Mary-Beth always wanted to be a writer.
She thought they lived such glamorous lives. How else would they come up with such ideas and situations. Of course wanting to be a writer and actually writing were two very separate things.
Her trunk was filled with partially filled or empty journals. Each one from a different town. She likes to think that it was just for back up. Just in case she loses one, she has… twenty others to replace it. Whenever Tilly or Karen would ask if she had finished that story she had shown them months ago; Mary-Beth would break into a cold sweat and stammer.
"N-not yet! Just a bit of a roadblock!"
She needed to just finish one story.
Just one.
So she set out just to do that one night. Everyone had gone to sleep and she settled by the light of the fire, a pen poised over the blank first page of a new journal from Valentine.
And wrote nothing.
Her mind was blank.
She stared at that blank first page for hours. She crossed her legs, uncrossed them, adjusted, readjusted, before finally just settling on the ground staring listlessly up at the starry sky.
A little face appeared over her, fist rubbing the sleep from his eye.
"What are you doing up, Jack?"
"I had a bad dream and I didn't wanna wake mama. Father gets pretty grumpy when I do."
Mary-Beth nods as she sits up, patting the floor beside her.
"Wanna sit with me until you get sleepy again?"
Jack nods and sits beside her, crossing his legs as he stares into the flames. His tired eyes watched them dance and she nudges his shoulder with her arm.
"Wanna tell me what the dream was about?
Jack hesitates before shaking his head, his hair falling into his eyes. She nods, she never liked talking about her bad dreams either. They sit in silence, listening to the night. The call of the animals remind her of something she heard in town.
"Want to hear a story? It's about the mighty Jackalope."
"What's a Jack-Jack-"
"Jack-a-lope. It's a cross between a deer and a jackrabbit."
Jack's eyes grow big and she can already see the questions forming.
"Hold on, hold on! Give me just a moment to get settled. Ok, so once upon a time there were two brothers. One was the mighty deer and the other was the swift rabbit. They would chase each other through the fields, each trying to outwit the other. One day the rabbit challenged the deer to a race. Whoever made it to the top of the mountain first would get the losers most prized possession. The deer agreed and the other animals gathered to watch."
Jack settles closer, eyes wide in excitement.
"The alligator snapped it's tail against the water and off they ran ask quick lightning. Through the fields and forests, over streams and rivers of trees they raced. Fish jumped from the water to cheer them on. Birds flew above them, calling to the other animals who was in the lead. They kept running until they reached the foot of the mountain. The deer and rabbit hopped from rock to rock, climbing the steep cliffs and running through the deep snow. Finally the finish line came into view and the rabbit gave a mighty leap. His brother not be out paced, jumped as well. They landed in the snow and everyone held their breath. A pair of long ears popped out, little face dusted with snow. Rabbit had won! All the animals cheered as the rabbit jumped about happily. The deer as promised gave the rabbit its most prized possession, its own set of horns, and that is how the Jackalope came to be."
Mary-Beth looked down to see Jack's eyes closed, a smile on his face. She smoothed the hair back from his forehead as a soft hand touched her shoulder. Abigail slowly pulled him into her arms as she mouthed thank you. She watches them walk away before she picks up her pen and begins to write.