Short Stories for fun

Excerpts from a missing writer's journal | Story a day #9

There is nothing more terrifying than the blank page.

So don't stare at it. 

Don't even catch a glimpse. Using your peripheral vision is fine to check your surroundings, but for the love of everything that is holy. DON"T STARE AT THE BLANK PAGE.

These words were written in a missing person's journal. It was taken by the police and shown to me. I was just an intern but I'm the one most acquainted with the writing craft, seeing that I've published a few short stories in minor publications myself. I guess I'm their adviser now. There was nothing else suspicious in the room. It was neat and tidy, maybe a little too neat for a single person in a small city apartment. The police couldn't find anything out of ordinary in the room except for this journal, with its first few pages torn away and this note scribbled hastily. The penmanship, according to the Chief Inspector was like that of a child's... or an insane person.

I explained to them that the blank page was indeed a scary thing for writers. It's the thing that we constantly stare at when we're facing the mental battles on our job. Some of the inspectors laughed at this, but it's true. As one who's had daily encounters with blank pages in my life, I can attest that it is indeed terrifying, but really nothing to be afraid of. 

"But defeating a blank page is easy right? You just have to write something." said the CI.

I shrugged. I agreed with him for the most part but that doesn't explain anything about his disappearance. And the note was the only thing out of place in his room. We learned later on from the landlord that his parents were estranged and that the man had no close contacts or friends. He simply sat at home and write, evident from the stacks of journals compiled inside and the rap-tap-tapping of the typewriter every single night.

A typewriter? Huh, that was interesting. The guy was more hardcore than I thought.

That day I photocopied the note and left the original with the evidence file. I don't know why I did it. Perhaps I thought it was funny. I could use it to scare myself silly whenever I don't feel like writing. My novel had been languishing for years. It has not even passed through the developmental stages, and I've hardly passed five thousand words since I conceived of my idea three years ago.

I checked and opened my project file, but there came a weird sensation inside of me. Goosebumps shivered all around my neck. I was alone in my room but I could feel someone watching. Someone else was breathing in here, and it wasn't me.

I looked behind me. Aside from the electric fan blowing away bits of trash and a the swaying of the calendar, there was no other movement.

I felt silly. Of course I was alone, ever since my big sister moved in with her hus----

rap-tap-tap

I felt the hairs on my arms and legs stand up at attention.

A typewriter? Who has a typewriter at this day and age?

Then I remembered the missing person. The guy who warned me to not stare at it. I tried to locate the source of the sound. No - there has to be a rational answer to this? Perhaps somehow someone in the neighborhood has taken a typewriter and started using it? Don't they have a laptop or phone or something?

rap-tap-tap

I jumped. Not because of the sound but because of the source. I swear I heard it from the outside a while ago but not at that moment. The sound... It came from... 

My Computer.

Then, by some form of intuition I knew what I must do.

I opened my project folder to see where I had left off, scrolling down on my word processor to see that last written word.

The word was "die".

And it was the last word on a page.

I pressed enter.

and there I was, completely out of my element. I didn't heed the advice that I was given.

I stared at it.

The blank page.

I stayed at it for two-three hours maybe. As I stared into that page the world moved without me.

Then I remembered what the Inspector said. You just have to write something.

And so I wrote. And this is how it went:

There is nothing more terrifying than the blank page.

So don't stare at it.

Don't even catch a glimpse. Using your peripheral vision is fine to check your surroundings, but for the love of everything that is holy. DON"T STARE AT THE BLANK PAGE.