Day 254 Writing Short Stories

Notes

The margins in the book were full. She traced the lines with her fingers, trying to read the odd inscriptions. They were written in symbols she didn’t know. A language that had died a long time ago. She felt the text sparkle as her finger brushed it. There was magic in them, a strong and strange kind of magic. Something she had been looking for a long time.

The doorbell chimed as the shop door opened. She lifted her gaze from the book to the door, squinting as her vision was blurry from reading the book in the dim light. An old gentleman had stepped in. He was wearing a fedora and a long coat. He tipped his hat to her and bid a good morning.

The man turned right from the door and headed to the old book collection. She stocked quite a few first editions, rare books, and forgotten ones. Collectors from all over the world pilgrimage to her shop. They sent her requests online, asking her to ship them this and that. She never did. Either they visited the store, or they lived without the book of their desires.

The shop was never full. Not in the way of other stores on the street were. But it was never empty either. And it was like magic that every customer who came in found a book. No one left empty-handed.

She smiled. It was magic.

She returned to her book. This was going to go into her personal collection. She would decipher the symbols and unlock magic that was lost to the world. She had known about the book’s existence. It had been a myth, a lore whispered in the back rooms. And now, here it was. The notes were an unexpected bonus that no one knew existed.

She knew rudimentary magic. Your basic things. But this book would open up another world to her.

Never In Love

She was pretty sure she was incapable of love. She had watched other people fall in love. There were movies and novels about the matter, but she had never felt it, never really understood it. She liked people, in a way. She just didn’t feel anything special towards them or find the need to tie herself to them. Love was what happened to others. It didn’t mix with sex. Sex, she got. It was a pleasure in her body. It was the sensation when everything happened just right. Love was another thing.

She didn’t mind. It was impossible to miss something she didn’t have.

Blind Date

He had never been on a blind date. It was something he had heard happen to others, but when a fellow comedian said that she had someone perfect for him, he said yes. Mostly because he didn’t want to say no to her. No one said no to her.

Here he was, waiting for his date. The restaurant was packed. But he had secured a good table. Now he was waiting for her at the bar. She was supposed to recognize him. Their mutual friend had shown her his picture. He wondered why the woman still wanted to go out with him. Okay, he was not that bad-looking, but he wasn’t good-looking either. Average in all aspects.

He watched as a woman tried to make her way through the bar. She stumbled over everything on her way. Her purse got caught on a waitress’s hand, almost knocking a tray over. Next, she collided with a businessman. Then, with a flower arrangement. And he was pretty sure that she was there to see him.

He gritted his teeth.

He had been right.

“Hi,” the woman said as she arrived.

“That was quite an entrance,” he said.

The woman’s face went red, and he cursed himself to the bottom of the ocean.

“Er, I mean, hi,” he said.

“Have you been here long?” she asked.

“No, I just got here. The table is not ready yet, but can I offer you a drink?”

“Thanks, but no thank you. I don’t drink.”

“Too bad, I think you need one with me,” he said.

“Oh,” she let out.

Fuck, he thought, and wanted to disappear.

“She said you were a comedian, but I didn’t know you were a bad one,” she said.

He laughed. “Definitely a bad one. What would you like if not a drink?”

“Soda would be nice.”

“I get you one.”

The prompts are from the book A Year of Creative Writing Prompts.

I’m so proud of myself! I wrote the love and date prompts. I did it. Okay, they might not be masterpieces, but I don’t care. I didn’t skip them today. Whoo! This calls for celebration.

Now I will cuddle with my writing assistant before I head to work.

Thank you for reading ❤ Have an exciting day!