A bright high school graduate from Indiana, Lori Evans had it all planned out. She’d be a big star, not like her lawyer brother and her younger sister who wanted to be something stupid like a professional ice cream taster. No, unlike them, she had a plan. She’d drop out of college, one semester seemed like plenty of time to appease the parents. Dad might be upset at first, but he’d get over it once her name started appearing in her first summer blockbuster.

The plan was simple, she’d buy a bus ticket to Hollywood, take the first day off to find a place, she’d budgeted $5000 for seed money in her career. Once there, she’d take the second day to dazzle a casting director with her wit and natural talent, and then she’d be on her way. Sure, there might be a bit part or two on some low rated show, but how could anyone deny her obvious talents? An ebony haired white tigress with a perfect smile, she couldn’t fail!

* * *

Her first day in Hollywood was not quite what she’d expected. Despite turning on the charm, most of the guards wouldn’t even let her into the studio, never mind getting in front of a casting director. They’d mentioned something about an agent, but she didn’t need anyone to announce her, they just hadn’t had time to appreciate her yet. By the time she had finished touring most of the studios (and gotten nowhere), she had only an hour or two to find an apartment.

Rather than the luxury suite at the fancy hotel in the magazine she’d brought with her, she found herself in what she would only describe as a cracker box. It had one of those Murphy beds that folded up against the wall. She had to avoid stepping on the cockroaches, and all she had to eat was a box of cereal. It was not long before the cockroaches got to that too. If they were going to eat her food, they should at least pay rent!

No, though, all this was okay. It is how she imagined one of her characters might live, perhaps when she would play a suspect on The Fur Files or something like that. This wasn’t a setback, it was character research. Yes, that was it.

* * *

Day two was much the same as day one, and by the end of the first week she had started to get desperate. She’d gotten one or two auditions, but nothing had taken. With only one audition left, for something called Iridescence, well, if she didn’t get that, she’d have no choice but to call Dad and ask him to send money or tuck her tail between her legs and go home in shame.

She showed up to the audition with two dozen others. The role was for a recurring character that apparently had some sort of super powers, she had skimmed the character description from one of the other potentials, apparently their agents had given them out. Though two of the girls had laughed at her, one had been kind enough to share the character sheet with her.

Lori had put her full range of acting skill into her audition, reading the script with grace and emotional delivery the likes of which she had not known she had. Hours later, they had chosen another girl instead and thanked all of the others for showing up. Defeated, she picked up her stuff and prepared to leave.

A tall ferret approached her with a clipboard in his paw. “Excuse me, young lady, but I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a job.”

“An acting job?” she said brightly.

“No, we have all the actors we need, you see, one of our stunt girls called in with an injury and we need someone quickly. Do you have any experience in that sort of thing?” he asked.

“No. YES!” she lied. It wasn’t an acting gig, but it was a foot paw in the door! She could get an in this way, and soon she would work her way up!

The ferret nodded in appreciation. “If you’re willing to die your hair and wear some prosthetics, then you can start tomorrow. Here.” He handed her a box.

Examination of the packaging showed it to be blue hair dye. “What’s this for?”

“The person you’ll be doing stunt work for has a unique hairstyle, and you need to emulate it. Let me introduce you, she’s just about to leave for the day.” The manner of his departure clearly suggested he intended for her to follow. Remaining two steps behind him, they approached the actress for whom she’d be doing the stunt work. She looked about the same height and build. Her memory sparked as she recalled a billboard for this show on her bus ride in to town. This must be Lauren Rivers. Wait, though. Lauren was a…

“I’d like you to meet Lauren Rivers, one of our cast members.” The ferret gestured gently towards her with a wide smile.

“Nice to meet you,” Lori said.

Lauren shook her paw with a firm motion. “Good to meet you. Who’s this?”

“She’s your new stunt girl. I gave her the hair dye and I’ll take her to costuming and props to get the hoof boots and the ear band, she’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

“Fabulous. Tomorrow will be a full day, they’re going to do the falling boulder scene tomorrow.”

Lori’s face drained of color. “What?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just run real fast and you’ll be fine.” Lauren slung her purse over her shoulder and turned away.

The ferret took her to the costuming department and got her the items she’d need to portray Lauren in the stunt shots, and then brought her to the front gate. “So, just be here tomorrow at 4 am. Bring your costume, and be ready to work.”

“4 am?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“But it’s 10 pm now.”

“Right, so get some good rest.”

Lori clutched her fake ears, hoof boots, zebra tail, and costume bundled up in her arms, frowning as she realized she was too late for the last bus and had no money for a taxi. She sighed and started to walk.

* * *

It had been a hard journey, but she had a job in Hollywood. After a few failed attempts of getting hair dye all over her fur, she’d managed to hide the blue blotches and slipped on her fake ears. The tape had helped to hold her feline ears down, and she’d gotten the costume on without much trouble. Now all that was left was the hoof boots, and she’d be ready for her first day on the set…

Note: This was kind of a quirky idea I had when I recalled a simpsons episode where they wanted a cow so they painted a horse, and when Ralph asked what do they do if they wanted something that looks like a horse, they would glue some cats together. So I thought, what is white furred with black stripes, and then the idea of Lori Evans, Lauren's stunt double, emerged. She will be mostly a comedic character, I think, and perhaps the first of her kind. :)

Art by  jackiejackal