Why do I write?

Written for a contest. I don't think it's that great, but I think it conveys enough of my feelings. I write for the simple reason "I want to"

“Hey, Aldora,” you said that summer day.

I gaze at you from my spot in the shadow. “Yes?” The gentle breeze ruffles my hair. I push my long hair behind my ear.

You sit up from the forest of grass, dark green eyes intent. I admire the way your hair waves gently in the wind and shine. You gesture at the writing pad on my lap. “Why do you write?”

“Why do I write?” I repeat. “It’s complicated.”

You grin that crooked smile that I love. “We have all afternoon. I can listen.”

“Well, I write,” I say slowly, carefully choosing my words. “I write so I can remember. So others can live with me in my dreams.”

“Then, you don’t you just tell them? Words are powerful and you speak well.”

I laugh. “It’s difficult. If I could meet every person in the world, I would tell them. Everyone now and in the future. But I can’t. So I leave a piece so that generations after can read my words. I write to convey my feelings.”

“Isn’t it hard sometimes,” you pursue, “to form the right words because you can’t explain yourself to the reader?”

“It is hard,” I admit, “but isn’t it the beauty of it? Over 30,000 words in the English language. More than one word that can mean the same thing, but are different. Finding that word is the journey that a writer takes.”

You are silent for a moment. The whisper of the wind sends a wave though the endless plain of grass. Birds flint through the blue sky.

“I find that many people cannot imagine some of the things I can,” I say. “So, I weave a story to show them what I see. Then they can tell me one so I can see that they do. It is something I love. To see through another’s eyes. It’s a beautiful thing. Each story brings the feelings, style, and personality of each person. No person writes the same. And the writing itself is not the same. I write to tell the world who I am. I write to kill time. Sometimes, I write for the simple reason ‘I want to.’”

You lean back down among the grass. Your eyes close. The silence grows old. “Hey Aldora,” you say after a while.

“Yes?”

“Do you think I should write too?”

 

 

Author's Note

Any suggestions?

Reviews

[iamcarolfierce]

“I write so I can remember. So others can live with me in my dreams.”

Very powerful!

Thanks for sending your entry to my contest. Seems like you're talking on my behalf. Your words are simple yet very meaningful. Your title as well caught my sight that's why your entry is the very first piece that I've read. Good luck and more power to your writings!

[.......]

I wouldn't change a thing, it's amazing the way it is. I like what you have said. It's touching really!

[AmeliaElizabeth]

I love how you've managed to quantify and explain something that just isn't explanable--writing. I think this is great.

[Jenn Gold]

You said you didn't think this was that great...but I think it's really cool. It's a unique way of saying why you write, because I know there have been a few contests about that on here and mostly it's poems (at least the ones I've read) about how writing is fun...yadda-yadda. But this is really very different. And I like how you use "you" as if there is someone else, but you really don't know who it is. I especially like the ending of "Do you think I should write to?" Let me tell you...you have a gift. Really.

[Lady leah]

Very nicely penned I love how this is portrayed I love this line I write to tell the world who I am
& also this one I weave a story with words that speaks right to me for we all do this a poets to express who we are. outstanding write my friend.