Power of Words

Chapter 6: Sheep Stampede in a Cafe?

A.N. I do NOT own Inkheart or any of its characters. That all belongs to Cornelia Funke!

      I hope you enjoy this latest chapter... I had some fun with Pan. :)

       I slid off the stool, more than a little bit shocked. I mean, it's one thing seeing other people's characters walking around, but it's another thing to see your own.

       It was almost like a western show-down. We stared at each other, not saying a word while waiting for the other to say something. I looked at her clothes. Just how I had last described them. A leather half-jacket over top of a white tank top. Ripped jeans and a black belt with silver buckle. The girl's black converse shoes were covered in mud from I-didn't-know-where. Her brown hair was greasier than I had imagined and her black hipster glasses had a large crack in the right lens. Real glass. That was interesting. I didn't remember writing that in. Maybe I hadn't. After all, she clearly had another life that I didn't know about--that I didn't write about.

      Finally my character spoke, "What you starin' at, girl? Ain't you never seen your own character before?" Well, she still had her attitude. That was for sure. When I didn't answer she rolled her eyes and ordered a chocolate milkshake.

      "I..." I started then trailed off. I wasn't quite sure whether seeing my character, Lily, was a good thing or a bad thing yet. I mean, I know I couldn't change her outside of writing her, but... it was just kinda freaky!

     "Are you okay?" Shimmer asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I didn't know when she had stood up behind me, but I guess she was there now.

      "Nice accent, Brit." Lily said sarcastically. Shimmer shook her head. I could tell she was struggling a bit not to fight back.

       "What are you doing here?" I asked Lily carefully.

      "What do you think? It's a cafe, Hana. What do people do at cafes?" she rolled her eyes and walked up to the counter. "Large double double." she told the lady behind the counter. She slapped a five on the counter. Where did she get money? Was she working somewhere outside the story?

       I mentally face-palmed. What had I expected? A bunch of hobos wandering around not knowing what to do because they were away from their world?

      Lily stared rudely at Jesse who was looking her over, "Hands off, goat-boy. I don't go for fawns."

      "I have a girlfriend, thanks." the fawn replied.

       "What? Little miss light-bulb over there? How is that working out for you? You're over three times her size!" she laughed.

       I forgot how much of a jerk she was. Well, jerk was a nice word for it. Much nicer than some of the stuff that was going through my head. I looked outside to see her motorbike leaning on its kickstand.

      Her motorbike? Wasn't it just the characters that came out of the writing? I made a mental note to ask Shimmer about that when Lily left. Hopefully that time would come soon. The brunette grabbed her coffee and sat on the stool that I had previously been occupying. I didn't say anything, forcing myself to be content with leaning against the counter. Shimmer offered me her seat, but I refused. I wasn't going to sit face to face with her. If she wanted to do that, then she would do so herself. I was okay with being looked down upon by my character. I think.... If I wanted to, I could just kill her off, right? Would that even work?

       There was one way to find out, but I didn't want to try. What if it actually worked? I wasn't going to pull an Arthur Conan Doyle and bring my character back to life for fans. But I wasn't ready to let her go yet. She was a good character in the story she was in, but a real jerk outside of her world. If I killed her off in the story she probably would cease to exist outside the story... but I didn't want to kill her off in the story. I had too many plans for her yet but would I be able to survive her outside her story? Ugh. Stupid catch 22.