This is the first concept for Sora's Epic Journey Through Fanfiction. The story was originally called "The God Quill," but as you now know, I decided to go for a more eye-catching title. While this and the current story are not the same, it does give hints as to the kind of person Sora was before he started going nuts with the god quill.
“This is the God Quill, a pen with amazing powers, and the ability to alter the fabric of reality itself, kupo! Write something and it will come true. Do you want to give it a try, kupo?”
Sora gaped at the stuffed animal before him. It had squinty eyes that curved like a rainbow, a pink-colored button nose, batwings that seemed too small to be practical, and a bouncy red pompom on top of its head.
What manner of creature was this, and why was it calling him “kupo?” Even worse, why was it floating in the air? Inanimate objects springing to life would normally be cause for concern; but its adorable appearance offset any unease. If he was going insane, at least it was cute. He just chalked it up to a hallucination induced by a random gas leak somewhere.
In the creature’s petite palm was a golden pen with a rubber grip and metal streaks. It was the kind that you had to twist in order to expose the tip. It glowed with a sheen that felt nothing like a reflection; it was shining from the inside.
For a hallucination, it was pretty damn elaborate.
It was just another day when Sora decided to go shopping for school supplies. Summer was coming to a close, and as much as he wanted to reuse his old notebooks, he couldn’t do it again. He had used up every last bit of free space. There was no more room. So he searched the mall for the cheapest deal on paper. The markups on notebooks were ridiculous compared to last year, and they were clearly trying to take advantage of latecomers. It was completely by chance that he discovered this strange shop.
When he saw what looked like a stuffed animal floating in front of a counter, he looked around to see if anyone noticed such an odd occurrence. They walked by without a care as if they couldn’t see it.
He went up to several people to get their opinion on the store, but they all sped up as soon as he approached. He didn’t mind that they did, he was used to being treated like a leper.
Since nobody seemed to notice such a weird shop with an even weirder shopkeeper, he decided to investigate and walk in. The place was empty like any other vacant space for rent. The floor was tiled, covered in dirt, with sporadic spots of dull grey. The walls were blank, with slots, holes, and lines where shelves used to be. The only thing in there was the levitating creature.
As soon as he approached the front desk, the creature pulled out a pen and suddenly started talking about some “God Quill.”
“Give it a try, kupo.”
Sora wasn’t sure if the creature was calling him “kupo,” or if it was a speech tick. The creature tossed the pen over, forcing Sora to catch it before it hit him in the face.
“Uh…so what do I do?” the boy asked.
“Write anything you want, kupo.”
Sora searched the counter and found a piece of paper. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he wrote on it. The thing in front of him must be some kind of…magical creature and the pen in his hand must be some kind of…magical pen. He thought about what to write. Despite his doubts about the situation, he knew not to write something crazy like “world peace.”
What was the worst that could happen? If it was fake, then nothing, but if it was real…then he would just write something small. Although he was fifteen years of age, about to become a sophomore in one week, he had never had the pleasure of being kissed by a girl. Therefore, he wrote:
I get kissed by a pretty girl.
As soon as he dotted the period, a girl—a beautiful, amazing, and extremely pretty girl—walked into the shop. She had amazing night-colored eyes that reminded him of sunsets by the ocean, luxurious auburn hair that seemed woven, threaded, and combed by a professional doll maker, and the face of a goddess. Her skin was milky, creamy alabaster with a tinge of pink. Her lips were so red, so inviting, he felt swallowed by them whole. She was shining, wrapped in some aura of divine beauty.
She sauntered up to him; her eyes locked onto her target, stopped, and kissed him on the cheek.
He was so shocked by the feeling of moistness against his skin that she disappeared before he had a chance to register what was going on. He rubbed spot on his cheek in disbelief.
Something like this had never happened to him before. It was almost too good to be true.
“What do you think, kupo?”
Sora spun on his heels to face the kupo-creature.
“Did that just really happen?” he asked.
“Of course, kupo!”
He narrowed his eyes. Something didn’t add up. All his life, he was subject to misfortune. A crappy day for someone else was a good day for him. Bad luck was his best—and only—friend. Crazy windfalls like this just didn’t happen. There had to be a catch.
“Are you setting me up? For all I know, that girl is working with you!” he accused.
The creature shook its head, the pompom springing left and right in the process.
“She only came because you wrote it, kupo.”
In that case…he grabbed the pen and tried to write something else, but there was no ink.
“What?” he cried out.
“Kupopo, the trial only lasts for one sentence! If you want more ink, then you have to accept the pen!” the creature explained.
He had to accept it? Was the creature looking for something in exchange like…his soul?
“How much?” the boy probed.
“Free of charge, kupo!” Sora learned long ago that there was no such thing as a free lunch. The shopkeeper couldn’t possibly be serious about giving away such a powerful magical device.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“Because, kupo, you deserve it!” it said cheerily.
“I…deserve it?” The concept was utterly foreign to the boy. The only thing he deserved was insults and beatings, not magical wish-granting pens.
“Because even though you are ignored, hated, and humiliated, you are still able to smile, kupo!”
What the creature said was true. Sora looked down and appraised himself. He was wearing his uniform even though school hadn’t started yet, only because it was the only set of clothes he had. The bottoms of his gray (once-white) shirt were frayed, with loose cotton strands hanging like cobwebs. Buttons were missing, which necessitated the use of a safety pin to keep his scrawny chest from being exposed. His naturally ripped slacks were tied around his waist with a piece of cotton rope that snaked through his belt loop. Although his skin was tan, it was even darker with dirt.
In spite of his horrendous appearance, he possessed a 1000-watt grin with impossibly white, pearly teeth. It didn’t matter what life threw at him, he smiled no matter what.
“You are one of kind, kupo, you deserve it!”
Perhaps all those years of torment had a point after all?
“But, kupo, there are several conditions!” the creature alerted.
“Conditions?” he repeated.
“The God Quill runs on magical ink. You can’t refill it with normal ink, kupo.”
“So what happens if I run out?”
“Don’t worry, the God’s Quill restores its ink under special conditions, kupo.”
“And those conditions are…?”
“You have to figure it out for yourself, kupo!” Figures. It wouldn’t make sense to have unlimited wishes.
“Is that it?”
“One more thing, kupo, the pen comes with a manual, make sure you read it before using the pen, kupo!”
“A manual?”
The creature went under the desk and pulled up a pile of books: Aesop’s Fables, The Monkey’s Paw, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Coraline, and the story of King Midas.
The “manuals” all had the same theme:
“Be careful what you wish for…”
It was one of the most bizarre encounters in his life. By the time he got home, it felt like a dream, but it wasn’t. When he wrote something down with the pen, impossible things happened. He had to power to shape the world to his liking.
So he did.
He changed things.
He created things.
He destroyed things.
His dreams were now a reality.
But the problem was...
It was reality he could no longer wake up from.
