I groaned, closing my laptop and sliding it across my desk. Through my bedroom window, I saw that the moon had fully risen into the somewhat overcast sky. Its dim rays filtered into the dark room.
Another day had gone by. Another day wasted staring blankly into an even blanker word document. I didn't understand how great writers did it; how they produced masterpieces with such cohesive ideas, interesting characters, and intricate concepts, while my stupid brain couldn't so much as form a few decent sentences without me feeling like the quality would kill me.
Alright, so maybe that's a little dramatic. Or maybe it isn't. It's hard to tell sometimes. Let's just say writers block sucks and be done with it. Okay? Okay.
I flopped onto my bed. My eyes felt heavy and a bit strained from staring at a lit computer screen in the dark for too long. Why hadn't I remembered to turn on the blue-light filter?
Oh right, I guess when you're in the futilely middle of torturing your brain into being awesome, it's easy to forget those simple luxuries.
Turning over on my back, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. It was 1:31 AM. Somehow, I felt even more exhausted as I read that. I definitely needed to sleep soon. If I fell asleep in another one of Mr. Shano's lectures again, he'd never let me hear the end of it. With any luck, the blue-light from the laptop screen wouldn't cause me much insomnia tonight.
Replacing the phone on the nightstand, rolled onto my side. As they often did when I was tired, random thoughts of cool concepts for novels I'd never write floated around in my head. One in particular stuck out to me as I drifted off. A new character I'd thought of today - an otherworldly swordsman, characterized by huge, feathery wings and an absurdly long sword.
This thought was one of many that stayed with me as I finally fell into a deep slumber.
I stood at the crown of the Empire State Building, my gaze flitting across the city that never slept.
The air was frigid, a stark contrast to the ungodly heat of the realm I'd just left. A sudden impulse had seen me trekking through the various circles of the underworld to take care of an old rival whom had been causing trouble in the surface world. The ensuing battle had been good fun. The mad scramble to escape his horned legions had not.
That little misadventure was finished. Now I got to indulge in another, far less violent impulse.
Midnight grey wings unfurled from my back in smokelike wisps. White hot power ran rampant through my veins, exemplified by the incandescent glow my eyes were emitting.
I dove straight off the skyscraper, a grin tugging at my mouth. Cold wind roared past my ears, adrenaline mounting as the pavement below drew nearer and nearer.
A split second before I was a feathery smear on the street, I took off back into the skies like a bat out of hell. Flying was a rush I was unlikely to ever tire of.
I zipped past buildings like an ivory bolt of lightning, divebombing every now and again before taking off above the skyline. The city itself shone like a Christmas tree, and from this view I could take in every radiant detail.
I wouldn't trade this view for the world.
Alas, in another few hours, it would be taken from me again. The moon wouldn't tarry long now. The sky was starting to lighten. Orange and pink were beginning to streak across the horizon.
I sighed, feeling the all too familiar pull to return home. My wings were beginning to dissipate in a white mist, a few ethereal feathers molting off in the wind before vanishing into nothingness.
I would return again, soon. Return to the familiar perch atop a skyscraper. Feel the wind rushing past my head as I took flight. Marvel as I soared about the vast cityscape, drunk on the beauty of it all.
I closed my eyes, picturing it again with a smirk. Moments later, my form dissipated, mind drifting off into a restful oblivion....
I woke with a start as the alarm on my phone resounded with an all too familiar and all too incessant ringing. I clicked it off automatically, bed creaking noisily beneath me as I rose up.
I yawned, stretching through the grogginess threatening to pull my back beneath the sheets. I lost that fight and moments later my head was back against the pillow as I longed for just another minutes rest.
Briefly rolling onto my side, I caught sight of something on my nightstand. A feather, midnight grey, sat still upon the wooden surface.
Vaguely perplexed in this groggy state, I blinked several times, trying to get a better look at it. But almost as soon as I had noticed it, the feather had vanished. A trick of the light or an illusion brought about by a semiconscious mind, I suppose.
Once again fighting my body's desire to stay restful, I rose up, this time making the additional effort to actually get out of bed.
The weekend was over, which meant I had a busy day ahead. Mondays were the worst, but they were a necessary evil.
As I pulled on a bathrobe, I vaguely recalled a dream I'd had. Couldn't remember any details, but certain emotions stuck around. Joy. Excitement. Exhilaration. Probably another one of those cool ideas I couldn't get on paper for the life of me. Oh writers block, how long will thy suffer me?
Shaking my head, I went out from the room, ready to get the day started.
If you've made it this far, thanks so much for giving this oneshot a read, and I certainly hope you enjoyed it. This was something of a writing exercise that I came up with as I went. Maybe it'll lead somewhere canonically, maybe it won't, we'll see.
Feel free to give feedback, criticism, etc [it helps me out a lot so I'd really appreciate it], and again, hope ya enjoyed :)
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