This short story was inspired by something I witnessed in a bookstore.
I have a longer writing project that I'm working on. I do. But life isn't letting me work on it. And so I dug out another project that I've been working on for a couple of years. I dug it out and reworked it and it became this...
Books were here and books were there and books were everywhere in the bookstore. Emma sat in a cozy chair, turning pages very s-low-ly
"It's time to go, Honey," Grandma called in a sing-song voice.
"Please, Grandma, just one more book."
"Okay, my little bookworm."
Emma pulled two books from the shelf. Before Grandma could say anything, Emma explained, "Even though these look like two books they're really only one because they're both about a dog."
Grandma sighed and then she chuckled and then she waited for Emma to turn the last page in the last book. "Now we have to go."
A book whispered to Emma, Look at me. The book jumped off the shelf and into Emma's hand.
"Your mother is waiting, young lady." Grandma used her we-have-to-go-NOW voice.
The book held on to Emma's hand and refused to let go.
"Okay, I'll buy that book for you," Grandma said.
And she did. And when she did, Emma said, "Thank you for the book, Grandma."
Hand-in-hand, Grandma and Emma left the bookstore, walked through the mall, and went into the food court.
Emma saw Mom sitting at a table.
"There she is," Emma said and called, "Hi" and kept running to Mom.
"Sorry, we're late. Somebody's nose got stuck in a book," Grandma said.
"Not my nose, Grandma. It grabbed hold of my hand and just won't let go. So, so--" Emma opened the bag. "Look at this." She pulled the book out of the bag and showed Mom a picture. "And look at this." She showed her another picture. "And this." Emma kept showing Mom pictures until there were no more pictures to show. "Your turn," Emma told Mom, "You can read the book to me now."
And so Mom read the book.
All too soon, Mom kissed Emma goodbye.
"What would you like to do now, Emma?" Grandma asked.
And Emma said, "I want to go to the bookstore."
"Of course you do." Grandma sighed and then she chuckled and then she followed Emma back to the bookstore.
Written on January 25, 2022 (revised on June 17, 2024)
On this blog in February...
Sharing my author journey...
How 5 Famous Authors Dealt with Writer's Block
and...
Is Writer's Block a Thing?: The Writer's Block Expose
So I thought I'd weigh in--with my solution for Writer's Block. A solution that comes with an unfortunate side effect.
When the pressure to perform--write something amazing--is too great that's when I write for fun. I just pick up my pen (yes, I'm old school) and write. Sometimes this fun writing becomes a short story or a novella or... Sometimes...sometimes it is abandoned and I'm forced to move on to yet another writing project.
This does mean, however, that I have more than one half-finished short story or novella.
Is that a bad thing?
