Starts and stops

This was meant to be a collection of fiction. The plan was always to write truths, but to wrap the truths in beautiful lies. But there has been a dreaded 5 letter word that starts with B and ends with K. I won't say it and I won't write it.
There have been beginnings and the beginnings of middles, but no ends.
But I thought that maybe if I listed out the starts for myself then one would jump out and beg to be finished.
These are the sentences that are followed by a blinking curser or a blank page. Characters held in corners, waiting to be told what to do next. Characters waiting to tell me what they will do next.


There is something about my brother-in-law that makes my words stick in my throat.

She came in and sat down next to me, but it was all wrong.

“I don’t know what you write about how you make me feel.”

The sign hanging above the door was made of wood and chipping away in the corner. 

There once was a photographer who lived alone.

Lying in bed, you stare up at the ceiling trying to breath under the heavy arm draped across your chest. 

Once upon a time, the world needed help.