Elated to see the Teseral gone at last, his former subjects could finally be free.
Ben glared at the rough draft he had just written, checked the time, and then slouched into his desk chair.
"One down, several thousand to go," he sighed.
He was trying one of those prompts where you start with the last sentence of a story and then work backwards.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he never managed to finish anything.
Sure, he got a few short stories published, and he did like some of them.
But he had an ambition to write something truly great, which probably explains why he spent an entire year planning the story before he even started writing it just now.
Ben had a TV turned to the news, which served as background noise to help him focus.
Or at least, that's what he'd tell himself so he'd feel less guilty about procrastinating.
A news reporter started talking about a "recent tragedy."
Ben let out a chuckle and pretended to ask the news reporter, "Which one?"
There were so many headlines in the past few years about tragic events that he no longer felt shocked about them.
If anything, he'd feel disappointed that his show was a work of fiction and that he couldn't actually do anything to stop them.
He figured the most he could do is to embrace that whole "art reflect life" mentality, and incorporate more topical elements into his writings, with the hope that people could relate and maybe even do something (whatever that means).
Just then, his phone beeped.
"What's this?" thought Ben as he picked up his cell phone.
1 NEW TEXT MESSAGE FROM "INDY"
"Indy" was the nickname he gave to Kai Green.
They'd managed to stay in touch for some time; even though her character on the show wasn't exactly a unanimous fan favorite, he did like her a lot.
Hey! I'm taking a bus into town later today. Wanna meet up?
Ben was pleasantly surprised by this, though he figured that might've been the point.
He thought for a moment.
"Eh, I could use a little break."
He answered her text.
Sure. When?
She responded.
Around 11
Ben was about to check his schedule when she immediately sent a follow-up text.
Funny, I kind of expected you to ask me when I get off
Ben chuckled a little.
You know, I actually didn't think of that, but it's probably for the best
He bid her farewell, put the phone down, moved away from his computer, and then started getting ready.
. . . . .
A/N: There's a fan theory that the main characters in the Mario games are all just actors. This story exists in a universe that functions under a similar premise.
Reviews are appreciated.