Little White Muse

     I'd just finished my favorite breakfast-BBQ omelette-and had changed out of my pajamas into some jeans and a white t-shirt. Afterwards, I went for a brisk run, took a hot bath, changed back into my clothes, cracked my knuckles, grabbed my favorite pen… and got down to work.

     I've been a writer all my life. While other Lupes my age romped around and practiced their athletic skills, I stayed inside and wrote stories. Even so I was urged to keep in shape, which I did faithfully, and excelled academically. I was a bright young pup-anyone can tell you that.

     But there is one obstacle even the best and most talented of writers cannot avoid. A terrible state of the mind that dulls dreams and clouds thought. A disease of the brain all writers detest and have dubbed, with great disdain, "writer's block".

     And I was having writer's block worse than I'd ever had it in my entire life.

     Only recently had I been accepted into the Neopian Times with a series about a detective who explores the unexplained. I called it The Alabaster Chronicles. Surprisingly, it was a smash hit. I received gifts from adoring fans and was flooded with neomails of support and encouragement. Needless to say, I certainly had the motivation to write more for the Neopian Times.

     I stared down at the almost completely blank sheet of paper on the desk before me. My fingers, clutching my basic pen, twitched as I read what I had written.

      Untitled

     By Phinnaeus Lupine

     The sun

     I looked at the words, sighing deeply. I'd toiled for three days, and had two words to show for it. My story was going nowhere, and I had no idea how to continue it.

     The sun… What did the sun do? Was it shining? Was it a cloudy day? What colors did it shine with? Was it a good day?

     I slowly descended into a spiral of confusion. What was I even getting at? When I tried to think of description, my thought well went dry. I stared at the piece of paper, fumbling for the right way to show what I was feeling… but the tip of my pen didn't touch the paper.

     I decided to get my mind off of writing, and to wake myself further I went to the bathroom to splash some cold water in my face. Perhaps if I was livelier, I could think more clearly?

     Sunlight shone in through the windows, and I realized that sweat was dripping down the sides of my face. With a breathy sigh I took a step towards the window, grabbed its bottom edge, and pulled it open. A breeze fluttered in, blowing the curtains and bringing me instant relief. The piece of paper flapped idly in the wind; my favorite pen lay still.

     I continued to the bathroom, twisting the faucet on and filling the sink with water. After what seemed like an eternity, I reached down with cupped hands and brought some to my face, wiping my cheeks and brow. With a sigh I brought another handful of water to my face, savoring the relief it gave me.

     Rubbing my eyes again, and drying my hands on a towel, I sighed and entered the study. The piece of paper still lay on the desk; the pen still lay atop it. Its blankness beckoned me, but I did not feel inspired in the slightest. Trying to get my mind off of writing I turned to a bookshelf, selected one of my favorites, and sat down on the white armchair nearby.

     Only moments after I'd begun reading, I realized that the room was too cold-the breezes from the open window were no longer that relieving. With a sigh I set down my book and stood up, ready to head over to the window to shut it. As I glanced over at it, however, I saw something I would have never expected.

     It was a white Weewoo.

     The peculiar petpet stared at me blankly for a moment, sitting quite comfortably on the open windowsill. Without much thought it wandered onto the top of my desk, looked down at my nearly blank sheet of paper, and then stared at my favorite pen. It glanced up at me with beady, expectant eyes, as if contemplating a choice-then, before I knew it, the pen was in its talons.

     "Hey!" I snapped, running forward to snatch my pen back. After all, it was my lucky pen! It was the pen I'd used all through the writing of The Alabaster Chronicles and the thought that it would not be there would, undoubtedly, drive me further into writer's block.

     Running to the window was a bad mistake. The Weewoo, now alarmed, took my advance as a threat and leapt nimbly out the window. With a grunt I poked my head out into the open air, and stared around for the Weewoo. Where had it gone? As if to answer me, a soft cooing call sounded out beneath me. I stared down.

     The Weewoo stared up at me, securely perched on the branch of a tree just below the window. The pen was now clutched in its beak. Its eyes flashed at me, almost as if it were trying to tell me something.

     "Stupid Weewoo," I muttered, slamming the window shut and dashing downstairs as quickly as my feet could carry me. I burst through the kitchen and into the front hall towards the front door, which I threw open. It heard it snap back and slam shut-I didn't care at all-and I flew across the front yard, only turning to charge down to the side of my house which my study's window overlooked.

     I stared up at the tree branch that the Weewoo still sat on. It stared at me again, the pen clutched firmly in its beak, a sort of satisfied grin on its face.

     "Stupid Weewoo!" I shouted again. The Weewoo hooted, still quite content. I stared up at it angrily. What did it want from me?

     "Just give me back my pen!"

     "Woo." The Weewoo shrugged, turning away.

     I walked briskly over to the tree trunk, wrapped my paws around it, and began to shake it furiously. Leaves rustled overhead-the white Weewoo let out an unhappy hoot and leapt from its branch. It landed on the ground, and with speed unlike anything I'd ever seen it dashed across to the backyard.

     "This is really getting old," I murmured to myself, pursuing it. I had to get my pen back. It was the only thing that kept me going!

     "Dear Fyora, do I really neglect my backyard this much?"

     I stared out disgustedly at the mess of tangled thorns and shrubs that sparsely blanketed my backyard. The Weewoo, as nimble as an acrobat, seemed to almost dance as it flipped and dodged the obstacles. A feeling of dread swept over me as I realized where it was headed-the "tranquil" pond in my backyard.

     Oh, joy.

     "Give it here!" I shouted at the Weewoo futilely, trying as best I could to follow it through the thorns and vines that coated the ground. A thorny vine caught and tore at my leg-I winced-and it was then that I swore that I'd chop down every bush in the stupid place when this fiasco was over.

     It wasn't two seconds after that promise to myself that my foot caught on a tree root, and I toppled head first into a briar patch.

     "Yaaaaaaaah!"

     I flew up like a coiled spring, landing down with a thump directly on my tail. I winced, rising to my feet sorely.

     The Weewoo had stopped its merry little dance to the pond and was now staring at me with those beady black eyes and that stupid little smirk. I wanted to chuck a rock at it. Why wouldn't it just give me the pen for Fyora's sake?!

     "You stupid Weewoo!" I shouted. "Just give me back the pen!"

     I charged after it, limping, the wounds caused by the thorns stinging in my face, the palms of my paws, and my leg.

     The Weewoo only stepped forward to reach the edge of the pond. "Woooooo," it murmured in a mere melodic whisper.

     I couldn't believe it-I was only two feet away from my beloved pen! The Weewoo was transfixed by the pond. Looking over at it, I realized how unkempt the pond was, too. The water was brown and murky; leaves were scattered across its surface and a thin layer of scum had formed.

     The little white Weewoo didn't move. I didn't dare breathe. I slowly readied myself to pounce.

     One… Two… Three!

     I lunged for the Weewoo, paws outstretched, a determined gleam in my eyes. It was mine…!

     "Wooooo!" it hooted, flipping gracefully like a white ninja through the air. It splashed down in the center of the pond, disappearing beneath the surface.

     "My pen!" I cried, and without thinking I dove after it.

     It wasn't long before I was completely soaked. I vaguely realized how crazy I really was-I was going mental over a pen. But it was the only thing I had left, apart from a worthless sheet of paper with two words that meant nothing.

     I had to have it. And no little white menace was going to stop me from getting it.

     As I approached the center of the pond, brown water dripping from my hair, I noticed a white head bob above the surface.

     The Weewoo.

     "I got you!" I cried, thrusting a paw forward, but my hands clutched nothing.

     My favorite pen floated haphazardly on the surface, looking as if it would sink at any moment. I seized my chance and snatched it, but my eyes wandered elsewhere. The white Weewoo, the pesky little thief, had vanished!

     Well, at least I had my pen.

     I swam to the bank of the pond, pulling myself out and staring at the small pool of water before me. A flash of white caught my eye; I glanced over at where I had seen it.

     But there was nothing.

     To this day I'm not sure if that was the white Weewoo, the source of all my trouble, but I believe it was. What else could it have been?

     In any case I made my slow and weary way back to my house, ready to take a nice, long bath for the second time that day.

     ***

     I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked alright, now-I didn't look angry, or frustrated, or even tired. My face had a nip here and there from when I fell into the briar patch, but otherwise I looked okay. With a sigh of relief I headed back out to my desk.

     I'd learned two important lessons that day. The first was never to mess with a white Weewoo. The second was to always keep my backyard in good condition.

     As I entered the study, I stopped by my desk and opened the window-just a crack this time, though. I stared down at my pen, still dripping with pond water. I wiped it off with the edge of my t-shirt, my eyes still cast down at the desktop.

     The sun

     And suddenly, I knew exactly what to write. And it certainly wasn't "the sun".

     My eyes flashed victoriously; I sat down in the chair, crumbling the paper into a ball and tossing it behind me. I immediately drew another piece of paper, a blank sheet. I readied my pen.

     My writer's block was gone.

     And my story began like this:

     "It began one bright and uneventful morning in the Month of Sleeping…"

The End