Bliss.

This is what heaven must feel like.

Sitting in the sun outside my favorite cafe in mid November, sipping my warm hazelnut latte with the cream on top, notebook in one hand, pencil in the other. Honestly, the things I am writing warm me up more than the coffee.

Tales of firebreathing dragons and beautiful princesses. Tales of star crossed lovers and nauseating betrayals. Tales of knights locked in dungeons and ghosts who taunt them mercilessly.

Yes, this is what heaven must feel like, as the pen flies across the notebook and the pages rustle in the chilly autumn wind.

The princess is strong. She is gorgeous, with long flowing hair, piercing eyes, and a spear always in her hand. She must become his heroin, as the knight locked deep in the dungeon can’t survive for much longer...

“Hey.”

I am interrupted by a tall man with a dazzling smile, holding out a second latte. “Thought you might need a refill.”

I roll my eyes. “I think you’re looking for someone else.”

I shake my head, and return to my page. Now, the heroin can only sneak past the dragon if she uses the secret passageway the old wizard told her about, if only she can find it...

“Ow!” I say as someone bumps my knee. When I realize the latte man has sat across from me, I let out a groan. “Can I help you?!”

I don’t bother waiting for a reply as my head whirrs, thinking, now where might that passage be? Below the dragon? Above it? Hmm, maybe she uses her melodic voice to seduce the oblivious dragon and—

“Aren’t you going to drink it?”

I give the man a scowl and slam my notebook shut. “Fine,” I sneer, pushing my glasses farther up my nose. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll drink it if you can tell me where the secret passageway is.”

To my surprise, he shrugs, not confused at all. “Simple. It was a trick.”

“What?”

He taps the notebook. “The old wizard is also a shapeshifter. Plot twist— he IS the dragon.”

I gap my mouth open, then close it again, at a loss for words. That would be the perfect twist...

He laughs. “Yeah, but that one scene with the archer feels a little flat, not gonna lie. And the character arc of that princess is all wrong. You can’t have a static protagonist, you know. Are you even published yet?”

I narrow my eyes at him, trying not to blush.

“No,” I mumble.

He smiles, pressing a tiny piece of paper into my hand. “My email. I’d love to swap stories sometime. I’ll admit, I was captivated by your strong heroin... despite her annoyingly boring traits. Enjoy the coffee.”

He winks and walks away.

I slowly open back up my notebook, and although I’m shaking my head all the way, I begin to write the tale of the shapeshifting wizard and his betrayal of the beautiful princess...