12
Writer's Block
Elise Heyde
A frustrated teenage girl with unwashed hair sat at her laptop in sweats, staring blankly at
the empty word document in front of her. Every second that passed was bringing the twelfth
grader closer to the due date of her paper for her creative writing class. When Kailee had decided to take the class, she had envisioned writing masterful stories using her colorful imagination. Kailee had failed to think through the most important obstacle; how to choose a topic.
Kailee groaned and reached back to tie her long brunette hair up in a ponytail. This was going
to take a while
Kailee could write—she knew that much. Her past English teachers had adored her. Her
college essays were flawless and granted her admission to Fordham, DePaul, and University of
Wisconsin-Madison. However, a topic for a short story was just not coming to her. The only
idea she had was a half-hearted suggestion from her best friend to write about leprechauns. As
if that was best seller material!
She figured it might as well be worth a try. So she began to write about leprechauns.
An hour later, Kailee's first impression had been confirmed. Her friend was an absolute
idiot. The tale of Lucky the Leprechaun's hunt to find the perfect pot of gold was about as interesting as her hunt to find the perfect topic. Maybe she should write a story about that. It was
not even around Saint Patrick's Day for crying out loud.
Kailee heard her alarm go off. Groaning and swearing, Kailee got up from her desk and
and stumbled to her closet, grabbing randomly at clothes and hoping her outfit would match,
but not really caring enough to check. She brushed her teeth and her hair, not even bothering to
put on any mascara. Kailee checked the clock. She had fifteen minutes left.
Kailee decided on a new strategy; Recycling. She figured it was not cheating if she turned
in something she had already written. She clicked on the first short story she could find in her
documents folder and printed it, not even bothering to read it. Kailee grabbed the paper and
shoved it into her backpack, racing out the door the catch the bus.
A week later, Kailee was doodling in her notebook, not paying attention to her English