246 — From The Beautiful People, Admissions Dept.

It was finally coming, the long-awaited response from my application to The Beautiful People.

It's a high bar, but if accepted, becoming one of The Beautiful People is my ticket to media darling-ship (darlings-hip), clickbait, and the new raison d'être, influencing. Likes and reposts. I'd matter.

I watched through the window for the mailman, like every day. He wasn't one of the Beautiful People, but that's OK; not everyone can be.

I saw Miriam, a nurse at our local hospital, walking her dog. The dog, she had told me, was a rescue. That's so sweet, but I thought that interesting because her two children had been adopted by her and her husband, a special-ed teacher. Neither of them, by the way, are considered to be the Beautiful People, but they seem happy enough.

I watched for the mailman.

I dreamed of life as one of the Beautiful People. No more waiting in line at the club. No need for reservations. Free upgrades everywhere. And best of all, rubbing elbows with rest of the Beautiful People. It'd be a dream come true. Where's that mailman? He's late. Not one of the Beautiful People, indeed! No wonder!

I see Bruce driving past in an EMS van. He waves; I wave back. For now. When I'm one of the Beautiful People I'll have to reassign my social interactions more appropriately. All first responders will respond to me!

Finally, I saw the mail scooter and mailman. I said a little prayer, but soon I won't have to pray to anyone.

He got closer. He looked right at me. He stopped! Just far enough away. What was he doing? What was he up to?

"Hey!" I hollered. He looked up and regarded me with a wry smile. He restarted his vehicle and crawled toward me. "Can you go any slower?" I shouted. Was he laughing at me? Me? "You won't be, you little pissant!"

"Mail," he announced. One lone envelope. I checked the sender—it was the one! The one that counted.

"It's about time!" I seethed. "No wonder you're not one of the Beautiful People." That's when I noticed the envelope was unsealed.

"Neither are you," he said, then drove off.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

For Monday, September 2, Day 246 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Accompaniment photos were AI-generated but the beautiful people were not. (We know who we are.)

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THIS CHALLENGE BEGS ON, 366 BEGGARS AT A TIME.

There are currently three surviving, living, breathing, breathy, warm-blooded Vocal beauties still asking for attention and "likes" in the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. Schäfer, (Influencer)

• Rachel Deeming (Fluencer)

• Gerard DiLeo (Irreverencer)