Writing Reality

Patrick Cooper stares at the blank page on his monitor. Nothing is coming to him to write. He holds his cursor over the Word icon at the bottom of the screen and a row of unfinished stories pop up. He clicks on one and reads over it, hoping that the creative engine in his brain might fire, but it doesn’t, so he moves to the next, and the next, and the next. With a sigh of defeat, Patrick goes through and deletes them all. He leans back in his chair and takes a swig of his cold coffee, which makes him scrunch his nose. He thinks back to his first writing class. What did his instructor tell him? “Sometimes you need to open your mind and just write, let it flow. It doesn’t have to be about anything in particular. Just write.”

Patrick clears his head. He begins writing about how he wants to be an award-winning novelist, rich and famous. He throws in there how he would love for Maleena Davis from his old job to hear about him and call him up, wanting a date. He writes about his fantasies of friends and families, who often neglect him and write him off as a loser, clamoring for his time and attention. A big house, fancy cars, wild parties, and exotic vacations – it is all in there. After scribbling it down on his notebook, he turns to his computer and begins to put it into a story format; a story about a struggling writer who achieves his dreams through perseverance and dedication.

3 years later…

Patrick’s parents leap from their seats, surprised and excited to hear their middle child’s name called as recipient of the National Book Award. They hug their son with pride as he makes his way to claim his prize. While Patrick delivers his acceptance speech, his mother makes a quick call to his sister, telling her to let everyone know that Patrick won, and to have as many people as possible get over to the house to celebrate.

Patrick walks into his parent’s home to the cries of surprise. Congratulations in the form of hugs and pats on the back are plenty as he makes his way around the room. For once the family is celebrating him. His parents are doting over him. Usually it is Melanie, his older sister, with all her dance accolades and professional achievements. Or, it is his younger brother, Jason, who is perfect for just being him, with his good looks and charisma. Now they see that he has something to offer too. He’s not the family loser after all.

It really makes Patrick’s day when his father and uncle pull him aside and say, “You know, son, we don’t spend nearly enough time together. How about you start joining me and your Uncle Lester out on the Lake.”

Arty Cooper is obsessed with fishing, but never did he offer to take any of his kids out with him on the lake. There were two or three times when they were little that he left them on the shore with a can of worms and a bobber, but all they caught were serious sunburns.

Excitedly, Patrick responds, “I’d love to, dad.”

#

Patrick arrives back in town after doing an interview on a morning show in New York when his phone rings, displaying an unknown number. Answering it, he hears a familiar voice he hasn’t heard in years. “Patty! Hey, it’s Ron. A bunch of us are hanging out at Marlow’s tonight. It’s been too long, man. You need to come out. Everyone is going to be there. We miss you. Make an appearance.”

“You know what, Ronnie,” he says to his old roommate, “That sounds like fun. I’m going to run home and take a shower. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

Patrick walks into the old watering hole to his old friends shouting his name with raised drinks. The guys hug him, and the girls kiss his cheeks as everyone says their hellos. Everyone takes turns buying rounds, celebrating Patrick’s return to the group.

While everyone else is dancing, Ronnie pulls Patrick aside and asks him what he has been up to.

“I’ve been writing. My book is a #1 best seller on all the lists. I’ve been doing book tours, signing autographs and doing interviews. It has been keeping me busy lately. You didn’t know that?”

“Nah, I don’t read,” Ronnie says, standing to get the crowd’s attention. “Listen up everybody! We have a genuine, best-selling author in our midst. Mr. Patrick Cooper,” Ronnie exclaims as he leans over and put his arm around Patrick to give him a congratulatory shake.

Patrick smiles, only slightly embarrassed, as the crowd at Marlow’s raises their drinks and cheer in their drunkenness in his honor. It is a good feeling for Patrick to be amongst friends again. He has missed it.

#

Patrick looks up from signing a book to see his next fan. It’s Maleena Davis, dressed to seduce. “Hi, Patrick. Do you remember me?”

“Of course I do, Maleena. It’s good to see you again.”

“I was wondering if you would sign this for me,” she says, flashing him a playful smile as she hands him the book.

Patrick takes the book and says, “I’m wondering if you would like to get a drink in say… oh… half an hour?”

“I’d love to. I’ll come back in half an hour,” she says with a wide smile.

Patrick signs the book, ‘To the woman who puts all other women to shame, Patrick Cooper.’

Thirty minutes later and the crowd is gone, the store is about to close, and Maleena is posing against a bookshelf like she is modeling for the cover of masturbation monthly. Patrick smirks and takes her by the arm, leading her out of the building. He takes her to Marlow’s. There he introduces her to some friends before finding a private spot where they can catch up. They find a low-lit booth in the back where Maleena insists on sitting close to Patrick.

“Did you know that all that time we worked together, I had a crush on you,” she tells him.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t think I had a chance!”

“Well, same hear. You’re very handsome, you know. I didn’t think you were into me. Every other guy can’t help but talk to me. You never did.”

“I guess I was just shy.”

“Believe it or not, I’m a little shy too.”

“Well, how about I break the shyness. How do you feel about going back to my place?”

“I’d love to.”

3 months later…

“So, Patrick, what do you think? Has the fishing bug bit you yet,” Lester asks his nephew.

“I think so. I really like getting out here with you guys. There’s something about being out on the water that’s soothing. Plus, there’s the excitement of the catch.”

“That’s my boy,” Arty laughs. “Here, I want you to look at something, Pat,” Arty says, pulling out a page from a magazine from his back pocket and unfolding it. “Isn’t she beautiful,” he says, showing him a picture of a decked out, high-speed Bass boat.

“It’s nice, dad.”

“With this puppy we can make it all over the lake in short order, hit all those honey-holes. It’s equipped with a troll motor and fish finder, live wells, captains seat with steering wheel…”

“Can you imagine us showing up to the tourney in that thing,” Lester interrupts. “We’d be the envy of everyone.”

“We’re entering a tournament,” Patrick asks.

Arty shoots Lester a side-eyed glance. “Well… It would be just me and Les… this time. You still need more practice. But you’ll still benefit from a boat like this. You’ll have loads of fun on it. What do you think, kiddo?”

Patrick can’t help but feel a little used. He’s hurt but hides it. “Yeah, dad. I’ll go by the bank on Monday, and we’ll go pick one out.”

#

Feeling a little down in the dirt over his father asking him for a new boat, Patrick cleans himself up and heads over to Marlow’s to have a few drinks and a few laughs with good friends. He walks into the bar and is welcomed by raised glasses, which makes him feel better already. Patrick grabs a draft at the bar and has a seat with his friends at a corner booth. Everyone scoots out of the way so he can sit next to Ronnie, at Ronnie’s request.

“You’re just the guy I’ve been needing to see,” Ronnie says, throwing an arm around Patrick’s shoulders.

Patrick takes a chug of beer and wipes his mouth. “Oh yeah, why’s that?”

“Look, we’ve got something to ask you. We’ve been working on this app for a while now and we need an investor to get the thing launched. We thought maybe you’d want in on it.”

“How much we are talking, Ron?”

“Twenty-five thousand.”

“Twenty-five thousand!”

“If this takes off, you’ll see a return on your investment a hundred-fold.”

“Yeah, if,” Patrick says, sliding his beer across the table and getting up, shaking his head.

“Patty! You haven’t even heard what the app does yet. Come on Pat, come back. Patty?”

#

Patrick takes a long walk over to Maleena’s hoping to catch her before she turns in for the night. From the street below he can see the light still on in her apartment, so he goes up. She answers the door sinching her robe. “Pat, I’m glad you’re here baby,” she says, kissing him hello.

“I’ve had the worst day, Leena.”

“You can tell me all about it in a minute, but first I have to show you this deal I found online. I’m so excited!”

Maleena disappears into the other room and returns with her laptop. “Check out the price for this Vegas vacation! Will you please send me and the girls? Pretty please? I will so make it worth your while.”

“Like you did for the car, the jewelry, the clothes, this apartment…”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Well, today I realized my dad has only been taking me fishing so he could hit me up for a new boat. Ronnie and the gang have only been hanging out with me so I’d invest in their app. Now I’m starting to wonder if your just in it for the money too.”

“Are you calling me a gold-digging whore?”

“No, not necessarily. It would make me feel better if we could take our relationship to the next level. I’m tired of paying for things and then having sex. Move in with me. Go on vacation with me. Marry me. Something that says there is more to us than just money and sex.”

“I’m not ready for all that, Pat. I like our relationship the way it is. And if you are going to propose to me, do it properly.”

Feeling defeated, Patrick stands up and announces he’s going home.

“What about the trip to Vegas,” Maleena asks.

“I’ll sleep on it and let you know in the morning.”

#

Patrick paces the floor of his study. He can’t help thinking about the parallels between his life and his book. Everything he wrote has come true for him, but not as he had imagined it. The idea resonates in his mind; if he wrote his way into this mess, he could write his way out of it. So, Patrick sits down at his computer and begins to type. Seventy-two hours later he has a novella, a sequel to his previous book. It depicts how the people in the antagonist’s life exploit his success and how the antagonist breaks all ties with his social network to find peace. In the end, the antagonist retreats to a cabin by a lake where he continues to write and fish with his loyal dog, away from society.

Patrick saves the file, then deletes it, realizing that we all write our realities whether we put them on paper or not. He goes back over to Maleena’s and breaks up with her in person. He informs her that he will pay three more month's rent, then that’s it. He goes by Marlow’s that night and tells Ronnie and the gang just what he thinks of them. He doesn’t have the heart to say much to his father other than he isn’t buying him the boat.

The next day he calls a realtor and puts his house on the market. The realtor finds him a cabin with a creek running through the property, suitable for fishing. He rescues a dog. An old Golden Retriever by the name of Barny. The two are inseparable. Patrick goes on to publish twenty-eight more books, nine bestsellers. He eventually marries a woman who loves him for him; an aspiring romance novelist who goes on to publish an award-winning series. They have four children, and I’m happy to say, they live happily ever after.