Roadblocks and Plot Holes

“This is so rubbish.”

Jenny sighed and ran a hand through her hair. The roadblocks and plot holes were giving her stress. She hated this feeling and it gave her a headache and a feeling of hopelessness and despair.

“What should I do…?” She said. She wasn’t talking to anyone in particular. Maybe to herself, or to someone that did not exist. She sat there for a while longer in silence. She could hear the clock on her wall slowly ticking, and she could hear her air conditioner working to produce cool air.

‘Dang it.’ She thought, ‘What do I do?"

She sighed and slowly got up to leave the room. She left, leaving her work and room behind. Walking into the living room, she found her sister sitting on the couch, watching her and Jenny’s favorite show. Her sister, Mabel sat on the couch, still in her pajamas. She had snacks and a drink placed around her as she watched the TV.

“You’re watching Running Man right now?”

“Yup.”

Jenny’s sister, Mabel looked up and moved the pack of chips in her hands towards her sister. Jenny reluctantly took some and plopped herself beside Mabel where they watched the show together. They laughed when Song Ji Hyo said she wanted to be a rock in her next life and laughed even harder when the whole crew played soccer on a slippery soapy surface. After an hour or so, Jenny felt much better and was in a lighter, better mood. 

“Ahah! I wish the show aired twice a week,” Jenny laughed, getting up from the sofa. 

Mabel grinned back at her, “Me too.”

“I’m going to go back to work on my story,” Jenny said, smiling, “Call me if you need me.”

Jenny really needed to finish her story. She's postponed it many times and just wanted to get over with it.

“Okay,” Mabel said, giving her sister an ‘okay’ sign.

Jenny walked back into her room and sat back down where she turned on her laptop once more. There, her work stared back at her. Without even starting, the stress started to build up within her.

“Right… I have to finish this,” Jenny mumbled to herself, “I want to finish it.”

Jenny started writing again, typing down whatever’s on her mind. She managed to fill in some plot holes and get over some roadblocks, but there was still a lot to be done.

‘I should post this on a website to get some criticism,’ Jenny thought as she looked over her work. She’d decided that it would give her more inspiration, work, and ideas to fix on. It’ll give her a goal. 

She browsed the internet and found a website built mainly for criticism and writing. She made an account and submitted her work on her profile and waited for comments. While she did, she read other people’s works. They all sounded so much better than her work. There were more details, more suspense, more tension, and had a better plot. She felt despair, but she knew she shouldn’t compare herself with others. While she knew that, she still couldn’t help but do so.

As a day passed, she went back to the website and saw that there are comments on her work. 

“Yes, thank you!” She whispered to herself. Finally, someone had given her some feedback, something to work on. When she clicked to read the comment, her hope had diminished. Turning into dust, like how a piece of wood would turn into ash as the fire burned it. The comments weren’t helpful at all. Instead, it brought her down.

‘You’re story is trash. What the heck is this plot?’ 

‘I don’t know why you’re putting this out for the world to read.’

There were only two comments, and both were terrible. Jenny sighed and clicked off, leaving the room to find her sister. She found Mabel in the kitchen, cooking tteokbokki, a dish from Korean cuisine.

“Oh hey,” Mabel said as she saw her sister approaching, “You want some?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Jenny said. Mabel returned to her cooking, making sure the rice cakes were cooked well.

“Someone put bad comments on my work… do you think it’s bad?”

“Your story?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh come on!” Mabel said, turning to look at her older sister, “Of course it’s not! Those people just want to bring others down!”

Jenny said nothing. She eventually looked over Mabel’s shoulder, to look at the rice cakes simmering in gochujang. It smelled heavenly, and it was one of their comfort foods.

“So… are those done?” Jenny asked, pointing at the rice cakes. Mabel spun around.

“Oh right! Get chopsticks and the plates would you?”

As Mabel turned off the stove and brought the pan to the table, Jenny buried herself by getting the cutlery and plates ready. The two ate directly from the pan, putting their food on the plates when it got too spicy for both of them. When they finished, they cleaned up and they went back to the living room.

“We should probably exercise later,” Jenny said absentmindedly, “But I don’t want to.”

“I wish we could eat and not gain weight,” Mabel added with a slight smile, “But that’s not how the world works.”

Jenny returned the smile and soon the two got ready for work. It was the afternoon and having it being a weekend, the two could find work to do at any time they wanted. And being university students, they needed money to pay their rent, for their food and anything else they’d need.

The two left for work. And when they came back, night had already settled over their city. The lights outside were bright and they blinked against the sky and all the other colors of the night.

“Man, I’m exhausted,” Mabel said dropping her bag on the couch. 

“Me too,” Jenny piped in.

“You know, something happened today,” Mabel said as she undid her ponytail, only to redo it again.

“Did someone make a commotion at your workplace?”

Mabel grinned, “Mmhmm.”

Mabel continued, “Do you know who Terrence is?”

“The guy who talks too much?” Jenny said, heading to the kitchen for a cup of water.

“Yeah. Today he told one of our other co-workers that he liked her. She turned him down though, and it made everything a bit awkward for everyone.” Mabel shrugged, “but I didn't know that he liked that kind of woman.”

“Alright, alright!” Jenny laughed awkwardly, “I don’t need to know.”

Mabel smirked at her sister and waved at her as she walked towards her room.

“I’m going to be inside if you need me!”

“Okay. I’m going to take a shower.”

Jenny went to the bathroom and undressed before stepping into the shower. She turned on the water and let it run down her, soothing the edges of her mind and body. As she washed up, she thought about her work and the comments from before. They were bad and discouraging, but she’d just have to ignore them. It wouldn’t help to feel helpless because of just two people, who was trying to do just that. When she was done, she quickly got changed and she headed back to her room where she sat down and turned on her laptop. 

“Right… Where was I?”

Jenny continued to work on her writing and eventually finished her first draft. She read through it and felt a bit disappointed at herself. Her expectations for her work weren’t as good as she’d thought them to be. All she wanted to do was to finish her story and be done with it. But she wouldn’t let herself finish until it passes the minimum of her expectations. 

‘I don’t know what else to do with my writing right now,’ Jenny thought. She slouched back into her chair and zoned out.

Until she got an idea.

She got onto her favorite search engine and searched up how she could make her story better. She read through a couple of blogs and websites and got some good advice. When she gathered enough ideas for improving her work, she got right back to writing. By the time she finished, it was well past midnight. She and her sister’s apartment was quiet, all but the sounds of Jenny’s fingers finishing up the last of her draft.

“There. Done.”

Jenny hit the enter key once and looked through her work before deciding that it was time to sleep. She turned off her lights and saved her work before getting into bed. She smiled and snuggled into her sheets, closing her eyes, and letting sleep find her.

The next day was a Monday, meaning Jenny and Mabel both had classes to attend. They’ve left in the morning, and attended their classes before leaving to study together in the library when they’d both had some time.

“Do you have work later?” Mabel asked her sister.

“Yeah, I think so. At twelve.”

“Hmm okay…”

“Why?”

“I was thinking that we could go for lunch together,” Mabel said, shrugging. 

“We could go now. I mean we could just eat early at eleven.”

“You sure? Didn't you say that you can’t be late?”

“Yeah, but it’s fine,” Jenny said, smiling at her sister. She loved her sister a lot and she was like Jenny’s best friend. In fact, she was her best friend. Mabel was always there for her, even from when they were little. She could fit in lunch with her sister in her schedule. It wasn’t as if Jenny had anyone else to eat with.

“Alright! Let’s go then! I know a good place!” Mabel grinned, pulling Jenny up from her seat.

“Where?” Jenny said.

“Just follow me!”

After the two had eaten, they parted ways. Mabel went back to study and Jenny left for work. For the rest of the day, they did their own things until they met back at their apartment. 

“Hey! Where were you? You were out longer than you usually would,” Mabel said, rushing towards Jenny as she entered the house.

“I took a quick walk before getting here,” Jenny smiled wearily.

“Okay…” Mabel said, walking back to her spot on the couch, “Don’t go out after nine... Mom always told us that."

“Yeah, yeah,” Jenny said chuckling softly, “I’ll be working on my story if you need me.”

Jenny left the living room and entered her room. She put her things down, tied her hair up, and sat down. She turned to play music from her favorite artist and got ready to work. In this rare incident, she felt determined.

She never felt determined, but only on some occasions. She wasn't going to let her energy seep away before they got replaced with procrastination and laziness.

“Alright! Revise the story one more time and then I’m done!” Jenny exclaimed.

Jenny wasted no time and started. When she finally completed it, she’d saved it and left the room with her laptop to show her sister. Mabel would be the first one to read her finished work. She couldn’t wait to show her.

Jenny ran into the room with glee and plopped herself beside her sister and gave Mabel the laptop.

“It’s kind of long, but I finally finished it! Read it!”

Mabel took it and she started to read. The two sat together, reading Jenny's finally completed story as the night fell deeper and deeper.