Pen to the Paper 22: The Announcement

Nick found me at the altar of a Catholic church. Not because I'm a Catholic, no. But because it was the closest church the Pen to the Paper Arena.

"What are you doing?" he asked, interrupting my prayers and giving me a playful kick in the side.

"After your stunt last week, I gotta get me some Jesus," I told him, lifting my head from my folded hands.

“Whatever, you homophobic weirdo. Let’s go. They’re waiting," Nick said. "Well, it's not that they're waiting, you just gotta get ready… I just like saying that the audience is waiting."

“How am I supposed to live this down, man?”

Nick chuckled. “You can’t, dude. It is now Pen to the Paper canon that you are an out of the closet gay man."

I gave him a devilish smile.

"Oh, no," Nick said. "I don't like that glimmer in your eyes."

"Oh, Nick, this is nowhere near as ambitious as some of my other ideas. But if it's going to work, we better get going."

*****

The audience was silent and confused. In the center of the stage was a closet. A door and four walls with a roof. More of a shack, really, but it was indoors, so it qualifies as a closet. There was no microphone on stage.

"Laaaaaaaaadies and gentleman!" I called over the sound system. "Welcome to Pen to the Paper Arena! Where am I, you may ask? Well," I stuck my arms out of the sides of the closet. I had made two holes so that I could do this. "I'm in the closet down here."

Lasers flashed across the stage. A light from above slowly centered on the door, casting a shadow that said "NOT GAY!"

"Now, who's ready for some announcements?"

After they finished their cheers, I cleared my throat. "Shrouded in mystery, and leaving you curious, Raybug63’s post comes in third place! It is unnamed, but such a wonderful work!

"In second, we have first step: die by JacquelineAllen. It was an amazing post going through the main character’s head and thoughts before she reaches her expiration date. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

"Finally, in first, we have a post I didn't think I would enjoy as much as I did. It talked of booze, weed, and partying a lot. But, sifting through that and giving it a chance (something that was easy to do, because the author has such a freat way with words), I found the story to be quite great. You watch through the main character’s eyes as someone slowly deteriorates. She doesn't think anything is wrong, really. He's such a fun guy, and she only sees him occasionally. The story ends on a sad note, but it was an amazing read. Jona, Not Okay was amazing, and deserves the first place spot!

"Now, for some honorable mentions. What I Hate About Writing by miscSomnus was really good. I loved hearing their perspective on writing.

"Happy by spicydakota was a reality check. They put into words hiding behind a mask perfectly.

"And, last, but not leastly, Leddog01's A Walk in the Ocean was a great read.

"Thanks for coming ou—for joining me tonight! I'll see you next month!"

I pulled my arms back into the closet and let the elevator take me down to the dressing room. Nick met me with a wicked grin.

"What?"

"You just made it worse, my man."

"What do you mean? My plan was perfect."

"If your message was that you're a deeply closeted gay guy," Nick said with a chuckle.