Early Stephen King

Story Sent in by Jennifer:

During my first time out with Tim, we were seated at an outdoor picnic table and he handed me a pink paper heart. It looked like a homemade greeting card.

I thanked him and opened it up. It was completely blank inside. When he saw that, he grabbed it from me and said, "I forgot to write something in it," and searched his pockets. "Do you have a pen?" he finally asked.

I said, "Don't worry about it. It's really sweet with or without something written inside."

He asked again, "Do you have a pen?"

I handed him a pen from my purse and he wrote within the card.

Five minutes later, he was still writing. I couldn't see what it was. I asked him, "You writing a novel, over there?" He didn't answer.

After another few minutes, I was tired of watching him write and I asked him if he wanted to head off for lunch.

"I'm not done, yet," he said.

Another several minutes ticked by. I stood up and said, "I'm going to lunch. If you want to meet me, you're welcome to. I'll probably be at Ellen's Cafe on Water Street." It was a nearby place that made its own bread.

"But I'm not done, yet!" he said.

"Take your time," I said, "I'll be there for a little bit. I just want to keep things moving. And it's lunchtime."

"I should be having you for lunch," he said. I pretended I didn't hear it. He went back to writing and I left.

He never showed up. Thankfully.