The Author

by Brian Sallee

His mind was plagued with uncertainty, nothing made sense; dragons, witches, orcs, elves, aliens, spaceships, monsters, clones, the very fear of ultimately finding himself alone was frightening to say the least. So many stories, so many tales of heroes wielding powerful magic to stave off the hordes of the damned; saviors battling the legions of oppression from the coldest, darkest reaches of space. There were so many choices, so many metanarratives to choose from. Words would finally begin to clot and form barely coherent sentences.

Caffeine flooded his senses and he could feel the blood rush through his veins. Uncertainty. Nonexistence. This must be what a mortal god felt before creating something new and exciting. Histories would be written, worlds sculpted, beings created, entire civilizations and new races begun, a sandbox in which the universe existed. What would be created, though? Could a universe exist without an impassioned author or would it fall into decay?

The clicking of his mechanical pencil echoed off of the walls in the overly empty room. He was so lost within his own thoughts that the hum of the florescent lights had drowned out against the vast oceans and majestic stars that would soon be created. Through the shapeless, nonexistent, and lifeless void; a world would soon be created with stories of elves. of dwarves, and of courageous men waging valiant wars against evil, tyrannous men.

This world would be his, sculpted by the hand of an interested creator. The inhabitants would be his creations; all with their own goals, hopes, and dreams. All would be paradise; a garden with a master gardener. He sat for a moment considering what he was about to embark upon. With so much promise and hope there was still the potential for great disappointment. He made the end of his pencil touch the paper and began the ultimate form of creation.

He began to write.

At the subatomic level, massive explosions shook the foundations of the universe as friction transferred graphite to the paper. There was light. There was water. There was land. There were birds in the air and fish in the sea. There were new and fascinating animals. Perhaps the most interesting and the grandest of all; humanity finally sprung forth. It was perfect. It was beautiful. It was good. It was the greatest story to have ever been written.