He wrote in his home office, a small room with a window not much bigger than a large broom closet. The walls were covered with pictures he liked, some of family, others like a World War II fighter pilot, and several pin-ups from days gone by. Fishing rods in one corner and a broken printer that he intends to get rid of one day in another. His desk was saved from the jaws of a garbage truck, old school with years of use everywhere you looked. Initials with hearts and dates that meant something to someone. He'd sometimes catch himself rubbing a heart and wonder if the carver was still among us.
His chair was decades old, with one roller gone and replaced with cardboard and duct tape that did the job. The armrests were worn from years of use, much like the desk, and he often found himself wondering who the person was, assuming they were a writer of some kind. Maybe they wrote for a newspaper ages ago, wrote children's books, or wrote graphic novels.
Many nights when the urge to write overcame him, he'd light a couple of candles and turn on a vintage lamp with an amber bulb, just enough light to write. He never knew what he would write until a word turned into a sentence and sentences into paragraphs. Write, delete, write some more, delete, and try again until he was satisfied that a story was told.
He never thought of himself as a great writer; he just believed it was a gift of sorts that he didn't take lightly. Years passed, and countless stories were written in that small room with fighter pilots and pin-ups on the walls and a seldom-used fishing pole gathering dust in a corner. He had carved his own heart and the dates he wanted to remember on the top of the desk, and every so often, he rubbed his hand across it as memories flooded back and lost loves filled his mind.
He wrote his last story sitting at the desk saved from the jaws of the garbage truck, rolling his chair with the broken wheel to take a break and look out the window, he hoped would inspire him one more time, until the words no longer flowed and one last story was written.
Many nights when the urge to write overcame him, he'd light a couple of candles and turn on a vintage lamp with an amber bulb, just enough light to write. He never knew what he would write until a word turned into a sentence and sentences into paragraphs. Write, delete, write some more, delete, and try again until he was satisfied that a story was told.
He never thought of himself as a great writer; he just believed it was a gift of sorts that he didn't take lightly. Years passed, and countless stories were written in that small room with fighter pilots and pin-ups on the walls and a seldom-used fishing pole gathering dust in a corner. He had carved his own heart and the dates he wanted to remember on the top of the desk, and every so often, he rubbed his hand across it as memories flooded back and lost loves filled his mind.
He wrote his last story sitting at the desk saved from the jaws of the garbage truck, rolling his chair with the broken wheel to take a break and look out the window, he hoped would inspire him one more time, until the words no longer flowed and one last story was written.
Mike 2026
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