon was somewhere in there, behind his own mask.
It was hard work, but from that day on, Brandon had tremendous pride in his everyday masquerade.
Word Count: 552
Rating: PG
Fandom or Original: Original
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/etc): none
Summary: Brandon gets his dream job, but it's harder than he expects.
Brandon wasn't sure when he changed his mind.
His parents never took vacations, they were both workaholics who had an aversion to spending money. Their idea of summer vacation was sending him to day camp and sending him to the pool after hours. They took him camping once a year faithfully, to the same tired campground that wasn't really in the woods or on a lake or anything special. It was on the edge of a large field, 50 miles from nowhere.
His grandparents visited once or twice a year, but when they moved to Florida, it became harder for them to make the trip. So his parents shipped him down there for a week during winter vacation the year he turned eight. Brandon thought he'd be bored in their condo. Their pool was closed. There were old people all around.
But his grandparents surprised him with tickets to the world famous theme park only two hours away. And for one magical week, they did nothing but ride the rides and explore the perfect theme park. How could he ever forget the little moments? Eating sticky chicken wings on the sidewalk. Waiting 90 minutes to ride a flying monkey and doing it again just because he wanted to. Meeting his hero, the friendly mascot character named Leo the Lion.
So when Brandon was a college freshman and heard about the internship at the theme park, he didn't hesitate. He applied and after a long, complicated process, he got his dream job.
The moment Brandon put on that costume, he was changed. He became the character, the huge stuffed lion that came to life every night. At first, he loved every moment. Hugging the excited little kids, trying to comfort any kid that was scared or upset.
He didn't even realize it at first. The lion head was hot and tight after wearing it for hours on end. The kids were whiny and they demanded all of his patience. Slowly, the daily masquerade grew weary. He couldn't wait until the semester was over.
He started looking at the kids, trying to get some inspiration. There were a lot of kids who came to the theme park on those programs that gave dying kids one last wish. Most of them had no affect on Brandon. A lot of them were having such a good time that they almost didn't seem like they were dying. Brandon supposed that was the point of the program, after all.
One day, a small, unremarkable boy approached him. He was wearing a Leo the Lion mask, like a lot of kids did. Brandon leaned down to kid's eye level to say hi and say one of his canned lines. Brandon's eyes were almost glazed over, wondering how long it was until his next break. Suddenly, Brandon saw the scars around the boy's eyes, stretching out past the edges of the mask. The boy's whole face must have been marked. Yet he was smiling, feeling completely normal for once, behind that mask.
"I'm gonna be Leo the Lion one day," the boy said. "I'm gonna work here one day too." Somehow, he realized that Brandon was somewhere in there, behind his own mask.
It was hard work, but from that day on, Brandon had tremendous pride in his everyday masquerade.