Stories Under the Bed

Every writer I know has a few stories stashed under the bed, in the computer, in a box, in the file cabinet...somewhere. Some of them are ideas gone bad. Some are ideas who were before their time. Others simply got lost in the helter-skelter of life.

I have jump-starts by the dozens in my computer files. Whenever I need a new story idea, I click through them in search of that certain something that sets off a glimmer of promise. Sometimes I don't find it. And then I go back and look at story ideas from long ago.

Because of events in my early life, I've always been moderately introverted, happy to lead an internal existence. That doesn't mean I've been bored. On the contrary, that internal life has been full of adventures and curiosity. Some of those adventures found their way to paper--usually via the pen. After all, computers appeared relatively late in my life. For most of my early attempts, pen and paper were the only way to share my thoughts.

Some of those thoughts are not the kind you share.

But others--well others show possibilities. Every couple years I'll go through journals or dig through boxes of papers and occasionally I'll find a hidden treasure. Some writers leave their stories under the bed, never taking a second or third look. But I think some ideas need to wait, need for us to mature a bit before we're ready to write them.

Who knows what could happen when we finally share the stories we hide under the bed?

anny