"Ask"

My second prompt at my write-in at Gotham was "Ask." For some reason, this is immediately where my mind went with it. And so the story goes...

"I want it to be one word. All the powerful female broads with a large gay following went about it that way."

"If you mean Cher, I'll have you know that was because of a legal dispute between her and Sonny. He wouldn't let her use his last name unless he got 20% on all sales."

"Well, what about Madonna?" she challenged.

"Madonna is a whore," he countered.

"Touche." Alecia Beth Moore let out a long, raspy sigh.

"Listen." She rolled back her shoulders and penetrated her superior's distant eyeballs. "I want my name to be one word. Life is short, I gotta lotta work to do, and shit can't get done if people are stumbling over a fact as superficial as words in a name."

"What do you suggest?" he asked.

She took in his bloodshot eyes and replied, "Pink."

"Well, 'Pink,'" he said. "The name's yours. However, if we don't want people 'stumbling over words,' then why don't we cut out the middle man altogether and REALLY make it easy for your audience."

"Meaning?" Alecia Beth Moore inquired.

"We take out letters," the manager said proudly.

"But how do I..." The girl's eyes lit up. "I got it. I'm P!nk. No eye. Only exclamation point."

And that is the tale of how Alecia Beth Moore became the artist with one name, three letters, and one huge symbol.