Creative Process or the Brain Exposed

Actors:

ME

MY BRAIN

The setting: An ordinary bedroom with the usual bedroom furniture. Lights are off and everything looks eerily dark. Stars can be seen through the only window in the room.

*

ME: [Getting comfy in bed, ready for the night]

BRAIN: [Is not visible. It remains inconspicuously coiled inside my skull]

ME: [drifting off]

BRAIN: It doesn’t snow too often here in the UK, does it?

ME: …

BRAIN: I mean, don’t you miss proper winters, like we used to get when you were a child? Cold and with loads of snow, the entire world white as if the colours were drained…

ME: …

BRAIN: Trees look so magical when they are covered with frost, don’t they?

ME: Hmpff …

BRAIN: And everything becomes so quiet when covered by snow. Sounds are muffled as if under a blanket of silence…

ME: I’m trying to sleep here in case you haven’t noticed.

BRAIN: …

ME: [drifting off again]

BRAIN: SNOWFALL!

ME: [waking up abruptly] Huh?

BRAIN: Isn’t “snowfall” a great word? It rolls off the tongue so smoothly… Snowfall. Snowfall.

ME: Oh no. Please. I know where it’s going. Please stop.

BRAIN: Hey, it starts with an “s”! Just like silence!

ME: Or sound...

BRAIN: Well, silence is an absence of sound, after all. Don’t you think there might be something about the letter “s” that conveys silence? What other words have an “s” in them?

ME: Oh, no. I’m not playing that game. Go away.

BRAIN: C’mon, words with an “s” that can be associated with snow and silence?

ME: La, la, la, can’t hear you at all!

BRAIN: Sledge, slide… Because, you know, the sledge slides through the snow. Smooth… Can silence feel smooth, what do you think?

ME: I’m ignoring you.

BRAIN: You know what is smooth? Silk! And silk is so soft… When it moves, it’s like water. Like a wave... Maybe like the tide? Can silence come and go like tides? Or maybe it can fall down in chunks like snow?

ME: [getting restless]

BRAIN: Hmm, let's see, what else has an “s” in it? Slow, sluggish, solemn, blossom… The “s” doesn’t have to be at the beginning, right?

ME: Stupid as shit!

BRAIN: Nah, it doesn’t fit the theme! Snow and silence, remember? And shit doesn’t look to nice in the snow.

ME: This is not what I meant as you very well know.

BRAIN: [humming joyfully] Sheet, fresh, shroud, sport, steam, soup…

ME: Is this still about snow?

BRAIN: Still is a great word! Imagine the snow-covered streets, everything so still and silent…

ME: Exactly… [doing her best to drift off again]

BRAIN: Hey! You there?

Me: [sighs] What now?

BRAIN: You know when silence feels best? When there are many sounds first and then they all fade away…

ME: You don’t say?

BRAIN: How about this: a couple has a row, they shout a lot [shout!] and then he storms out [storms!], and there is silence [yes!], and it feels even more profound because of the loud sounds that have preceded it. And all this happens when the world outside is covered in snow [aha!], which adds to the ambience...

ME: I told you I was trying to sleep! This is harassment.

BRAIN: C’mon, don’t be a spoilsport. Who wants to be a writer? I’m only being helpful!

ME: At this time of the night? Harassment I say.

BRAIN: Well, so what? Go on, expose me, no one will believe you anyway.

ME: You’re aware that this is the most classic line of all the abusers ever, aren’t you?

BRAIN: And you’re aware that victims are often not believed …

ME: So you admit that I’m your victim?

BRAIN: I ain’t done nuthin’…

ME: Look, why don’t you get nice and quiet, and let me sleep like a normal person?

BRAIN: Normal? You know that normal doesn’t exist, right?

ME: I mean normal as in “not crazy”, normal as in “sane”…

BRAIN: Yes! Let’s be insane! Mwahahahaha!

ME: I’m not talking to you. [turns to the other side]

BRAIN: Hello?

ME: …

BRAIN: At least admit that “snowfall” sounds good.

ME: …

BRAIN: …

ME: Okay. It does.

BRAIN: See? It was I who gave you this idea. That’s my job: to give you ideas. How else can you become a writer? You need ideas. Ideas supplied by yours truly. Thing is, you’re supposed to work on them, not turn your back on me like this. I’m giving you a great idea, maybe you could create a great poem, who knows, we could do wonders with this idea if we worked together but no, you won’t use it because your precious sleep is suddenly more important than being a writer just because it’s 3 a.m.…

ME: What? It’s 3 a.m. already?

BRAIN: See what I have to deal with? You’re the same every time. Don’t you like the image I’ve shown you? Snow-covered trees, the street under a white blanket, silence inside and outside, someone’s traces in the snow… Do you remember that time when there was a storm in winter? Doesn’t happen in Poland, does it? You got quite a shock when you heard thunderbolts in December for the first time, didn’t you?

ME: You won’t shut up until I write it all down, will you?

BRAIN: Let’s get real. You’re not going to fall asleep now anyway.

ME: Okay, okay, I’m reaching for the pen and paper. Satisfied?

BRAIN: You can thank me in the morning!

*

(917 words)

Author's note: If you managed to read to this point, congratulations! I am truly grateful for your eyes on this text. If you would like to see the outcome of the above cooperation (or harassment, depending on the perspective), it has actually been published on Vocal and can be found here: https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/snowfall-6y2x0a3h%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cstyle data-emotion-css="14azzlx-P">.css-14azzlx-P{font-family:Droid Serif,Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:1.1875rem;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.01em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.01em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.01em;letter-spacing:0.01em;line-height:1.6;color:#1A1A1A;margin-top:32px;}