POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

D’Wannas

 By Nandy Ekle

The alarm rings and my eyes open long enough to turn it off, then they close again. I turn over and force my eyes open and feel the sand under my lids pull my eyes closed again. I roll out of bed, stumble into clothes and start my day. I look at the stove and the breakfast foods and all I can think is, “I d’wanna.”

I get to my desk at the office, turn on the computer and look at my tasks. The voice inside my head speaks up again. “I d’wanna.”

“What does that mean?” I ask the voice.

“This is not what I wanna do today,” it answers back.

“I wanna sit on the couch and play games.”

“We can’t do that,” I say. “We have things to do.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?” The voice is insistent.

“We have to make our living, then we have stories to write.”

“D’wanna.” It stamps its foot like a toddler.

“Here. I’ll show you how fun is it.” The voice turns its head with mild interest. I put my hands on the computer and mentally open a door inside my head. A third voice joins the conversation as my character steps out of the room and begins to tell me her story. I type as fast as I can to keep up as the character’s voice gets louder and faster and pretty soon I’m having a ball.

Suddenly I realize the toddler’s voice, the one with the d’wannas is gone and my story is written and I feel satisfied.

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