Not Quite Heaven

There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.

~ Maya Angelou

About 10 years ago, I had a dream that I died.

But, alas, I did not go to Heaven.

However, I didn't head south to the hot place either.

Instead, I was led to a tiny wooden desk. It held an old black typewriter and a stack of white paper about two feet high.

“Have a seat,” I was told by some dude in white.

And as I did, hundreds of folks suddenly appeared in a line behind me.

As I looked them over, I realized that I knew them all.

They were all characters — my characters…

From countless stories I had started and abandoned over the years.

My white-wearing dude friend said, “They've been waiting a long time...

And you've got to finish their stories before we let you in.”

Ugh.

Luckily, I woke up before the first clickety-clack hit the page.

But I have to say that the guilt I experienced in that last moment of the dream stuck with me for quite some time.

These days I still don’t finish every story I start, but I do write more than I did back when my loafing fueled that dream.

So, I’m hoping when my real expiration date comes along…

That line is a whole lot shorter.

PROMPT: Avoid writer purgatory by working on one of your stories today… especially if you have a character who’s been bugging you a lot lately.  Trust me, their kind get rather out-of-line while in the line, so keep ‘em out of it while you still can.