Chapter 5
722 Words
Fabian and Charlie were treated like royalty for the next few days. Their smallest wish was the merfolks’ command, and they were never allowed outside the palace without an escort or tour guide of some sort. In moments of privacy, the two boys discussed their adventure so far and what Fabian’s third and final story would be like. But Fabian would never give away any details no matter how small.
“Why not?”, Charlie asked for the umphteenth time.
“Because a good writer NEVER gives away any spoilers!”
“Gee,” Charlie sighed. “How are we supposed to prepare for the next world if we don’t know what to expect?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
“Psst. How did the king know you are the writer, aka the creator of this world? You appeared somewhere in this story?”
Fabian chuckled. “I can give my characters initial knowledge of me if I want to. I’m the creator, man! I can make my characters know anything I want them to.”
“Wow. So you have like, full control over your worlds and how the people or creatures in it are like.”
“Yep.”
Fabian took a deep breath, then he sighed. He looked at Charlie, then back at the horizon where one of the balconies of the palace overlooks. He remained silent for a while, before speaking again.
“There’s only so much that I can control in the real world. Which is why I became a writer. Anything that I want to make happen, will happen. And anything that I don’t want to happen can be avoided.”
Charlie nodded as he listened intently.
“And that’s also why I write Fantasy in particular. Things out of the ordinary, the unusual, the unexpected, the weird, the spectacular, can happen. It’s a good escape from boring, same-old, same-old, ordinary life when you think about it.”
“You treat writing as a form of escapism, huh?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“I have a question.”
“What?”
“If real life is so normal and boring to you, how come you can find inspiration from it to be used in your stories?”
Fabian looked at his best friend and chuckled. “Well, uh, I guess not all of real life is boring. I mean, once in a while something interesting happens and it becomes the inspiration for my stories. But lots of my inspiration came from pretty normal things in life, too.”
“So you also take ordinary things and make a story, or PARTS of a story, out of them?”
“Yeah. I guess that’s what writers can do. They take normal, boring stuff and make magic out of them.”
Charlie smiled and nodded. “You’re a wizard, Fabian.”
“What?”
“I said, you’re a wizard, Fabian.”
“Huh?”
“Dude. You were telling me about Portkeys not too long ago and now you can’t even tell that’s Harry Potter quote? Except change the name Fabian to Harry.”
Fabian stared at Charlie in silence. “Oh, I get it.” And they both burst out laughing.
“Hey, you wanna know a secret?” Fabian whispered.
“Yeah?” Charlie whispered back. Fabian leaned in closer to him.
“That notorious gangster from the Land of Knobbs, Mark III? He was inspired by Marcus’s character.”
“REALLY?”
“Yes. Mark III is the baddest of all the Knobbs. I made Marcus the literal biggest dickhead in that story.”
“Lol. He deserved it.”
“Yeah. He’s no different in real life.”
Just then, a servant of the king entered the balcony and announced that it was dinner time.
“Ok, we’ll be right there.” The servant nodded and left.
“Say, this palace is cool and all but what do you say we go explore your third story, huh?”
“Ok. But first we have to tell the king we’re leaving.”
- Writer
