This is the seventh part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI before continuing.
“What made me think this was a good idea?” Britney’s arms flopped down to her sides as she stared at her computer screen in despair. The cursor kept blinking and she was pretty sure it was mocking her. Another Icarus tried to fly too high and now she was crashing back down to Earth.
“Your muse, remember?”
“No, I don’t remember. I don’t think I remember anything anymore. I’m not even sure I remember my own name, unless it rhymes with something. Does Britney rhyme with anything?”
“Bitch?”
Britney glared at her. “That’s not rhyming, it’s alliteration. And I know you know the difference.”
“OK,” Sarah said, putting aside her Psychology textbook. “Is there anything that says it has to rhyme just because it’s in verse?”
Britney looked pathetically at her computer. “No.”
“OK, then. Write it in freeform.”
There was a long pause before Britney said, “It’s not what I imagined.”
“What in life is ever as we imagined it? Sometimes the finished product actually comes out better than the original concept.”
“When?”
“Like, when I’m on stage and I’m really embodying my character, and I just start doing things I never did in rehearsal, never even thought to do, but it works. In fact, it’s perfect. Haven’t you ever had that happen?”
Britney thought about it. “No. Mostly I just hate everything I write.”
“Come on, you can’t hate everything you write. Otherwise you wouldn’t want to become a playwright.”
“Maybe I don’t want to become a playwright.”
“Of course you do. You love the theater and you love writing.”
“But I hate everything I write.”
“OK,” Sarah said, getting up and gathering her things. “This conversation is going in circles. Time to go get some ice cream.”
“Ice cream won’t make me a better writer.”
“You never know. It might.”
Britney just stared up at Sarah, her brown eyes big and pathetic and her mouth starting to form a pout.
“Oh, come on!” Sarah said, grabbing her friend by one arm and hauling her out of the chair. “At the very least it will cheer you up.”
To be continued…