You Better Be Lightning

Maggie had always been known for her quick wit and sharp tongue. She could turn a phrase better than anyone and had a way of cutting through the BS to get straight to the heart of the matter.

But as she grew older, Maggie found that her talent for words was beginning to wane. She struggled to come up with the right things to say, and her quick responses were becoming slower and more labored.

Maggie tried to ignore it, but it soon became clear that something was wrong. She visited doctor after doctor, but none of them could figure out what was going on. She became frustrated and angry, feeling like she was losing a part of herself.

One day, while walking through the park, Maggie heard a faint buzzing in her ear. At first, she thought it was just the sound of the city, but as she listened closer, she realized that the buzzing was coming from within her own head.

Maggie followed the sound, which led her to an old man sitting on a park bench. The man was hunched over, his hands moving rapidly over a small notebook.

"What are you doing?" Maggie asked.

The man looked up, his eyes twinkling. "I'm writing," he said. "And you better be lightning if you want to keep up with me."

Maggie was taken aback. She had never heard someone speak like that before, with such energy and passion.

The man introduced himself as Jack, and over the next few weeks, Maggie spent every afternoon sitting on the bench next to him, watching him write and listening to him talk about his life.

Jack was a writer, too, and had spent his whole life chasing after the perfect words. He had been a journalist, a novelist, and a screenwriter, and had written everything from crime thrillers to romantic comedies.

As Maggie listened to Jack's stories, she began to feel a spark of inspiration. She realized that she had been too focused on her own problems, too caught up in her own head to see the world around her.

With Jack's help, Maggie started writing again. At first, it was just short sentences and fragments, but with time and practice, she began to find her voice again.

Maggie and Jack became fast friends, sharing their writing with each other and offering critiques and feedback. They wrote about everything from politics to love to the mysteries of the universe.

As Maggie wrote, she found that the buzzing in her head grew stronger. She realized that it was the sound of her own creativity, buzzing and pulsing with energy and life.

One day, as Maggie sat on the bench next to Jack, she felt a surge of excitement. She had just written something that she knew was special, something that she knew could change the world.

"Jack, listen to this," she said, reading her words aloud. "You better be lightning if you want to keep up with me."

Jack's eyes widened. "That's it," he said. "That's the phrase that's been missing from my new novel. How did you come up with it?"

Maggie shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "It just came to me."

Jack smiled. "That's the beauty of writing," he said. "Sometimes, the words just come to you. And when they do, you better be lightning."

Maggie continued to write, her words becoming stronger and more powerful with each passing day. She began to see the world in a different way, noticing the beauty and the tragedy in everything around her.

With Jack's help, Maggie published her first book, a collection of essays and stories that captured the essence of her unique voice.

And as she held the book in her hands, feeling the weight of her own words