The unwritten story
You know that story I was going to write? The one that I’ve been building up to for weeks now. Well, I was all set to write it. (And why not? This story was tailor-made for me.) But then I got busy and had to put it aside. Of course, I thought about it day and night. I had a great opening line all set – a real grab you by the collar and slap you across the cheek opener, the kind of line you find yourself smiling over for hours afterward. The tantalizing directness of that opening line segued nicely into the body of the story. Mind you, I didn’t actually write a word of this; it was all stored in my head. At first I went down some familiar paths: I stated the obvious; poked fun a bit; afforded myself a few tongue-in-cheek jabs; subtly embedded my own prejudices; poked fun some more. You can picture it, can’t you? Surely, you can see the story laid out in your mind as I would have written it. You can probably guess how a few of the gags might have gone. That’s the thing about the writers we read regularly. They set the table in a familiar fashion. We come to expect certain things from them. Yes, but I had a few surprises in store. I couldn’t just let this story end in a predictable way. Not this one. So I marched right up to the penultimate paragraph and then I twisted it ever so slightly. It was great; really funny. You would have liked it, I’m sure. But I wasn’t quite through. For the denouement, I needed something more. A double-twist. The ending of a story is always the hardest to write. That’s why so many stories don’t really end at all – they just stop. Or they try too hard and fall flat, which is even worse. I struggled with the ending of this story for days. Then one night as I was flossing my teeth in the bathroom, it just hit me. A little piece of meat that had been lodged between two molars flew off the taught string of dental floss and caught me on the forehead. And just like that I had my ending. So obvious, yet unexpected. It was the kind of clue that was right there in the story all along if you were observant enough to see it. Wow. What a beauty. I was all set to piece this baby together when I had a horrifying thought: I was too late. This was a topical story. Flaming hot just two weeks ago. But now? Wouldn’t you agree that the window of opportunity for this particular topic has passed? I mean, wouldn’t this story fall flat on its face given where we are right now? All that water under the bridge. I know. It’s disappointing. Still, you’ve got to do what’s right. Sometimes you have to cut your losses and just let go. This is what I intend to do. Erase the memory banks. Move on. Besides, I’m already considering another story idea. You’ll never guess what this one is about. Or maybe you will. You of all people.
9:21:32 PM  Stories
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