I pressed my lips together thoughtfully, wondering why I agreed to agree to my friend's request. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is John Doe, and I'm on my way to visit a childhood friend of mine. She's a college student at San Francisco's Academy of Art. Now why did she ask me to come down and visit her? I honestly hadn't a clue.
I stepped onto the train after handing over my ticket and settled in an empty booth. I sank into the comfortable chair and placed my laptop bag on the table. I did have several hours to kill before reaching San Fran so why not try to write something? I pulled out some binder paper and a pen out of my bag and stared at the blank lined paper for a moment. The shifting of my bag told me the train has left the station. I sat staring at blank pages for what seemed like an eternity when I sighed and decided to stare out the window. I twirled my pen between my fingers and watched city landscape quickly pass by. Half an hour of this and my muse has not struck me. I lightly tapped the end of my pen on the table mentally cursing the dreaded writer's block.
That's okay. If nature won't inspire I can find prompts that will. I booted up my Notebook and searched Google for something to get my creative juices flowing. I found one that was interesting. Write how you would react if you were placed in your favorite video game. I'm sure this is the prompt of all those self insert novelization stories of many great games, but I figure why not give it a shot. I put pen to paper and scribbled. After about five or so minutes I read my work. I tsked and crossed it out because it sounded like the typical beginning of aforementioned story type. I picked another prompt and scrawled out my thoughts. This process continued until my first paper was just a bunch of crossed out writing. I sighed again and crumpled the paper, feeling slightly better for doing so.
"Arriving at San Francisco," chimed an electronic male's voice. I packed my gear and tossed the crumpled paper into a nearby recycling bin. I picked up my bag, adjusted my coat then walked off the train looking for a head of short, wavy auburn hair. I quickly spotted my friend eyeing the time board. "Anita!" She turned her head towards me and smiled. I walked over and she gave me a hug, "It's been awhile John. How are you doing?"
"All right, it's pretty chilly here," I replied with a smile of my own adjusting my scarf. I glanced down and noticed a sketchbook in her hand. That wasn't strange. What was is the left over paper from torn out pages. "I see the muses hasn't struck you either."
She gently grabbed my elbow and led me to a conveniently placed Starbucks inside the station, "No kidding John. I went through five pages before I decided to give up." We chatted softly, catching up on each other's lives and creative pursuits.
"Welcome to Starbucks~ what can I get for you two?" the cashier chirped cheerfully.
"Two hot caramel macchiatos, medium please," Anita replied politely. "Anita."
She sat down at a table near the pick up area. I sat across from her in the warmth of sunlight.
"I have an assignment due soon and nothing has struck me John," Anita complained, folding her arms under chest and tapping the table leg with her foot. "Normally that isn't the case..." I got up to pick up our drinks. I gave her's first then drank from mine.
"What's the theme?" I asked sticking out my tongue because I burned it.
She look amused giving me that 'how many times have I told you to blow on hot drinks before drinking?' look. "Warmth." The moment she said that she was staring at me with a strange expression. "Hold that pose John, this is just what I'm looking for." She pulled out her smartphone and took a quick picture of me. "Don't worry John, I'll chase away that stubborn writer's block. Jeez she's such a clingy girlfriend." I laughed as she shook her fist at the imaginary girlfriend by my side. She wrapped her arm around mine and we left the station. Warmth huh? I discretely glanced down at Anita while she was gushing about this short film a classmate of her's made, her green eyes sparkling brightly as her mouth moved a mile a minute. I silently chuckled with a good feeling settling over us.