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    A Necessary Fantasy (A Short Story)
    A Necessary Fantasy (A Short Story)
    A Necessary Fantasy (A Short Story)
    Ebook44 pages35 minutes

    A Necessary Fantasy (A Short Story)

    By Rachelle Taylor

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    About this ebook

    When she was eighteen years old, Rebecca Castille moved to California. A year later, she became Honey Halliwell, an adult film actress. Now, after a short but productive career in the porn industry, Honey wants to go legit. But her Hollywood dream soon becomes her own personal hell, and she learns that her present may be darker than her past.

    This short story contains some mature subject matter and is approximately 9,000 words.

    Excerpt:

    Avery King puffed on his cigarette, leaning back on the wooden fence rail. A beautiful image, but a deliberate one. His every movement seemed calculated to make for a publicity photo. Even when filming had wrapped for the day, he positioned himself as if waiting for a camera to find him. Annette couldn’t decide if he did this out of arrogance or submission.

    “I’m sorry.” It was the only response she could muster. They had been on set for over a month and she still felt nervous around him. Word that Avery King would probably be nominated for an Academy Award for his last role only worsened her condition. I know I’m falling apart , she wanted to say. I promise I wasn’t like this before.

    Before what? Before she traded in Honey Halliwell? Or maybe farther back than that — before she’d left Richie’s lonely apartment for Les, before she’d left their praying mother for California. But what was she like before? Was there truly a difference between Honey Halliwell and Annette Castille? They both got to scream. What was she before California? Stasis. Waiting. Transitioning. I really wasn’t like this before.

    The pills rattled in her hand when she took them down from the cabinet each morning.

    “How long have you done this?” he asked. He looked directly at her. There was nowhere to hide.

    How long had she done this? Honey Halliwell had acted, if her performances could be called such, for five years. Annette Castille’s resume spanned seven years’ worth of unimportant roles with increasing speaking parts. The director and casting agent of this picture had chosen her specifically, despite her twelve-year film career, for being an “unknown.”

    “You don’t talk much, do you?” It wasn’t really a question. Avery King felt for his pack of cigarettes and found it empty. “Shit.”

    “I don’t…know what to say.”

    “Yeah. I hear you.”

    “This is my biggest part.”

    “I know.”

    “I wasn’t like this before.”

    “I hear you.”

    Avery King had dominated the indie scene for the past three years. Some fans rejected his recent move to a starring role in a mainstream piece, writing blogs and forum posts on the internet indicting him for selling out. They would see the new movie when it came out, some said, but they wouldn’t enjoy it.

    “I don’t mean you when I say that,” Avery King amended. “You’re not…”

    “An actor?”

    “That’s not what I meant.” He didn’t say what did mean, nor did she ask. “I just. Most of these people. You know.”

    I don’t understand. Had she said that out loud? It was true, regardless.

    “I liked that one thing you were in.” King gesticulated wildly with his fingers as if trying to force an answer from the air in front of him. “A couple of things, really. I’ve seen you before.”

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRachelle Taylor
    Release dateJan 29, 2013
    ISBN9781497700130
    A Necessary Fantasy (A Short Story)
    Author

    Rachelle Taylor

    Rachelle Taylor is a native of the Appalachian region of Virginia who currently lives in the UK. Her work has appeared in several journals, including The Blotter, Neon, Printer's Devil Review, The Subtopian Magazine, Conte, and Danse Macabre. She's an avid fan of Flannery O'Connor, gothic fiction, comic books, turtles and tortoises, and Old Hollywood. She changes her hair often and is currently developing a funny accent.

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      Book preview

      A Necessary Fantasy (A Short Story) - Rachelle Taylor

      A Necessary Fantasy (A Short Story)

      by Rachelle Taylor

      Published by Rachelle Taylor, 2013.

      Also by Rachelle Taylor

      Standalone

      Mercy (A Southern Gothic Short Story)

      The Painter, She Smiles Like Sunbeams (A Short Story)

      Nazareth (A Dystopian Short Story)

      Hole (A Gothic Horror Short Story)

      A Necessary Fantasy (A Short Story)

      Watch for more at Rachelle Taylor’s site.

      A NECESSARY FANTASY

      Honey Halliwell left the adult film industry just after her twenty-fourth birthday. A few friends, all members of the industry themselves, gathered on the set of Sapphic Sisters 3 on what was to be the final day of filming to surprise her with a cake and some flowers. Her costar for the trilogy, Tina Schultz (who worked under the name Tina St. Cyr) brought her several small gifts — framed pictures, a simple pendant, the kinds of presents young women gave their college roommates. A teddy bear from the most frequent male partner of her short career smiled up at her from beside the cake. As she lifted it to her face, she felt Sisters' director, Erik Simmons, place a firm hand on her shoulder, and against her best efforts to appear dignified and collected, her eyes begin to water.

      Everyone's going to miss you, Honey, Simmons said, and the small party lifted their cheap champagne flutes to her. You've done some great work. Great work.

      The toast concluded in laughter and the awkward clapping of hands hindered by the drinks they held. Honey Halliwell wasn't a shy woman — her career largely prevented that — but she had to hide a blush at all this personal attention. She had hoped her final day on set wouldn't be too emotional.

      Women came and went very quickly in this field, with only a scarce few making enough of an impression to achieve celebrity status among their viewers. She herself had seen many of them walk off the set, never to return. They faded into anonymity, returning to their old names and removing their false fingernails and eyelashes. They denied their past in the industry. They tried to live pure and inconspicuous lives and prayed to God they would never be recognized. And because they feared recognition, they perceived it everywhere, in the eyes of strangers and new friends alike. You're the girl from the videos. You're the girl from the movies at the back of the store. You're the girl I don't tell my wife about.

      It was worse coming from women. Their eyes tended to communicate only monosyllables — Whore. Slut .— or the universal sentence used to punish women for centuries — You deserve everything that happens to you.

      Departures from the industry weren't usually this ceremonious, even for participants who had been there longer than Honey. She blamed the surprise party on her sociability and pride in her work.

      The second round of champagne inspired

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