A short story in which two characters in a teenage girl's imagination try to give her inspiration for a story, but seem to have writer's block themselves.
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The sky was a golden yellow as the sun set behind the autumn leaves of the forest that surrounded the calm glassy lake beneath reflecting the beauty above it. Sam sat on top of the hill, looking out over the still landscape. It was something beautiful - refreshing actually. If he had a choice, he would stay there forever. He would make sure that every story was in that specific setting.
"I see you're trying to mess her mind up again."
Sam turned towards the voice and saw his best friend and only other occupant of their little world, Aaron, looking at him with a quirked eyebrow and a exquisite mountain scene behind him. "Me? You're the one screwing up the setting."
"Trust me, I'm not. If I was, I would turn into Erin," Aaron said as he quickly morphed into the female version of his character.
Sam felt embarrassed as he looked at his best friend and found her - him? - attractive. Aaron knew that he did and he always found joy in making Sam squirm. Erin's flannel was more loosely fitted, paired with a tighter pair of skinny jeans and a knee length pair of brown boots. Stupid Aaron knowing exactly what could drive Sam up the wall.
Erin smirked at Sam. "I find it a little awkward that you're drooling over me."
"Not only are you messing with her head, you're messing with mine. Quit feeding her these ideas," Sam groaned, throwing his head back.
“I only do it out of brotherly love,” Erin joked, her arms folded across her chest.
Suddenly, the scene behind Erin changed and she turned back into Aaron. He walked toward Sam, taking a seat on the rock next to his friend. "So, have we given her any ideas yet?"
"I don't know. I think that she should use this as the setting though," Aaron stated as he scanned the calming view. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
“So aesthetic,” Sam mocked.
Aaron just chuckled and didn’t respond with any words. As the two sat in silence, his mind reeled trying to come up with the best idea that he could. In a way, he felt bad that there weren't any ideas flowing in her mind yet and that he was failing getting her mind flowing with any. He tried to generate ideas, but it was harder than it seemed because she couldn't - or wouldn’t - latch onto an idea and run with it. Sam missed that feeling - the feeling of a story being pursued, his and Aaron’s lives becoming quite a bit more interesting. The girl would take him and create a character based off his personality in stories she wrote and Sam always felt exhilarated when he would suddenly change from his normal self and be thrown somewhere that he hadn't even thought of. He loved the spontaneous adventures because he didn’t know what was going to happen or where he was going to end up.
His favorite part of the adventures were that he was always friends with Aaron or a character based off him.. They were always somehow connected to one another. There were a few times when they were enemies and after the adventure finished, Sam would feel bad that he had involuntarily hated his partner in crime. Both of them knew that they couldn't help it, but they still felt guilty about it and spent a while trying to make up for it.
"I don't know what we could suggest. I feel like she likes this setting. She hasn't changed it yet," Sam spoke up, disturbing the bliss of silence.
"What could we do that would make her decide on what to write about here though? It's too peaceful to throw in a serial killer or anything like that," Aaron answered, not taking his eyes off of the lake so far below them.
“You would suggest a serial killer. Why are you so obsessed with murdering me?” Sam joked.
“You could say that I’m a murderer in the making,” he smirked. While it would be a joke to actual people, in their world, there was a chance that he could become one for a short time.
Sam changed into his girl-self and looked at Aaron, who seemed oblivious to the sudden gender change until Sam spoke in a feminine voice. "We could try to do a romantic thing. It seems like the perfect setting for that kind of story."
Aaron looked over at Sam with a smirk on his face. "I know how irresistible I am, but I don't know. A romance idea isn't really appealing."
“Keep telling yourself that. I would rather hang myself with a chain link noose,” Sam sassed.
“That is the most touching thing you’ve ever said to me. It brings a tear to my eye,” Aaron teased.
Sam just rolled his eyes, unamused with Aaron, and turned back to his original male form. He looked across the tops of the fall trees that were gracefully blowing in the slight breeze as he dug through his imagination. Being a figment of imagination, Sam never usually drew a blank when it came to trying to figure out a story. His mind was normally overflowing with ideas, but it was like his imagination was awaiting maintenance like that escalator at the mall that was never fixed. It angered Sam because his imagination was something that he relied on..
"You know what would be a real plot twist?" Aaron spoke calmly as he leaned back on his elbows.
"What?"
"If she was writing about us right now. Writing about our struggles of having our own writer’s block," he snorted.
"There isn't anything to write about though. It’s not like we’re doing anything extravagant," Sam pointed out.
"You’re right; there isn't anything climactic, but there is something entertaining about us struggling. Neither of us can come up with a good story idea when we usually can and we’re spitting out ideas and being smart asses. If she would've gotten inspiration, everything would've changed by now. We wouldn't be sitting here and admiring an imaginary landscape; we would be murderers chasing victims or fangirls trying to find Evan Peters,," he explained.
“Evan Peters? Who even is that?” Sam asked, chortling a laugh.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I’ve seen him around before,” Aaron told him. “Probably someone from her world.”
Sam took a moment and thought about what Aaron had said previously. It made complete sense. It was like they were having writer's block and she was using that to make a little blurb of something. While Sam was used to being aware that he was starring in her stories, he felt uneasy that he had been thrown into it just like that. He wasn't "gifted" a certain portrayal or motive to make a plot. He was just himself. Just Sam. Aaron was just Aaron.
"Could the climactic part be us figuring out that the lack of story is the story?" Sam wondered. It was a valid guess.
"That's what I'm saying," Aaron said. "It's clever if you really think about it. She tricked us without technically knowing it."
Sam let out a snort. It was like a parallel universe in her brain. She didn't realize that Sam and Aaron were the majority of her main characters in this little world that she created nor did she realize that they were the ones that gave her ideas for her stories. She was of the thinking that it just came to her and she didn't have any help from anyone in developing the ideas. They were the ones that gave her the sensation of inspiration. Though to her, Sam and Aaron were just images in her mind with certain personality characteristics - almost like the Sims video game. She was oblivious to the fact that the two of them were living in her world as if it were a real place.
Sam wished that he and Aaron had the ability to transfer into her world so they could meet her, befriend her. That way she would know that they were “real” people and that they were responsible for all of the story ideas she’s come up with. Sam was the only one that felt that way it turned out. He had talked with Aaron before about it and he preferred it be the way it was. Aaron was like that - stubborn and not a fan of change. Sam understood, but he didn’t like it sometimes because he wanted to explore different things. He wanted to experience things different than the realities in their world. He wanted the chance to give her inspiration as a friend instead.
Perhaps she would hear Sam’s thinking and use it in a story one day. It would be one hell of a bestseller if Sam had anything to say about it.
