WB, Every Writer's Bestest Frenemy (part 1)

“I’m finally going to write a story after all this time!” you exclaim to yourself.

A mysterious cloaked figure stalks into the room, and they quietly close the door behind them.

“No you aren’t,” they say blandly as they lean against the wall.

“Excuse me? Yes I am. I have my laptop open on docs right now. It’s literally right there,” you say, gesturing to your computer as the cursor bounces up and down. 

They chuckle slightly.

“I wouldn't be so confident if I were you,” they say softly, as if offended by my bubbliness. 

No one speaks for days it seems.

“Who are you…?” you finally ask with peering, squinted eyes. 

They take a breath before answering the question hanging in the air.

“That’s not important right now. You’ll find out when the time is ripe, like a crisp apple just looming above your head.”

You stare at them for a moment. 

“...Okay, strange and creepy metaphors aside, why won’t you just tell me who you are, or at least what I can call you…”

“Feel free to call me anything you like, but I’m commonly known as your worst enemy.”

You gasp.

“You mean that you’re a creepy birthday clown?!?!?!”

They seem to glare at you from under their hood.

“No, that’s not what I meant...just call me WB for now.”

“Okay, WB. Wait...what does that stand for?” you ask innocently.

“Ugh, it stands for ‘Writer’s Block’. Now, how’s that story coming?” they say as they stuff their hands in their coat pockets.

You shove all your questions down inside as you think of a plot line.

“Well, I guess I have some slight ideas for a story…” you mutter. 

“Well then? Don’t keep me waiting. Just do your magic,” they say.

You nod stiffly and turn back to your computer.

You begin to move that dancing cursor with some words. 

‘Fire Elves. Ice Elves. Earthen Elves. Weather Elves. The other clan,’ you type.

The figure silently pushes off the wall and peers over your shoulder.

“You can do better than that! ‘The other clan’? Really? I mean, what kind of clan name is that?” they say.

“Apparently you don’t understand ‘personal bubbles’, do you?” you mutter to them.

“Nope, not at all,” they say. You imagine that they are grinning hard under their hood. 

“Well, perhaps you could, oh, I don’t know, leave while I work on my story, okay, WB?” you suggest.

The room holds its breath as they answer.

“Nah, I’m good, thanks for asking though. Please, do continue. And come up with a better clan name, while you’re at it.”

You exhale sharply.

“That’s rather rude of you,” you hiss.

“Rudeness is a compliment in my society,” they hiss back. 

“Your society isn’t very nice…”

“No, it really isn’t nice. We cheat people, steal ideas from them, and best of all, we make it so that they can’t write a decent story for over a month.” The dim desk light gleams in their dark eyes. “And how do we do this? We block every single speck of inspiration from ever entering their minds. Therefore, my name is Writer's Block because I block you from ever being able to write anything good ever again!” They laugh like they’ve just made the best joke in all of history. 

You silently turn back to your computer. 

You erase the sentence, feeling like it was the worst idea ever, and unfortunately, you fall into WB’s trap. But a sudden idea pulls you out of your dreary moment. 

“What’s your weakness?” you ask.

WB finally stops laughing and stares right at you. 

“What?! I have no weakness!” they exclaim.

You smile.

“Only people who do have weaknesses will say that they don’t. Ha! Now I’ve got ya! Let’s see...how can I get rid of you, oh persistent WB?”

They wince slightly.

“Please don’t say it like that…”

“Oh? What’s that? You don’t like my drama? Is that your weakness, emotional stories?” you ask.

“Uh…”

“Ah! I must write an emotional story to overcome you then!”

You set to work typing a sad story onto the page, where a fox becomes sad after his friend dies. 

‘The day Foxy lost Joey was a sad day indeed,’ you type with haste.

“There, WB, I have conquered you with a sad story! Leave me alone from now on!” you exclaim.

WB, known as Writer’s Block, fades from your room. With a content sigh, you finish the story in peace. 

Yes, this was written during my own phase of Writer’s Block so it’s not that good (especially the ending, rip). Reading and writing emotional stories sometimes can lift writer’s block, but there are other cures known to man. Most inspiration comes from what you read, just sayin’. I do hope to find more time to write more stories in the future, but this lil one is all for now :)

-Wolfie out