[ WP ] You fall asleep and dream . While you dream , you take pictures . When you wake up , you discover that the pictures are on your camera .

My phone begins to vibrate and a tune plays loudly increasing in volume for every second that passes. I grab it quickly turning it off and then recover my face with my blanket hoping to return to my state of slumber. I pretend to sleep for two minutes before getting up to start my day. I stretch my arms wondering why I always set my alarm so early if I ’ m an author and have the privilege of working on my own hours. I head to the bathroom and smile at my horrible reflection; I could ’ ve been a perfect stand-in for Frankenstein ’ s bride. I take a shower and get dressed for the day like a normal member of society rather than the monster I woke up as. I grab my purse and head to the café on the corner for a quick bagel. I sit down at my usual table to eat my bagel and head to pinterest on my phone. As I try to pin a quote, the app shuts down giving me an error message. I sigh as my phone freezes and I press the back button repeatedly. As I ’ m still pressing, the app closes and I accidentally press the gallery button. I groan as I try to close it but my phone refuses to stop loading it. As it finally loads, a picture of a man with short messy dark brown and a perfect half smile pops up and I gasp as the app closes. 
 
 I quickly reopen the app as my heart races and I am unable to breathe or even think when the picture pops back up. Sure, I had pictures of friends and family on my phone but this wasn ’ t a friend- not technically. He was my protagonist from my latest story; I look at his perfect half smile and can practically hear my laugh from within my dream. I swipe to the next picture and my eyes widen when I see him and my side character, Daisy next to a volcano and feel a pang of guilt in my soul. How was his face on my phone? Did he visit it yet? 
 
 I run my fingers through my hair nervously as I hear the screeching of a chair being pulled out from underneath a table. I look up and there he is sitting across from me. He looks a little worse for wear and has dark circles under his eyes; it has obviously happened already. 
 
 He folds his hands and picks up my cup of coffee stealing a sip. 
 
 He coughs tiredly and then asks, “ So what ’ s new? ” 
 
 I look around the café nervously and see everyone acting as normal as my protagonist is sitting across from me with a waiting expression on his face. 
 
 “ What? ” I ask confused. 
 
 His eyes narrow and he cuts me off, “ What the hell is your problem? Why did you do it? ” 
 
 “ What? ” I repeat. 
 
 He grabs my bagel angrily, “ Quit playing stupid! Come on, answer me it ’ s the least you could do! ” 
 
 I watch as my bagel crumbles in his hand and shake my head, “ I ’ m so sorry Dan. ” 
 
 He rolls his eyes, “ I don ’ t want your apologies, I want an explanation! Why the hell did you kill me off? ” 
 
 I reply, “ I didn ’ t mean to, I was just dreaming and it just kind of happened- “ 
 
 He looks at me with disbelief, “ Dreaming?! You ’ re an author! You can murder at any minute, you have to be careful! ” 
 
 I get sidetracked and ask, “ Hold on! If you died, how are you here? ” 
 
 He smiles, “ I found a loop hole. I ’ m coming back later in the story because I ’ m not really dead. ” 
 
 I shake my head, “ No you ’ re not- you ’ re really dead. ” 
 
 His mouth drops open, “ You really did want me dead?!?! ” 
 
 I pause and take a moment before answering, “ I like you as a character but I feel like Daisy could grow more without you. ” 
 
 He throws the rest of my breakfast in the trash obviously insulted, “ I don ’ t like you as an author! I liked JK Rowling better. ” 
 
 I chuckle, “ Don ’ t worry, me too! ” 
 
 He sits back down at the table, “ Come on please! Save me! ” 
 
 I sigh, “ I can ’ t. How? Doesn ’ t Daisy deserve to grow to her potential? ” 
 
 He runs his hands through his hair messing it up further, “ Yeah but we ’ re friends. Let her tell me off and prove me wrong and then she ’ ll be right. I ’ ll play like I knew she could do it all along and we ’ ll live happily ever after. ” 
 
 I freeze and look up at him, “ What did you just say? ” 
 
 He looks at me confused. 
 
 “ You like Daisy? ” I ask as connections begin to fire in my head. 
 
 He shakes his head as blood rushes to his face, “ No, only like a friend. We ’ re just friends. ” 
 
 I bury my face in my hands, “ It ’ s not just a coming of age- it ’ s a love story. ” 
 
 He freezes as his hands shake, “ No! I ’ m not ready. You can ’ t let her know. I ’ m dead, remember? ” 
 
 I look up and begin to lay into him the same way he had only seconds before, “ You are a horrible character! You not only tried to change my plot but you lied to your author! ” 
 
 Dan takes a deep breath, “ Please can we compromise? I don ’ t die and she can ask me on a date but that ’ s it. ” 
 
 I laugh, “ You are an explorer, you go around finding old caves and taking pictures of volcanoes and you ’ re scared of asking your friend on a date? Wait, how did you get my phone while you were taking pictures of volcanoes- I wasn ’ t in my own dream? ” 
 
 He half smiles, “ I was resourceful. You fell asleep writing that night so I took your phone and you didn ’ t even realize when you went to bed. I figured I ’ d give you a few pictures as a present so you could get the description right, but then you killed me off. ” 
 
 I can ’ t believe what I ’ m hearing. Not only was my phone stolen under my nose but my protagonist didn ’ t trust me to write a simple description on my own; this just wasn ’ t a good day. 
 
 Dan looks at me with his deep blue eyes, “ So am I coming back? ” 
 
 I nod, “ Yeah, I ’ ll bring you back. Don ’ t worry I ’ ve got this. ” 
 
 He smiles with a small laugh, “ This should be interesting. ” 
 
 I grab my phone and my coffee, “ Think of it as a surprise. What could go wrong? I already killed you once. ” 
 
 He smiles and I see a look of worry in his eyes making me smile a little more; the joys of being a writer. 

