A Gift of Words

[IronHeart]

“I know it is a little late, but happy birthday all the same.”

She narrowed her eyes as if trying to discern a slight of something in front of her. With a purse of her lips, she finished the look of a face ready to discern the truth of the matter before her. It was all for show, for fun, to see what interesting turn the conversation may take. “Soooo, you spent all this time to get me a really good present, right?” With a raising of an eyebrow and the twisting of the corners of her mouth into a mischievous grin, she knew all she had to do was wait and see what interesting turn this would take.

Without missing a beat, he exclaimed, “Of course! I’ve got it right here with me. It’s just the thing you’ve been waiting for.”

She looked him up and down, this time her face turning quizzical on its own volition. He was clearly not carrying a single thing. This was not the interesting turn she hoped for, an offer to take her out for lunch would have been nice. But this was clearly nothing. Perhaps he was trying a joke on her?

“If you are the present, as flattered as I am that you’d offer yourself to me, I cannot accept such a gift. I don’t know how you’d top this present for the next belated birthday, you’d have to really…outdo yourself.”

She cracked a grin and giggled a little at her own joke while he nodded and smiled in a knowing way.

“Yes, yes…I do see how you could think that was my offering for your most esteemed birthday. I am sad to say, that although my presence is considered a present enough by some, that is not what I had intended to give you. Indeed, I come empty-handed! What I have prepared for you is something…a little more thoughtful.”

Her eyes lit up, the conversation taking a turn that seemed genuine. “Oh! Now, this is interesting. Are you going to make me guess?”

He put his finger to his chin in thought and looked away to the ceiling for a moment before turning his eyes back to meet hers. “Why not! I’ll give you a hint. Get out your pen and some paper.”

She dashed to get the items with a spring of enthusiasm. “Okay, now what? Do you want me to write this hint down?”

He looked at her with a serious expression and said without pretense, “That is it, that is your hint.”

She was confused. How on earth was this a hint? She needed a hint for her hint. “What? What is this? I don’t know what to write!”

“Yes, that is exactly it.”

With a slight pout, she shook her head side to side slightly as she said, “I’m really not following you here.”

“You don’t know what to write…what combination of two words describes that condition?”

After a moment of thought, a light went off. “Writer’s block!”

He threw his arms up in the air and shouted, “Bingo! We’ve got a winner! Let’s see the prize!”

Caught up in his excitement she let out her own cheer. “Yay! So, uh, what is the prize? Some kind of writer’s draino? Unblocks even the most blocked up writer?”

He laughed and carried on her joke. “Extra strength for even the most stubborn writer’s blockage”

Still trying to figure out exactly what he meant, she inquired, “Okay, so, how?”

He said matter of factly, “It’s easy! Just write!”

Yeah, as if it was that simple. Was this all just a joke after all? A hint of dejection crept into her words as she said, “I have nothing to write.”

Unexpectedly, he became stern. “That’s just an excuse, a deflection. Think differently.” He paused a moment, and there was silence. There wasn’t much she could say against that, especially when it was said with that kind of tone. She didn’t want to argue, but she still was left wondering “how?”

Almost as if answering her unvoiced thought, he carried on…this time softly and slowly with a sense of wonder. “Think of space. Look at the vast emptiness. Is there nothing there in the eons between stars? No. Even where there are no atoms, there are mysteries. There is dark energy, dark matter, quantum flux… Think of the Creator. When there was nothing, He said ‘Let there be light’…and here we are. As creators, we do the same with our words. We bring worlds into existence through writing them. We bring the worlds within us to life through the simple act of moving our pen across the page.”

As she listened to him, she noticed her shoulders loosen up. She decided she could relax. “I agree with you, but I still don’t see anything I can write about.”

He smiled wryly and replied, “Ah, but we are closer to the answer now.”

“How so?”

“Before you said, ‘I have nothing to write’ and now you say ‘I don’t see anything I can write about.’ If I made these two statements into points and drew a line between them, extending further out…what would that line eventually reach? Would it not be the thing underneath this so-called ‘I have nothing to write’? What is the difference between those two statements, extend that difference further and you’ll have reached your block.”

Sensing that there was finally some direction to this, she applied her powers of intellect to the problem. “‘I have nothing’ is a simple lack, like there is no water so I can’t drink. ‘There isn’t anything I can write’ is more of a lack of ability like there is water but I just can’t reach it.”

“Yes, very good. Extend this a little further now…”

Seemingly out of nowhere, a thought popped into her mind from underneath the surface. She simply gave it voice, “I am so insufficient for the task that lays before me.”

He took a moment and calmly nodded. “You’ve got it. Now, for the unblocker! It’s one simple question. What if that statement was not true? Trying asking that question to yourself, in your own words”

As she considered it, she felt as if the air swirled around her. “What if these words are wrong? What if they are right?” As she spoke, the sensation of the air swirling around her grew and changed, it was like she was the centre of a vortex and the whole room and world were spinning around her. She felt a power in her as she said, “What if something changes along the way? What if everything changes…what will stay the same?”

Finding a sense of peace in the middle of what seemed like a storm, she stated with purpose in her voice and bearing, “Insufficient or not, this is my task.”

He cracked a grin that seemed to have been hiding away the entire conversation, just waiting for the right moment to come out. “Indeed, and now your story can begin in earnest.”

While narrowing her eyes again like she did at the beginning of the conversation, as if trying to see what has really happened she said, “You said you put thought into this… but did you really? Or did you make it all up on the spot? C’mon, no one thinks about someone else’s writer’s block for this long.”

Without letting her see his face, he turned to leave and waved. “Happy birthday, my writer friend.”

[rupertpupkin]

Hi ironheart. Really enjoyed this one. Super neat writing and interesting throughout. Look forward to reading more of your work. Sean

[Wes Corona]

I am not blocked, just a bit short on words at the moment. You have used them all up for the present. I enjoyed the conversation. I actually think in may have been one sided, however, inside the head of the blocked one.

[IronHeart]

Hey, thanks kindly for your comments :)

I'll ponder your words in hopes that your insights will help develop my writing.

Cheers~!

[Forestdawn]

What began as a simple Happy Birthday,Drew me into the vortex of logic and thought. What a grand performance of words linked together into a tremendous gala of birthday drama. Excellent!! Bravo my friend bravo

[IronHeart]

Hey!! So good to see you. I hope you are doing well.

I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed this little piece. I'm really hoping to get back to doing some more writing soon, but I've been so busy...not much longer though now & I'll have my writers nook all finished and ready.

So, it really does help to hear your words in this season where creativity seems so far away.

a tremendous gala of birthday drama

btw, heh, I love that touch of prose there :D