The Author Who Can't Write {with Katie W.}

{This is a collaboration with Katie W. Be sure to check her out!

https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/56269a/

She's awesome and it was such a lot of making making up the whole universe with her. We were so distracted that we forgot that the main story was yet to be written!!!}

“Ah, Melantha, we meet again,” Minerva smiled, satisfied with knowing she had finally trapped her enemy.        

“It appears we have, Minerva. Too bad I’ve outsmarted you this time,” Minerva’s archnemesis replied. Before Minerva realized what was happening, Melantha pushed off the wall behind her as a kangaroo and jumped over Minerva’s head, startling her.          

Grumbling, Minerva took off in pursuit of Melantha. When Minerva finally caught her, the reign of terror her enemy had over the people of Drayside would be over. Her target leapt over a dumpster, shifting into a bird. Minerva blasted the same dumpster out of her way with her fire. Melantha stumbled, causing Minerva to smile wickedly. Finally, she could…

~~~~~~~~~~

“Dad!” a voice called. “Guess what happened today?”

Sighing, Shawn Shaw saved his progress and faced his daughter. “What happened, darling?”

“I have been chosen to go and join Harvard University, ON A FULL SCHOLARSHIP!!!”

Amazed, Shawn stammered, “Whoa! When did you apply for it?” 

“I told you a few months ago, remember?”

“Um, no you didn’t. What does your mom feel about it?”

“She’s ecstatic,” Athena replied excitedly.

“Okay then, I guess I have no choice. Come here, my little girl!” Shawn couldn’t contain his excitement further; he had been mocking Athena for the past few minutes. He had received a call from the University a few minutes ago.

 Athena sighs. “I’m not little anymore.” But she still obliged and hugged her father.

~~~~~~~~~~~

‘What is that girl doing? And why does she look like my replica?’ She took some swift steps towards her doppelganger. 

The other girl continued her jog forward, seemingly oblivious to Minerva’s confusion.

Minerva stalked towards the figure. She had to nearly run to keep up with the girl’s quick pace.

“I’ll take that!” The doppelganger said to a little girl, probably no older than five, stealing her ice-cream and dumping it into a dumpster.

Minerva’s bewilderment turned into fury. Stomping forward, she shouted, “What do you think you are doing, Doppelganger?”

Startled, her doppelganger looked behind her. “Oh! It’s about time you were here, sis.”

It was Minerva’s turn to be startled. “Sis?” She questioned.

“Yes, sis. And don’t worry...there you go, that little girlie got her ice-cream back.” The doppelganger said. With a flick of her wrist, an ice-cream had? I THINK IT’S FINE W/O THE “HAD”, BUT AGAIN, I DUNNO. appeared in the girl’s hand.

~~~~~~~~~~

A FEW HOURS LATER:

“Oh my! I can’t even figure out the climax of my own novel. And I am supposingly the next best author/singer there is in the world,” Shawn moaned.

His wife, Amelia, put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you can figure it out. You always do.”

“I don’t know, Mia. This time feels different. This is unlike any writer’s block I have ever had.”

“How about you take a break tonight? We can go to that fancy restaurant, as a date night. We haven't had one of those since Athena left for Harvard,” Amelia suggested with a smile.

Shawn smiled back. Mia always knew how to lift his spirits. “Of course! That sounds amazing! A break might just be what I need.” 

Closing his laptop, he offered his arm to his wife in an old-fashioned gesture. Grinning, she took it, and together they left Shawn’s office.

~~~~~~~~~~

The five-year-old ran off, apparently uncaring about how her ice cream came into existence. As long as she got her treat, she was happy.

“H-how did you do that?” Minerva stuttered at the girl.

The other girl shrugged. “It’s easy when you know how.” 

Without giving Minerva a chance to respond, she continued, “I’m Melantha, and don’t call me anything other than Melantha or else.”

“Or else what, DOPPELGANGER?” Minerva said cheekily, putting extra effort to say the nickname.  

Before Minerva could blink, a huge wolf was sitting on her, and she was flat on the ground.

“Whoa! Where’d this cutie come from? I LOVE WOLVES!”

“No, you fool, it is me, MELANTHA.” The wolf, or rather, the Doppelganger said, howling loudly and soaking Minerva in its spit in the process. 

Suddenly, the wolf looked significantly less cute. 

“Okay, now please get off of me. Melantha it is.”

With this, Minerva was relieved of a burden and all she saw was darkness surrounding her completely. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“How’re you, Dad? I have SO much to tell you!”

“Like what dear?” Shawn said, almost blocking out the tears he had after listening to his daughter’s voice.

“Well, before I say anything, what are you and Mom up to? Anything I can do for you, I will,” Athena replied.

Shawn chuckled. That was his daughter, always taking care of others. Shifting the phone resting between his ear and shoulder, he answered, “We’re doing okay. We miss you.”

“I miss you guys, too.”

He smiled. “I started a new novel a few weeks before you left.”

“Really? What’s it about?” 

Shawn’s smile grew. He could just imagine Athena sitting up straighter, her legs crossed, ready to hear about her father’s next ‘masterpiece’, as she called them.

“It’s about a young girl, inspired by my own daughter, who realizes she has special powers and has to save the world from her evil sister. Her name is Minerva.” 

“You made a character based off me?” Athena’s voice sounded choked up.

Shawn nodded, even though he knew Athena couldn’t see him. “Yeah, of course. It was long overdue. But, tell me, how are things at Harvard?”

Shawn heard his daughter take a deep breath. “Well, let me tell you about this one time, when I was in Calculus, my professor…”

Shawn laughed softly to himself as he listened to his daughter go on and on about her experiences and adventures in college.  

~~~~~~~~~~

“So… I just… think about the water moving?” Minerva asked with uncertainty. “And it’ll move?”

“Yup,” Melantha replied, popping the p. 

A few seconds pass.

“So, are you going to try?” Melantha inquired impatiently.

“Try what, Melantha?”

“Moving the water!” Melantha answered with exasperation. 

 “Oh! THAT. No, I’ll sleep on it and try it tomorrow. By the way, why are YOU teaching it to me? Aren’t you supposed to be my ENEMY?”

Melantha pouted. “I’m your sister; why wouldn’t I help you?” 

“Besides,” Melantha added, to herself, “It is Shawn’s choice if he wants me to be your teacher, I’ll HAVE TO BE.”

Minerva heard it in her head. Apparently, they had twin telepathy. 

 “Then help me here: Where are our parents? Did they have powers like you and me? Am I, sorry, we the princesses of some unknown realm?” 

Melatha scoffed. “Hah! Princesses. We’re not princesses. And as far as I know, yes, they had powers. As for where they are… I don’t know.” 

Minerva felt a rush of emotions. Before she could control it, a humongous fire had spread. Minerva gasped when she realized it had lit MELANTHA on fire!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

“Whoa! Who are you? Where’d you come from? What are you doing here?!” Shawn gasped as he saw a very familiar figure in his room as he entered in there, for the hundredth time that day. The last time he was here, about a minute ago, the office was as empty as his daughter’s bedroom.

“What happens next in my story?” the girl inquired. “Do you know how awful it is to not know what happens to you because your author is neglecting you? Also, how can you NOT recognize your own creation?”

“Uh, no. Can’t say I know how it feels. A-are you Minerva?” Shawn stuttered. His eyes widened. “Please say you’re not Melantha.”

“Why? DO. YOU. NOT. RECOGNIZE. ME?” Minerva had a sheepish look, making her look just like Melantha.

“Okay. Now I KNOW you are Melantha.”

Minerva sighed exasperatedly. “No, I’m not; you’re impossible.”

“Well, you two do look alike.”

“It’s not my fault. YOU did that.” 

“Okay, okay. So you are Minerva, then?”

Minerva facepalmed. “I feel like we have already established this.”

“ Then how did you get here?” Shawn sank into his office chair, complete bewilderment and wonder splayed across his face.

“Um, try being frozen in time for a week and still not getting the happy-ending that you totally deserve after what happened to you and your parents, who were killed by your own evil twin from another universe, then tell me what you think.”

“Okay, I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble, but how did you get here?”

Minerva shrugged. “I touched the glowing white light that appeared above me.”

Shawn blinked. “Cool. Can Melatha also come here the same way? Should I be scared?”

“No need. She’s frozen like all others. Somehow, only I survived the frozen reality in the book thingy.”

“My other characters died?!” Shawn sputtered.

Minerva waved him off. “No, no. They are just unable to move. But in a book, that’s as good as being dead.”

“Oh. Why are you here?”

Minerva rolled her eyes. ‘How lame could a guy be? A guy like Shawn Shaw, my creator?’ she thought.

“I JUST TOLD YOU! I am here to make you write. I can’t just stand there, lifeless and still, not knowing how my story ends. I NEED TO FIGHT MELANTHA!!!”

“Okay, okay. But I am not sure I want to write any more of the story.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sis, let’s just stop fighting. It’s better if you accept your defeat. After all, we both know that even though you are the supposed ‘heroine’ here, I am the one who helped you recognize your powers.” 

“Never, Melantha. You killed our parents, MY PARENTS. I can never forgive you and even if I can’t kill you, I will fight till my last breath.

“Well, you asked for it, Anonymous Armadillo.”

“Oh yes, I did! Don’t make me light you on fire again!” Minerva grinned. After she lit Melantha on fire, nothing short of Melantha jumping into the nearby fountain put the fire out.

Melantha cackled. “Ah, but I know how to teleport now. You are no match for me!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you mean you don’t WANT to write anymore? This is your story! FINISH IT!”

“Um, no.”

“I ORDER YOU TO FINISH IT NOW.”

“As you said, I am the author of this story. I WILL FINISH IT WHEN I WANT AND KEEP IT HANGING THERE IF I WANT TO!”

{One more thing, we picked this story after reading this prompt from Reedsy only : You are the protagonist of a novel-in-progress. Your author is experiencing intense writer’s block. You decide to have a word with the author to shake them out of it. Do write in the comments what you feel about this story...}