THE WRITER

II: Words and Magic and Everything in Between

"Write, ink-stained hand. Write fictional words that might come true."

-Fate, Allie Santos

I did not know what to make of him. After seeing him at the creek I rushed back and called Katie.

"I know, I was wrong. You are a great writer!" was the first thing she said when she answered the phone. But I don't think I need that right now.

"Has it ever happened to you?" I asked, mentally kicking myself that what I just said made no sense at all.

"What, Allie?" her answers were curt like she was always trying to find a way to get everything straight to the point. That is one thing I like about her, she doesn't beat around the bush, that's why I take her more than just an editor.

"Hallucinations?" I said and all of a sudden I heard screeching noises in the background followed by Katie's inaudible cursing.

"What's happening, Allie? You are kind of freaking me out. You just submitted a soon to be bestseller. I don't want my writer being locked up in a straightjacket even before that bestseller materializes."

"It's just that..."I tried to find the right words to explain what just happened but with all the infinite possibilities of combing letters to form words, I cannot seem to tell her exactly what just happened without sounding insane. "I think you will probably think I'm crazy after I say this."

"I kind of have the inclination that you are when you first said the word hallucinations."

"Katie, the story I just wrote, it came true!" I can almost see her narrowing her eyes after I said that.

"Was it based on a true story?"

"No! It came true! Katie, the man I wrote, he is alive."

"I do not like the idea of plagiarism, Allie."

"I am not plagiarizing anything!" I said finally giving up having to explain what just happened. "It just seems like what I am trying to write, it is like, they are coming true."

I hear her car roar again in the background, she has probably gotten over with what I just said. "Every writer can get a little mixed up with reality and the world she's trying to create. It is normal, Allie. Brace yourself. In the next words you will be writing, you'll be living in that fictional world and can only get out as soon as you finish it."

She hangs up the phone and I cannot help but wish that she is right about everything. I dialed her number again, she answered on the third ring.

"Relax, Allie. It is going to be okay. Every writer is insane in his or her own way."

"Has it ever happened to you?" I asked again not knowing why I ever thought about it with everything that just happened.

"What?" she seemed calm now, I don't think she's expecting another bout of craziness.

"You know, the heart fluttering. The sudden shortness of breath. The butterflies in the stomach?"

She laughed despite my serious tone, "Of course I have. I am engaged, you know."

"Even with someone you just met?"

She paused, and I can hear her steady breaths as if trying to think through her words before she says them, finally she spoke. "They say love at first sight is real. But it will take a whole lot of magic for me to believe that it exists. I'm hanging up, okay? Try to write quickly and send everything to me once you're done." She hangs up before I can even protest.

Magic.

I think it's real, Katie. I wanted to tell her that. I didn't believe it at first, and I am obviously trying my hardest to justify everything right now, but I think it exists. He came in the most unexpected way I can ever imagine. It is the first time I ever saw him. And I am still not quite sure whether he's real or he's just some hallucination. But I cannot deny the feeling I felt when his hand grazes on mine. That sudden shift of emotions when he looked straight into my eyes.

I feel my heartbeat loud in my chest, this is going to be insane. But then what in the world that is lovely ever felt sane?

It exists, Katie. Love at first sight, exists.

AIDEN

There is a strange and hollow ache in his chest when she left. He placed his hand in his chest but felt no heartbeat. He was not alive, he was quite sure of that, but a voice had said that he wasn't dead either.

He was aware of her in the minute he saw her. Somehow her loneliness is what that draws her to him. He remembers quite a bit about his past but not all of it, only the little things that make up of who he really is.

He remembered his brother telling him that he liked spreading sunshine especially to lonely people, maybe that's why he can feel that strange feeling in his chest where his heart used to be.

"You're not supposed to feel anything," a voice said out of nowhere. A voice who later on told him that he was Death.

He tried hard to mask each and every expression he pulls when he thinks of the girl and when is she going to get back. Part of him wanted to know her more, he couldn't deny that. Part of him wanted to know why she throws wishes everywhere and every time she gets as if they will instantly come true but then part of him, a huge part that is, wanted to go back and live the life he used to live.

He remembered once again his brother telling him he liked spreading happiness and sunshine to everyone he meets because he is a happy person like that. His thoughts came back to the present when he heard footsteps growing nearer and nearer.

And then he saw her. Her eyes still wide with surprise but she looks as if she knows he will still be there.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

He knows he shouldn't feel anything, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Especially when the time comes that he continues to feel that strange feeling in his chest when he saw her staring at him.

He'll be spreading pain and darkness instead when it does.

He is not supposed to feel anything. He told that to himself over and over.

"What do you want?" she demanded again.

Let's get this over with, is what he said to himself.