Black to Black

A slender young man in a black trench coat walks through the dark streets of the city. He feels uncomfortable in the cold winter breeze as it has been a while since he went outside. He is a homebody and prefers to stay indoors whenever possible. There is only one reason he ever goes out, and that is if he needs to get a new notebook.

After passing by a couple of blocks, he finally enters his favorite local bookstore that he always goes to for his writing needs. He is familiar with the layout, so he goes straight to the notebook section. To his surprise, he cannot find the color he is looking for no matter how hard he looks. Eventually, he goes up to the store employee as he takes out a black notebook from his bag.

“Excuse me, sir, is there any black moleskin notebook like this left in stock?” The employee gestures toward a lady who is browsing through the non-fiction book section.

“She just bought the last one. We will restock on moleskin next month if you want to wait.”

“Next month?! I cannot wait that long; I will die from boredom if I cannot write.” The young man approaches the lady impatiently.

“Hey! Sorry to interrupt your reading, but can I buy the black notebook from you? I need it urgently, so I do not mind paying a little more for it.”

…

“By the way, my name is Michael.”

The lady is a little annoyed that this random guy has interfered with her search to find a good story. Reading books has kept her sane during the pandemic lockdown. Unfortunately, there are not any new books that are interesting to her.

“I’m Stella. Why do you want a black moleskin notebook so bad? There are other colors still in stock.”

Michael hesitates a little bit before handing the black notebook in his hand to her and answers back.

“This is the first notebook that I've written in and is also what started my journey as a writer. Now I feel the most creative and inspired when I am writing in a moleskin notebook. I quickly wrote my series of stories and went through all the other ten colors. Also, I figured it would be pretty neat to start with a black notebook and to end with a black notebook.”

Michael’s words pique her interest. Stella looks at the black notebook that Michael has handed to her. Just from the cover, she can tell that the notebook has gone through wear and tear over the years. She flips through the yellow pages of the old book.

“You have ten more stories like this? This story is amazing!” Michael opens his bag, and her eyes sparkle at the colorful notebooks inside.

“Okay, I will make you a deal. If you let me read your stories, I’ll give you my black notebook for free.”

Michael stays silent for a moment before speaking.

“It’s getting late, and the store is closing soon. We don’t have time for this.”

Stella smiles at him before responding.

“I don’t mind going over to your place and just binge-read all your stories. I’m going to be bored out of my mind if I go back home without a good read.” Michael is surprised by her statement of going to his apartment when they have just met; they are strangers after all. Sensing his uneasiness, Stella pulls out her check and a pen, hastily writing on the check before handing it to Michael.

“Here is a 20,000-dollar check. I am genuinely interested in the stories, and I have no bad intentions. I understand how important the original copy is to an author, so keep the check and return it to me once I finish your stories.” At this point, Michael is speechless. Not only did she write him a 20,000 check, but for his stories nevertheless! He has never seen so much money in one place in all his 23 years.

“My place is a few blocks away.” While walking, Michael learns that Stella works at a publishing company. She also mentions that the company is looking for new talented authors.

Michael opens the door to his apartment and leads Stella to the living room. He takes out all his notebook and stacks them neatly on the coffee table. Stella quietly sits down next to Michael on the sofa and starts to read through the black book. Time passes by quickly, and the pages come alive as she gets more and more absorbed into the stories.

The black book is about this kid going through the death of his parents.

The blue book is about a pirate crew treading through treacherous waters to find a hidden treasure.

The light green book is about a fairy fighting to protect the forest from the demon invasion.

The dandelion yellow book is about the journey of a pilot who crashed his plane in a desert.

As the sun rises and the light shines through the window, Michael slowly opens his eyes. It seems like he has fallen asleep sometime through the night. Michael realizes that Stella is nowhere in sight! He glances around and sighs in relief when he sees that she has left his books in a messy pile on the coffee table. Right beside the stack of books, there is a note from Stella. On the piece of paper, it says that he can have a 20,000-dollar check when he calls her number to make a publishing deal for his stories. Michael excitedly takes out his phone and types in the number on the note.

“Hi Stella, I’m want to make the publishing deal with you. Do you want to meet up to sort out the details later today?” Michael becomes increasingly nervous as each second passes by with no response.

“That’s awesome! I put the check between pages of the new black notebook. Enjoy writing in your fresh new notebook! I’ll come by later, but what’s your plan for the day?” Michael feels so happy with his newfound success as a writer. Before answering, he takes a deep breath to calm down his nerves.

“I’m going to write my next story.”