Abigail peeked through the curtain, disdainfully sizing up the 10,000 professional scarers seated throughout the auditorium. They looked the part, more or less. But Abigail was already picking out minor flaws just from the way they were sitting. Most of it was pure speculation, of course, but Abigail had no reason to believe she was wrong.
She was already prepared to deliver the speech, of course. She had it perfectly memorized, and found no uneasiness in herself at all. It was like speaking to students. She arched her back a minute more, feeling extremely confident.
Some shouts alerted her to some commotion by the backstage entrance. From her position, however, she could not see the source. Infuriated, Abigail began to scramble forward, a very eloquent lecture forming in her mind.
Upon seeing the intruder, however, it died on her lips. Her legs screeched to a dead halt.
"Abigail!" the snake monster exclaimed, slithering over to her. She smiled at Abigail's astonished face, keeping her hands tightly gripped behind her back for some reason.
"Miss Flint?" Abigail managed to sputter, cursing the sudden fluttering in her stomach. She hurriedly corrected herself. They were on a first-name basis, after all. "Uh– Bonnie. What are you doing here?"
"Well, I heard you were going to be here," Bonnie explained, flushing slightly. "Giving a big speech and all. So I, uh, wanted to give you this." From behind her back she flourished a bouquet of Venus flytraps.
Abigail took them in her hands, poking one of them with her long claw and marveling in the way it snapped at her. "They're beautiful," Abigail gushed, losing her cold demeanor for a moment. "Thank you, Bonnie."
"You're welcome."
"But how did you get past the guards?" The International Scaring Conference was the biggest event for a very respected profession, so naturally the guards posted outside the stage were some of the most frightening security guards Monstropolis could provide.
It pleasantly surprised Abigail to hear Bonnie admit humbly, "I scared them off."
Abigail smiled fondly at her and brushed her cheek with the back of a clawtip. "That's my girl."
"And now to deliver the keynote address, please welcome the current holder of the all-time scare record, Miss Abigail Hardscrabble!"
Abigail almost didn't want to go out there. She looked at Bonnie, who seemed to understand. "I'll be here when you get back," she reassured, leading Abigail onto the stage. Bonnie had also plucked the bouquet from her hands and placed them on a nearby table, much to Abigail's dismay.
Bonnie's guiding hand disappeared as Abigail was forced to continue onto the stage without her. Quickly regaining her professional persona, Abigail straightened her back and strode up to the stand.
"Scariness," she began, when Bonnie's sunset-colored form caught her eye off-stage. The snake monster gave her a reassuring thumbs-up and a grin. "is the...true measure of a monster," Abigail tapered off lamely, reluctantly shifting her gaze from Bonnie to the crowd.
Of course it was. And Bonnie Flint, underneath her encouraging gestures and cute smiles, was truly a great monster.
One worthy of her attention.