Faceclaim (ONC 2022, Completed, Shortlisted)

14: Wildflowers, Bobbing Braids, and Bunnies

The room was dark. Daniel couldn't be bothered to turn on the lights. He fell backward on the bed and lay motionless and distraught, awaiting the next call to action. The tiles above him taunted him. He wondered for how long he would be forced to look up at those tiles. Perhaps forever.

But what was the use of freedom? His career was over anyway. He wouldn't be able to explain his absence from the Captain Universe contract signing in a way that would make sense to anyone else. "A mad person kidnapped me to have me act out a tale of capybaras and shimmering fairies," didn't exactly sound believable. He would be the laughing stock of the celebrity world after that.

Maybe that would land him a spot on Celebrity Big Brother or another trashy reality show like that, but that wasn't exactly his preferred next career move.

In fact, he would even rather star in Outlander.

This truly was the low point of Daniel's life, that he would even consider such a demeaning part. To run around in a kilt and yell war cries. Like that was all Scotsmen did. In fact, Daniel hadn't worn a kilt since elementary school, when he was forced to for a school dance. And war cries were reserved for drunken late-night football games in the mud.

Considering what awaited him out there in the world, he could just as well stay here for the rest of his life. Doomed to forever act out the same scenes over and over. At least he would be acting. And that was all he'd ever wanted to do in life.

He drifted into dark dreams. Dreams not unlike his reality. Just walls caving in and an endless string of unintelligible scripts to read.

But then, there was light. A little girl ran before him on a Scottish moor, filled with wildflowers and rugged grass. Her red braids bobbed rhythmically against the fabric of her plaid dress. "Uncle Danny," she yelled enthusiastically and grabbed his hand. "Come look at the bunnies with me!"

They crouched in the high grass on a hill to not disturb the wild rabbits below. The bouncing little balls of fluff fascinated them both. "Just say quiet, Willa," Danny whispered to his niece. "And the bunnies won't be disturbed."

"I want to catch one..." Willa pouted a bit too loudly, scaring some of the closer bunnies.

"I think the bunnies are happier in the wild, little munchkin, with their families," Danny explained. "But we can hike here and watch them every year. Just after your birthday seems to be when they usually hang in this area."

"Ok..." Will conceded. "But only if you promise to always come home for my birthday."

He smiled and tousled his niece's braids, half-unraveled by the sprint out on the moor. "I promise, Willa," he said and hugged her close to him.

Daniel woke up with a jolt, clasping for air.

He'd promised her. He'd forgotten.

He needed to be there.

So what if his acting career was over? There was more to life. There were wildflowers, bobbing braids, and bunnies. And he needed to be there for all of it. He needed to be there for Willa's birthday.

He needed to end this madness. Even if he would have to write the ending himself.

...

He would write the ending himself!

That was his Hail Mary. He would write the ending and then act it out. It was the only option left.

Once again grabbing onto a small sliver of hope, Daniel jumped up from the bed and started to rummage through the room in search of pen and paper. Not until he'd checked a few of the drawers and the wardrobe did he look on the desk, where--just like in any regular hotel room--a notepad and pen laid.

Struck by the inspiration that the author seemed to lack, Daniel started to write. He'd acted out enough dramatic endings--some satisfactory and some not--to know what beats to hit. And he had, as previously mentioned, read Save The Cat during acting school.

He scribbled page after page of notes, figuring that considering the current state of the story he couldn't really make it any worse. He just needed to make the ending plausible and emotionally satisfactory. He needed to close the circle.

A few hours later, or maybe days--because who knew how time passed anymore?--the opus was finished. Daniel knew how the story should end. He was even kind of proud of his achievement. Perhaps he should become a screenwriter since his acting career was in the dumps anyway.

He grabbed the walkie-talkie off the nightstand and pressed the button on it. "Hey!" he yelled, hoping to wake the author if they had fallen asleep in their quest for inspiration. "Are you there?"

A few moments later, the reply came. "Daniel? I told you to rest. I'll tell you when I'm ready for you to act again."

"I want to act now," he countered, hoping that the author would listen to his plea. He didn't intend to tell them he'd finished the story--as he feared they wouldn't react well to that--but instead planned to just continue the scene after the original script ended. "Please... let me try the last scene one more time. I think I figured out a better way to perform it."

When no reply came, Daniel resorted to begging. "Please," he repeated. "Just one more time before we start over. I really think I will nail it this time. I just needed some rest to truly understand the greatness of this story."

He also wasn't above ass-licking at this point.

"Alright..." The author finally gave in. "I'll give you one more try, Daniel."