The Not So Amazing Story of a Kind-of Boring Pen:
An auto-biography
Written with the help of Madison Z


I watched the large creature reach out with one of its…claws? No, Carlos had called the thing a…a hand. Yeah, that’s it. After examining the package of crayons, who looked giddy might I add, tossed them into the…I think it’s called a cart?

My comrades and I sighed in envy. It was a great honor to be taken off the shelf, even more so to be put into the car. Ever since my package had been shipped to this awful place, I’d longed to leave. I yearned to let my ink spill onto paper…

I remained silent as Carlos and the others talked and laughed, making comments on the few creatures that passed us. I mostly ignored them, instead waiting eagerly for my chance to be freed from this plastic cage.

That’s when I saw them: two creatures, one much smaller than the other. The smaller one was picking up crayons, markers and pencils. It put them all back though, much to their disappointment. Finally, they reached the pens.

“I need more pens.” The litter creature told the larger one.

“Why? You just got pens. We’re here to get paper.” The bigger one said, on annoyed expression overtaking her face.

“I lost them all.” The little one, who’d begun tossing a package of highlights from claw, I mean hand, to hand. “Come on Mom, please?”

The larger of the two, Mom as the small one referred to it as, nodded and continued down the aisle. “Hurry up Madison; we don’t have time for this. I have to pick your brother up soon.”

The little one, Madison, grabbed my package so suddenly that is scared me half empty. I think I actually inked myself. My package was tossed violently into the cart, landing on a package of lined paper. We stayed there for a while before being slid against a contraption then tossed into a bag of some sorts.

I don’t remember much about the trip to my new home. I do remember it being so dark inside the bag. Carlos, Phoebe and the others hadn’t stopped talking since we’d been taken.

This was it; I’d finally be able to write. Maybe one day I’d tell my life’s story. I couldn’t contain myself. I honestly think I inked myself.

Before I knew it, we’d been being taken to a room. There were shelves, but they were already occupied by large objects that I had no name for. Finally, as if this little creature, this Madison, knew what I truly wanted, removed me and my brethren from the package I’d called home for as long as I could remember.

My dreams were crushed when she tossed Phoebe, Carlos, Sarah and Lucy into a big, plastic container before closing it. Madison picked me up, examining me for a moment before sitting me inside another bag. This bag was different, but the same: a cold, dark, black hole that absolutely frightened me.

I waited and waited for the creature to remove me, but it never did. My dreams of writing on fresh, lined paper would never come true. Weeks passed and yet nothing changed but the occasional hand reaching for something in the bag. I’d given up hope. I’d never leave this pitiful abyss.

Then, one day while the creature was looking for something in the bag, its hand grabbed me.

“What about this?” It asked another creature, this one much larger than Madison.

The other creature nodded while holding up a strange contraption, “it’s better than my comb.”

Finally, after so long, Madison made my dreams come true. First came a click. Then my ink flowed freely. This was it, my dream come true and it felt a million times better than I’d imagined. With the creature’s help, I used my inky black insides to pen my life’s story; my dream come true. This truly was the happiest moment of my entire life.