Confessions of a Theme Park Princess, Chapter 1
Get to know Maddie!
This new serial novel will have the first three chapters free for all subscribers. Chapters after that will be for paid subscriptions. You can also read it on Ream or Kindle Vella!
And if you want to know more about America the Beautiful theme park, visit atblifestyler.com
Chapter One
“And what are the three character attributes of Princess Swan?”
The class knew the answer. “Loves children, loves animals, loves the sea!”
“Very good. And what are the three character attributes of Princess Catrina?”
“Loves children, loves animals, loves the forest!”
“Excellent. And finally, what are the three character attributes of Glenna the Good Fairy?”
“Loves children, loves animals, loves dewdrops on flowers!”
“That’s right.”
Maddie couldn’t hold back her smile as she joined the little class in answering their instructor. As simple as the questions seemed, they were the realization of a lifelong dream.
Maddie was finally a princess.
Well—a princess in training. She had several more weeks to go before she was allowed to wander the paths of Fairytale Courtyard, or visit fans at their dining tables during Mother Goose’s Magical Fairytale Breakfast. And if she ever got to join the America: Still Dreaming! stage show alongside the Patriot Pals during the big Mother Goose number, well, that would just be the cherry on top of the cherry on top of the cherry.
But Maddie wasn’t holding her breath for that one. For now, it was enough to look at the slides on the instructor’s PowerPoint presentation, memorize the character attributes and back-stories of the princesses and fairies who inhabited Fairytale Courtyard, and dream of the day, coming so soon now, when she would first slip into the satin and lace of her gown.
The instructor, a tiny woman named Blake who had been part of the character group at America the Beautiful Theme Park since the 1980s, clicked to the next slide and looked mildly surprised when it read out BREAK TIME!
“Looks like it’s time for a fifteen-minute break,” she said, as if she hadn’t been teaching this class, off these same slides, for the past ten years. “Be back at twenty past the hour, please.”
Maddie joined the others pushing back their chairs. She took one more look around the brightly painted classroom before following her dozen classmates into the bright Georgia sunshine. The low-slung brick building behind them housed the classrooms where America the Beautiful Patriots, as the theme park employees were known, learned to check in hotel guests and check out souvenir-buyers, to build the proper pizza in The Big Apple and to load the “Jeeps” in The Forgotten Forests. A class of Old Dodge City Patriots was just letting out for break as well, the women in floor-length skirts and ruffled blouses, and the men in brown trousers and vests over buttoned-up shirts.
Her heart beat a little faster just looking at them.
Maddie adored America the Beautiful. Adored it—almost not strong enough a term, for the way this theme park made her feel. She’d been visiting with her family since she was three years old, and now, nineteen years later, she was finally a full-time AtB Patriot.
And on her way to being a princess!
She couldn’t believe her luck, even if this wasn’t exactly what she’d studied for. A degree in Business Management didn’t usually lead to lace and satin gowns, or a rhinestone tiara glittering atop a sunny golden wig. But a theme park was a business, and someday she might want to hang up her scepter, sit behind a desk, and manage it, right?
But not yet. Not for many years yet. Maddie knew her heart was out in the park, not in the business complex behind it. She belonged out here, spreading the wonder and joy of America the Beautiful.
She sniffed and wiped away a tear, hoping no one could see how emotional she was. Maddie had cried over nearly every initiation into AtB’s backstage lore. From the final interview when they offered her a position, to the orientation class every new Patriot took, to the moment she received her name-tag—something she’d only wear when she was behind the scenes and not in princess regalia, of course—Maddie lapped up the pageantry and tradition that AtB’s management was famous for.
She was part of it! She was really part of the wonder!
“Granola bar?”
“Hmm?” Maddie wiped away another tear and turned. A pretty girl with a pointed chin and wide blue eyes held out a granola bar.
“The machine gave me two,” the girl explained. “You can have it—unless of course you’re not eating carbs.”
“No, I’m eating carbs.” Maddie managed a watery smile. “Thank you, I’d love it.”
“I love carbs,” the girl said, unwrapping her granola bar. “If it came down to playing Glenna or eating bread, I’m afraid I’d choose the bread.”
“Not me,” Maddie confessed. “I’m too excited to be a character. So, you got Glenna? I can see the resemblance.”
“Yeah, I’ve been called Glenna my entire life, for better or for worse,” the girl agreed with a shrug. “The hilarious part is that here, I’ll be so pancaked in makeup and under a wig that it won’t even matter how much I actually look like a fairy.”
Maddie laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. It was true; they’d be buried under makeup and wigs out there in the park. “Your chin, though,” Maddie said after she’d swallowed. “And your eyes. They’re perfect for Glenna.”
“Yeah.” The girl patted her chin with satisfaction. “I’m Sierra, by the way.”
“Maddie.” She held out her hand. “It’s really nice to meet you. I was a little afraid…” she hesitated, almost embarrassed to share, but Sierra seemed cool. Someone she could be friends with. “I was a little afraid everyone in this class would be, you know, stuck up. Because of being chosen to be princesses.”
“Well, I’m a fairy,” Sierra reminded her, grinning. “But yeah, so far everyone seems cool. I’m a transfer from Retail and I heard that Characters can be tough. But I’m not seeing it.”
“Oh, you’re from Retail? So you’ve been working at the park already?” Maddie was full of questions.
But before she could get to them, a cool voice interrupted the buzz of Patriots on break. “Oh look, the freshmen are here.”
Maddie and Sierra looked up the path and saw two willowy women sashaying towards them. They should have looked dowdy in their gray sweatpants and t-shirts, but the bar-codes on the hems gave them a kind of Patriot street cred. It meant they were Characters between shifts in the park.
“I wonder who they play,” Maddie whispered.
Sierra just shook her head.
The two women paused by the group of princess hopefuls and looked them over. “Well, Tasha, here we go,” one said.
“Another class to break in, Melissa,” Tasha replied, rolling her eyes.
“Are you guys ready for your next lesson?” Melissa asked, folding her arms across her chest.
Sierra and Maddie exchanged nervous glances.
Maddie had the weirdest feeling that they were about to get beaten up.
But this wasn’t grade school.
Right?
“Melissa,” Tasha said, “they didn’t answer.”
“No,” Melissa agreed. “I didn’t hear anyone answer us. I said, ‘Are you guys ready for your next lesson?’ and no one—”
“Yes!” one of the girls squeaked.
Maddie didn’t dare look to see who it was. They were in for it now.
Tasha and Melissa looked around the group, smirking. And then, they unfolded their arms and spread them wide, a gesture of welcome which seemed in blunt contrast to the thuggish attitude they’d walked over with. Melissa exclaimed, in a voice so sweet it seemed dunked in honey and rolled in sprinkles, “Well, then, let’s get started! We’re here to get you started on your perfect princess voices! See you in the classroom!”
“Oh my god,” Maddie whispered. “Did they just do that to show us the difference in a stage voice?”
Sierra laughed nervously. “I hope they don’t punch us to show us the difference in a stage presence.”
The class was filing back into the classroom, anxious to be on time even though they had several minutes left in their break. Feeling just a little more anxious than she had before, Maddie followed, Sierra close on her heels.
Princess training was getting intense fast.
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I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!
Image: church-of-the-king/unsplash