::Ratatouille, the rodent painter from “Le Purrfect Crime”, comes out on stage wearing his painter’s beret and frock. In his hands he is carrying a blank canvas and a box of painting supplies. When he reaches the podium, he finds a stand waiting to receive his canvas and sets it down on it. In a blur of brushstrokes, the French rat paints a perfect replica of the Golden Acorn trophy on a black background::

Ratatouille: Ah, c’est magnifique! A prize such as this deserves the immortal touch of the great Ratatouille…

::The artist puts away his tools, leaving the canvas next to the podium on its stand::

Ratatouille: Bon nuit and good evening. I am pleased to be among you to award the next Golden Acorn to the Best Illustration From or Inspired by a Fanfic. Ah, inspiration! Where does it come from? For many artists in this honored community, it comes from the hand of the writers. It is an excellent symmetry, with line and color translating words for the eye to see. The best of these, we honor tonight. Now, the nominees:

Best Illustration From or Inspired By a Fanfic

- The "death" scene from "The Day Dale Became Smart", Jdracous

- "A Dream for the Ages" cover, Charles Williams and Indy (aka "The Untold Ranger Tales" cover)

- Induction scene from Loneheart's "Gadget in Chains", Fish

- Foxglove confronts Winifred from Jareth's "The Return of Winifred", Jin

- "The Return of Winifred" cover, Jin

::Ratatouille opens the envelope, then turns the canvas stand away from the audience. Quickly he paints, then speaks again::

Ratatouille: And the winner is…

::Ratatouille turns the canvas around to show the names of Indy and Charles Williams::

Ratatouille: For the cover to “The Untold Ranger Tales”, the winners are…well, you know now.

::Indy walks up on stage, accepting the canvas from Ratatouille, then approaches the podium::

Indy: I contacted Charles Williams, but he never got back to me so I’ll have to accept this award for the both of us. I have to give credit first to the wonderful artist Shelley Pleger. She came up with the concept pictures of Theo Maplewood, the older Bink Chesnutt, and Eva Erskine that allowed Charles to create a group picture for us. Of course, Charles made the group picture work, and it really pleased both Chris Silva and I. Then the hard part began—well, at least to me it was—namely the coloring which took about three months.

As you can probably tell, I’m very honored to have a part in this award. I’m known more for my writing, but my artwork skills are slowly developing--still most of the credit has to go to the experts on this one. Thank you very much!

::The audience claps, and Indy heads offstage. Ratatouille has been busy passing out business cards to the people in the front row, but now the spotlight catches him and he quickly bounds back up to the stage. In a wink he removes the stand and snatches up his tools, nodding and walking toward stage left::