Howdy! Included below is my first draft in all its flaming glory of terribleness. I wrote the first draft by hand and transcribed it exactly as written. There are spelling errors, tense shifts, all that awesome first draftiness because the most important goal of the first draft is getting those words on the page. Also, my story is way under the word goal for this (the downside of writing by hand is not always knowing how many words you’ve written!). Without further stalling, here’s NOWHERE for your reading pleasure.

Writer In Motion first draft

Stars freckled Night’s sky. The only positive to this imprisoment is its forced me out of the hustle of human cities. You can’t exactly see the stars in a city that competes againts those twinkling marks on his face. I’d never tell Night how much I enjoy this view. How it brings peace in this temporary solitude.

Surprisingly, this is my first time religated to Nowhere. A special kind of hell of us who aren’t from the human realm. All that’s here is sand, the sky, and a rusted tugboat. Not even a breeze exists here. The first day here I walked for hours away from the boat, but everytime I looked over my shoulder, there it was. There is no end. Only a beginning in Nowhere.

You might be wondering what I did to get locked up here. I brought a couple of humans to the Other Space out of sheer boredum. Not my smartest move. But their reaction to the crossroads between realms where all manner of magical, fantastical, and bizarre beings come toether. Most are pretty chill. Not the conductors though. They’re the right hands to the Orchestrator, the one being who sees all realms at all times.

When the Orchestrator transported me here, they said, “Freedom comes like the ocean.”

I had no idea what kind of bullshit poetry that was, but this morning I head the first sound I this shithole that wasn’t my own voice in three hundred days. Bubbling water.

A smile works across my face, “I’ll be waiting for you freedom.”

Thanks for reading! I’ve got extra words to use as I go through editing it, so we’ll see where those words take me. I’m definitely excited!

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Melissa Bergum is a Wisconsinite born and bred, pass the cheese and Brandy Old Fashioned Sweets, but hold the beer. Among the many things she is, she’s a wife, a mommer to a toddler who wants to grow big enough to touch the sky, and a case manager for children and adolescents with severe and persistent mental health needs. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, watching anime, playing games (video, board, tabletop), and, of course, writing. You can find a short story of hers and an excerpt featured on Ghoul Intentions.

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