A Parallel Ending

The air was crisp and the path they walked down was laced with trees whose leaves melted into a caramel orange color. Allie stole a glance at him any chance she got. Carl tried not to stare at her, or his face would grow red. It was just nice for them to be together, silently grazing through the beautiful scenery.

This was good start.

Carl finally opened his mouth to say something. A joke, perhaps. Allie laughed, so it must have been a joke. Then she nudged him, giving him some witty banter. His mouth mimicked a “Hey!” before chasing her around a tree. She giggled while dashing up and down the path, with Carl close behind.

Ah, romance. It makes a person so childish at times. So… stupid. But this was the story. And I was committed to making it the best it could be.

I took a sip of my hot chocolate then set it down on the bench again so I could watch through my binoculars with ease. This is what I formed these two characters for. From the moment when they first met, I knew these two were meant to be. Love interests, least. And boy, that had taken a while to make.

Oh, wait. Stop daydreaming. Get back to the story.

Carl caught up to Allie and tackled her, entrapping her in a hug. She couldn’t help but laugh. This was it. This was the moment. Allie looked into his eyes, and for a split-second, there was a visible spark. Carl was about to lean forward.

Then a bicycle whizzed passed them. Leftover water from a previous rain washed over them, snapping them out of the romantic trance. They just stood there dazed for a few seconds.

Ugh.

Allie slipped out of his grasp, trying to dust off the murky water. Ha, like that was possible. Carl chuckled nervously at something she said before moving on towards the square.

Great, now I had to move my spot again. I grabbed my hot chocolate, binoculars, and journal before moving to an outdoor patio of a bistro. I placed all my items on one of the tables before taking another sip. It would be a while before Callie—their ship name— got here.

“What are you doing?” I hear a voice to my left.

Startled by the sudden appearance, I looked and saw Brain sitting in the empty chair at my table. “Oh. It’s just you. Hi.” I said flatly.

“You never answered my question.” Brain remarked.

“Remember Carl and Allie?”

“Yeah. Of course. Duh.”

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“Yep. But continue what you were saying.”

“Allie and Carl are on their dates. Okay, well, they claim it’s just a hang but friends don’t look at friends they way they do. So this is finally the scene where they have their first kiss!”I squealed in Author.

Brain nodded. “Finally. I thought you’d never make it.”

“Thanks for all your help.”

Brain crossed its legs as it leaned back in the chair. “You’re welcome. I did happen to be the source of those ideas, so you should be thanking me.”

“Not what I meant.”

I could admit that Brain is helpful at times, and what it said was true. And although the ideas came at the most random times, they did help form the story into what it is today. Even if Brain did abandon me when I asked how it all went together. It’s so unreliable.

My two characters finally came into view. Just before passing the bistro, Carl accidentally grazed his hand against Allie’s. She took a breath, a slight pink formed on her cheeks. She pretended not to notice. They weren’t speaking anymore. Someone must have said something on the way here to make the atmosphere silently awkward.

“Plot hole!” Brain shouted.

“What? What do you mean plot hole?”

Brain cleared its throat. “First of all, this is slow. Change the weather, scenery, something! You’re the writer after all!”

“Okay, uh, what is that supposed to mean?”

“There not going to get anywhere just walking in silence. Even talking is boring. Any past of the story has to have tension or conflict to keep is working towards the climax.”

“Okay, that does make sense.” I opened my journal and used my pen to scratch a couple of things. “How do you suggest that happens?”

Brain leaned back and said nothing.

“Ugh.” At least some sort of idea sparked in my head.

With each word I wrote, the setting melted and merged into the something I wanted it to be. They sky changed from a blush pink to a denim blue. The terrain of the sidewalk became uneven. The air was tinted with the smell of a coming rain. And it was just bright enough to where the lampposts didn’t turn on.

“There,” I said as I breathed in a whiff of the refreshing scent. “Better?”

“Very.” Brain began to draw geometric shapes on a napkin.

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Drawing random stuff like that. There’s no point in it. Besides, we need to watch them.”

“You do it when you’re stuck.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but Brain was unfortunately right again. Through the binoculars, my eyes settled on the two figures trotting through the fog and entering the dreary square.

Allie shivered due to the recent splash of water mixed with the weather. Carl noticed, so her took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. The sudden warmth from his action surprised her. And it could’ve been from the cold, but a bright pink formulated on Allie’s cheeks as she smiled softly.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she remarked quietly. “It’s already cold with the coats. You shouldn’t be without it.”

Carl chuckled while eyeing her. “And yet, you still took it.”

Allie tried to take it off to give it to him, but he stopped her.

“Keep it. You need it more than I do.”

“Carl, the weather—”

That’s when Allie’s foot caught in a pothole in the street. The ground came up fast towards her fast.

“She’s gonna die.” Brain snickered.

I glared at Brain. But when I turned back to them, my gasp was audible. Carl basically carried her. Their eyes were pouring into each other. This was it. This was the moment everything had been working towards. Hope sparked inside of me. Finally, one scene that would actually run smoothly.

It was perfect. The setting, all the tension that had been built up in previous chapters, even the way he tucked a loose curl behind her ear. All Allie could do was just stare at him, and he did the same to her. It was only a matter of time for them to lean in. And just when they did…

“CARL!” a booming voice snarled from the other side of the square.

Everyone, except the extras in the scene, turned to see a woman with an evil glare stabbing at the two who were embraced in each other.

“You lying, cheating, son of a—”

“Who is she?” I said, flipping through the pages of my journal. “She’s not supposed to be in the outline!”

“Yeah, by the way…” Brain started.

Oh no…“What did you do?”

“I got a new idea.” it replied with an innocent smile.

“But—”

That lady’s yelling cut me off. Allie only stood there looking at her awkwardly. And Carl tried to get some words in but couldn’t due to her flailing her arms. I sighed. It was time to take matters into my own hands.

Everyone’s attentions turned to me as I made my way to them.

“Who are you?”

The woman flipped her hair and crossed her arms. “I’m Ruth. Meaning of my name: compassionate.”

“You don’t really seem compassionate…” Allie remarked.

Ruth scoffed. “It’s called irony, okay?”

“Um, author?” Carl said. “She’s my ex.”

“I don’t remember putting an ex for you in this book.”

Allie pointed to Brain, who sat watching us at the patio table. “Yeah, that’s probably Brain’s doing.”

It was definitely Brain’s doing. Alright, Ruth was the ex of Carl. Probably here to try to swoon or guilt him into coming back to her. Very toxic. And not what I needed for this scene.

“Ruth, uh, you’re going to need to leave.”

She seemed very offended by my comment. “Ugh, why?”

“Because it’s not in the outline. You can’t be here.”

“But Brain said I could! It said that I was a very good idea and a vital piece for this part of the book.”

I glared at Brain. “HOW did you think this would work?”

Brain just went “uh…” then — pop — disappeared.

Great. Now I would fall into writer’s block. And that meant…

Walls now boarded up around the square, leaving us trapped. Whenever I get writer’s block, it’s like a cell phone without any WiFi. Slow and not able to work. And then my intrusive thoughts take over the scene and I can’t escape it.

Carl looked confused. “Um, what’s, uh, going on here?”

“That’s right,” I remarked. “The book’s from Allie’s point of view. You really haven’t seen this before.”

“I’ve experienced this more times than I can count,” Allie said. “It doesn’t turn out well.”

Ruth huffed. “You’re darn right it doesn’t turn out well.”

Ruth pulled out a rifle and with a loud bang! shot down Allie immediately.

“NO!” Carl and I both exclaimed.

“You monster!” His voice grew angry. “How—”

Then Ruth shot him at that moment. Now it was just me and Ruth surrounded by the two dead bodies of my protagonists. Intrusive Thoughts, fifty-seven. Actually writing correctly, none.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I said, “Great. Do you know how much I have to change now because of you?”

“Not because of me. Because of Brain and your dark stories.”

“They’re not dark! They could have very good plots if Brain doesn’t leave me on writer’s block so much. And it’s not Brain that caused you to do this, it’s—”

Someone else giddily trotted up to us. “Hey, guys!”

I groaned again. “Intrusive Thoughts, just why?”

Intrusive Thoughts shrugged. “Well, Brain left ya. I’m all ya got right now.”

“And you killed off all my characters…”

“But not her.” It gestured to Ruth.

“She’s not even supposed to be here!”

“Oh.” Intrusive Thoughts pulled out another gun from out of nowhere then killed Ruth. “There you go.” He said with a polite grin.

My jaw dropped. “Why on earth would you do that?”

“Because. She didn’t even go here.” Intrusive Thoughts seemed pleased with itself.

Next thing I knew, I slammed myself on the table in front of me, frustrated. Just as I feared, I had given myself false hope again. Of course, something just had to go wrong. Instead of the magical first kiss that I strived towards, I got three characters dead and one didn’t even exist in the story.

I lifted my head up while the pearl light of my laptop illuminated the dark room. Not just a dark room. The living room of my home. Also known as my writing space.

Groaning, I turned back to the document to see a red squiggly line under a lot of recurring J’s that I must’ve pressed when I banged my head on the keyboard. Typical.

I deleted the past few pages and sighed. Back to the drawing board.

Again.

Then I heard a familiar voice call from the kitchen. “You okay there?”

It was Liam, my boyfriend who surprisingly stuck with me through all my weirdness. What was he doing here? “How did you get in?” I asked.

“You gave me your garage code.” he replied, making his way towards me on the couch.

“Right.” I turned back to the laptop, obviously disappointed in myself. Liam seemed to notice.

“Let me guess,” he started off. “You got writer’s block, killed off all your characters, and just now realized what you did?”

I scoffed in disbelief. “You know me well.”

“It’s happened more than once.” After a bit of me not responding, he then said, “So how long have you been at this?”

“Since about…” I recalled checking the time when I first opened the laptop. “One p.m.”

“It’s six o’clock.”

“Oh…” Had I really been going over this one chapter for that long?

Liam got up from the couch. “You know what? You need a break.”

“What I need is to figure out the right solution for this chapter.”

“I know what’ll make you feel better, though.”

“Alright, try me.” I leaned back, propping up my hands like a CEO trying to bargain. “What could you possibly do to make me feel better and get me away from my work?”

Liam only smiled. It was one word: “Food.”

Immediately, I slammed the laptop shut and rushed to get my shoes on, although my legs did ache from sitting down for five hours straight. But it was fine. Like I said before, Liam really did know me well.

“Um, what’s that?” he asked when I met him at the door, pointing to something I held in my hand.

“Oh this?” I held it up. “A book.”

Liam furrowed his eyebrows. “And why are you taking that with you?”

“Because,” I shrugged. “it’s a book.”

“Why?”

“It’s a book.”

“You don’t need a book to eat something.”

“But…” I smiled cheekily. “It’s a book.”

Liam only sighed, but gave me a soft smile. “Alright, answer this. Why do you need a book when you have me?”

“Uh.” I honestly didn’t have an answer for that. It was just normally habit for me to take one where I went.

He placed his hand on the book and looked at me. “I have a reason why I’m better than the book.”

I squinted. “That can be arranged.”

Liam only chuckled before leaning in, then he kissed me. I was flustered and utterly shocked. Warmth flooded in my face.

That was our first kiss. And he looked adorable as ever as he studied my face. “Does, uh… does that make me better than the book?”

Smiling was the only option. “Yeah. I think it does.”

Liam returned the action as he opened the door for me. “Then after you, milady. And— hey!” he held his hand out. “Leave the book, Jennifer.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes playfully. “Fine. Here. But—” I stepped out of the door frame. “—race you to the car!”

“Hey!” Liam rushed to close the door then took off after me.

Ah, romance. It makes a person so childish at times. So… stupid. But this was my story, my real one. And I was committed to making it the best it could be.