Fiona on Fire | ONC 2023

01. humble beginnings

about | on an impulse, I want to enter the Open Novella Contest again, but this time with the goal of finishing it on time above all else. probably a terrible idea, as I seem to be in my hardest semester of college yet, and I've got other stories to finish...but I'm trying it anyway! It'll be about a girl who throws herself into trying to achieve her wildest dream.

PROMPT: Flip the coin and make a life choice with it. Two choices, one coin, and no turning back. Do you dare?

Fiona held a coin in her hand.

She was tired of indecisiveness. Heads and she'd drop everything and go to Hollywood. Tails and she'd give up her pipe dream, stay in Ohio, and get a sensible job.

No more wavering, no more procrastinating the decision. Do or don't.

She flipped the quarter with the edge of her thumb and squeezed her eyes shut tight. No do-overs, she swore to herself. Whatever the coin told her was her final decision.

It clattered to the ground. Her eyelids snapped open to meet the profile of George Washington's face. Heads. It was done.

Her heart fluttered with excitement. Then her stomach dropped with dread. She was going to do this. She'd committed. She would book a flight today as a start. The hardest part was how to break the news to her parents.

***

"California?" her father repeated incredulously. "Why?"

"Do you think they let anyone who shows up in Hollywood be an actor?" her mother muttered, arms crossed.

"And how will you even pay rent? It's a very expensive place to live, you know."

"Right. Don't they have enough for you here? Don't you want to be around us—?"

Pressure was building in Fiona. She held it in, listening to them as long as she could, until it burst out. "The only way I'll know if I can make it is if I try. I just want to try. The whole industry is out there, basically—"

Her mother sputtered. "Not true! They film all the time in Toronto and New York—"

"Stop! I'm going. I've already booked the flight."

"And let me guess, you have no idea where you'll stay, no plans for how to make money between auditions or whatever—"

"I'm staying with Cody's friend Erin."

"You barely know her. Hell, your brother barely knew her!"

"There's a lot of crime out there. A lot of unfavorable types—"

"That's offensive, mom."

There was silence for a minute, the clock ticking on the kitchen wall. It felt suddenly suffocating, being surrounded by these old walls she'd grown up in. She was tired of kicking around on the same piece of ground in her hometown. She wanted to dive headfirst into something new—all unfamiliar places and faces.

Even standing right there, in front of the biggest opposition to her decision she would face, her resolve only strengthened.

"You're really going?" Her father asked. His eyes were watery. It was sinking in.

"Yes, I am," she said confidently, playing with the quarter in her pocket. Her lucky quarter.

Her father stood and held his arms out. She smiled sadly and stepped forward, leaning into him as he squeezed his arms around her—tight enough to force the air from her lungs. "My baby's going to Hollywood."

Fiona felt her mother's hand on her shoulder, a rare display of affection from her. The tears were rolling freely down all of their faces now.

***

She packed her bags light in another attempt to shed the past, as if it were a heavy weight holding her down. She grabbed her toothbrush, a few outfit changes, her makeup bag. She knew she'd need to look her best for every audition she could get.

Fiona petted the family dog, a bloodhound named Rudy, one last time before she stood in the doorway, halfway in and halfway out. The summer breeze caressed her skin, drawing her outward. Her parents couldn't bear to say goodbye again, but they waved from the window as she headed for the bus stop.

She'd ride to Columbus, catch her flight, and, within eight hours, arrive in Los Angeles. Her life would never be the same.