Title: Writer's Block
Disclaimers: I don't own anything, and no one would pay me for it anyway. Certainly not Stephen King.
A/N: Written for 15minuteficlets on LJ
The word was incomplete
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Mort Rainey stares at the computer screen.

He has, in fact, been staring at the exact same thing for the last month or so. The same last lines from the same last chapter.

The publishers have been hounding him ever since the manuscript was due, which was about the same time he'd started his daily pastime of staring at the computer. One of their people even came to Mort's cabin, only to get a door shut in his face. After a call to his publisher to leave him the fuck alone and that they'd get their bloody manuscript when he'd finished it, he unplugged the phone and promptly threw it across the room.

And it all had been going so well. When he started his new novel, magic seemed to come from his fingertips and appear on screen at his command. The novel had practically written itself. He'd stay up all night, forgetting to eat, and even going to the bathroom seemed too much a burdensome task if it meant parting from his masterpiece.

And a masterpiece it is, Mort thinks. Except for one detail.

He hasn't a clue how it ends.

It is 2pm, which means that he has been staring at this screen for the last three hours. He pushes the computer away. He's surprised that he even got so far down in the story without an ending. He of all people should know that the ending it the most important part.

Ever since he's started this novel, Mort's gotten back into some old habits. Like not changing the clothes he wore to bed and around the cabin. Like sleeping on the stuffed couch downstairs. Like never brushing his hair.

Mort yawns and stretches back in his seat. Perhaps it's time for another nap.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Rainey?" A familiar drawl, that Mort isn't surprised to hear. He swivels in the chair and John is standing with his hat like Mort expects him to be.

"Well, what do you think?" Mort replies irritably. He's come to terms with the fact that John will pop up at odd moments for the rest of his life. He likes to think they have a mutual understanding. "It's writer's block."

"Maybe you should let me have a look at it." Mort thinks that John is mocking him, and is about to point out that it is his story, when he rememebers who John is.

No, Mort thinks. Better not remember.

"Go ahead," Mort says. "I've got nothing to lose."

It was Mort Rainey who pushed the computer away, but it is John Shooter who slides it back again.

"Don't you worry, Mr. Rainey. I'll find an ending to your story."

After all, John is an author too. (17min?)