It was a special night in Dudeland, because Foxwell Dropstar, the most famour opera singer around, was in town for a big performance. Foxwell was a born entertainer, and he was in full swing tonight, spinning those legs of his as though independent from his body, putting on a great show for the townsfolk who were having a fun-filled evening.
Nobody was having a better time than Princess Sophia, a huge fan of Foxwell Dropstar, but this didn't sit well with Sheriff George, who was in charge of security for the event and sure didn't like seeing Princess Sophia look at somebody else as her hero.
"Thank you, everyone, you've been a great audience," Foxwell called to his fans, as Sheriff George escorted him to his carriage after the event. "I have great news," he went back once again, just as Sheriff George was about to put him in the carriage, to soak up more applause. "I'm adding a new date to my near sell out tour. Tomorrow Night. For one night only. Foxwell Dropstar performs in Dudeland!" The crowd erupted with a cheer. Not since a few minutes ago had Foxwell Dropstar performed in Dudeland, and it was sure to be an exciting night.
So, the next night, they did it all over again. Foxwell spun those legs of his, Princess Sophia cheered, and Sheriff George stood idly by in case there were any problems, but only one problem presented itself, a real dilemma. Just as Foxwell was beginning his most popular number, which he'd dedicated to Princess Sophia, Sheriff George noticed that a plug had been left, well, unplugged. It was Foxwell Dropstar's mic - the sly devil was lip syncing, and must have been all along!
Sheriff George, as rarely occurs, was unsure what to do. Unmask Foxwell as a liar, and he'd be the toast of Dudeland once more, but the townsfolk would be devastated. Or, allow Foxwell Dropstar to keep up his charade, but how would he be able to live with himself?
After the show; Foxwell asked the entire town to stay for a party he had arranged for himself, and Sheriff George was beginning to think perhaps he had no place else to go.
"Ahoy hoy," Foxwell called to Sheriff George from across the room.
"Howdy. What can I do you for?" Sheriff George asked.
"Not a thing. I just wanted to thank you for the great security work you did the past couple of days friend," Foxwell said with a big smile, so as to show his perfect teeth.
Sheriff George had no idea how to respond and was a little disgusted at the sight, though he wasn't sure why.
"You'd consider us friends, right?" asked Foxwell. "You know it really means a lot to me to have friends like you. The life of a celebrity, it's a lonely place. I'm so pleased to have somebody like you. Somebody I can trust. Trust with everything. Do you catch my meaning?" Foxwell asked, staring deep in Sheriff George with his beady eyes.
"I think I do," Sheriff George said, not really sure, but desperate to put a stop to this painful exchange.
"Good, then you won't have any trouble not revealing my secret?" Foxwell said happily, finally breaking his eye contact with Sheriff George.
"How did you know that I know?" asked Sheriff George, truly perplexed.
"I guess you could ask how did you know, that I know you know?" quizzed Foxwell, clearly proud of himself.
"Well, you just told me," replied Sheriff George. "That's how I know"
"Potato Potato," Foxwell shrugged. "Anywho Sheriff, I'm gla we had this little chat. I hope you'll keep our little secret, under your hat." said Foxwell, contorting his stiff face with difficulty into a wink, leaving Sheriff George more unsure whether to reveal his big secret to the rest of Dudeland.
"Were you talking to Foxwell?" Princess Sophia asked excitedly as she came running over to Sheriff George. "He's so dreamy. I wish I could get a chance to talk to him."
"You didn't talk to him when you invited him to come perform here?" Sheriff George asked, a little puzzled.
"I thought you asked him to perform," Princess Sophia replied. The two exhanged looks, and their dual gaze settled on Foxwell Dropstar himself as he struggled to open a bottle of champage with his hairy paws, and climbed onto a podium.
"I think you will all be very excited to hear, that I am adding another date to my succesful tour. Tomorrow night I will be back here performing for all my fans in Dudeland, one more time!" The crowd erupted with a cheer, though noticeable less escited than the night before. The entire town was sleepy, and really just wanted some shut-eye. Sheriff George in particular was shocked, he needed to get back to work. He'd neglected his duties as Sheriff for the past week to head security, ever since Foxwell showed up days early, citing a need for prolonged preperation time. Who knows what depraved things could have been going on with him away distracted. It was at this moment he made a decision.
"Give it a rest Foxwell," Sheriff George called out, making his way to the podium. "Your act is grown about as tired as this town."
"Ah Sheriff George, come for an autograph?" Foxwell pulled a pen out from his pocket and began unsteadily scrawling on a lifesize poster of himself. "To Sheriff George, my biggest fan. Never give up on your dreams. You'll get there in the end. You old pal Foxy." The handwriting was illegible, but Sheriff George accepted it so as not to hurt his feelings more than he was about to with the next crushing blow.
"Admit it Foxwell. Tell everybody the truth. They deserve to know what you are," Foxwell Dropstar looked worried, about to be revealed as a fraud, and he knew it.
"Good Sheriff, how about a picture first?" he said, pulling Sheriff George by the neck in fron of a photographer. "One for the morning papers, and make sure it gets on the front page," Foxwell ordered the photographer, attempting a double whammy of toothy grin and painful wink, making all the ladies swoon, giddy with delight.
"Admit that you're a fraud, now," Sheriff George demanded. "You've misled everybody in my town, and heck I don't like anybody being misled. Them's grounds for capital punishment...You'll have to apologise."
Foxwell pulled nervously at his collar, unintentionally ripping it with his buffed claws as he looked at the faces of his many, many...many fans. Foxwell's lip began to quiver uncontrollably, and he fought to keep back the tears, making it look like his face was unfortunately swallowing itself.
"Sheriff George is right. I'm a fraud. I've deceived you all, and for that I'm sorry. The truth is. I'm not a human at all," he burst out, and the crowd gasped.
"Woah, woah, slow down there, that's not what I meant," Sheriff George tried to intervene, but it was too late, and Foxwell was in full flow now.
"I have undergone many, many, many hundreds of hours of surgery, to make myself more human. This fur, these claws, I just wanted to be rid of them. I just wanted to fit in. These legs. These incredibly gifted legs. They aren't truly mine. Surgery bought me these. And yes, the surgery worked even better than I expected. I could have gone on fooling you all for ever, but in the end I'd only be fooling myself. I'm ashamed."
For a moment there was silence, but slowly the murmuring started, things turned a little ugly, and the townsfolk turned their backs on the fox that had brought them so much joy in the last two nights. Even Princess Sophia, stunned as she was by the news, couldn't bear to look at Foxwell. The floodgates opened and that fox began to weep.
"I didn't mean..." Sheriff George started up, but stopped himself, looking first at the shocked and dismayed face of Princess Sophia, then at the departing former Foxwell Dropstar fans, and then the devastated fox beside him who'd suffered enough for one night. What purpose would it serve to reveal another of Foxwell's secrets?
"Now there's your front page," the journalist said, getting a snap of Foxwell, who couldn't do a thing, but howl in despair.
"Listen Foxwell, if your fans are true, then they'll accept you for who you are...whatever you are," Sheriff George reluctantly comforted, looking up and down the hairy pawed, buffed clawed, stiff faced, straight teethed thing standing in front of him.
"Maybe you're right," Foxwell said, looking up, his hair matted around what can only be described as a unique face. "Thank you. Perhaps now I can be honest with myself, as well as my fans."
And Foxwell Dropstar picked himself up, and with his legs slowly spinning behind him, walked away. That fox had regrets, that was plain to see. Mostly regrets about all the surgery he'd paid for, and Sheriff George couldn't help feeling he'd given Foxwell a bad case of buyer's remorse. There an't no feeling worse than that, and it just ate Sheriff George up inside.
It seemed unlikely the world would ever see Foxwell Dropstar again. Until the next day, when 'FOX, well?!' was the headline plastered all over the morning papers.
Apparantely Foxwell Dropstar had been one busy fox since his revelation, taking part in a tell all interview to reveal the disturbing facts of his true story, getting his career back on track, and better than ever in just one night. "Isn't Foxwell so brave," Princess Sophia said in passing, forgetting her feelings of horror from the previous night, as she read the interview over again. "You've got to admire him."
"You sure do," thought Sheriff George, and for once the thought of Foxwell Dropstar didn't make him sick to his stomach.
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