John? Hey, John?

Hmmm… mmmwhat?

Whew. Took a long time but you’re finally awake.

Hm… wha… Who are you? Where am I?

I’ll tell you more if you take a look around and see for yourself.

Who are you? Why should I listen to you?

Because otherwise I won’t tell you who I am, and we’ll end up bickering for the rest of eternity. I’m sure you’d rather spend your time in a more productive manner, wouldn’t you?

Yes.

Then please, bear with me and tell me what you see.

… Okay. Well, I’m lying on a beach, just a couple meters from the sea. I have no shoes, and the sand’s cool on my hands and feet. If I sit up I can see the sun lingering above the horizon, orange and plump. It’s funny, I can stare at it but my eyes won’t hurt. Above me, the clouds are pink shards in the azure sky, and float there like confetti scattered by the wind.

Good. Tell me more.

There’s a tall cliff behind me, a natural rock wall. It looks familiar, now that I think of it. This whole place, I mean. It’s like the beach I visited on my trip to French Britain, except it… feels different somewhat. Like it’s not the way it is, but like I want to remember it.

Ding ding ding. Ten points to Griffindor.

This is my imagination, isn’t it? I’m in my own head.

Not quite, but for the sake of argument let’s pretend you are for now. I am you. You came here because you needed to talk to yourself.

Hah. As if I wasn’t doing that enough already.

Yeah, right? The voice inside your head is quite the talkative one, and you pay heed to it because, at the end of the day, it’s you, and you like it. And yet sometimes you feel like you’re running in circles, repeating those same thoughts over and over without reaching a conclusion. Correct?

I’ll give you that.

And what is usually the best solution to get out of the cycle?

Hmm… Well, usually I talk to people. Because someone else’s opinion helps you see the bigger picture, but also because it’s like taking the problem out of your head and setting it in front of your eyes, and make it look less threatening than you thought. It’s kinda like writing a diary.

Except when you talk you’re also making other people grow with you… if they’re patient enough to listen through your ramblings.

So what are you trying to say exactly? Should I keep talking to people or should I start keeping a diary?

You should do both. This is your diary.

… You mean the sand and sea and all that?

It’s just not your usual diary, you see. It’s midway between a diary and… a Minecraft world, so to speak. You have words instead of textures and 3D objects, and the only graphics card you need is your imagination. The sand beneath you will always be this cool, the sea will never turn turbulent, and the sunset will always linger over the horizon, if you so wish. It’s a happy place—and don’t say that happy places are for pussies, because you need one too. You, just like everyone else, need a place to dump your ramblings in… What are you looking at?

That thing. That… writing floating in the sky, right over the top of the cliff.

Ah, yeah. It’s the URL. Should hide it a little better before we launch the website.

Website!?

A blog, to be precise.

So you mean I should share all my twisted elucubrations on the internet? With the entire world?

Why? Are you shy?

You know I’m not, ‘me’. The thing is, I’ve already tried, and failed after like five posts when I realized I was talking out of my rear-end. I suppose I’m just afraid it could happen again.

Do you think you’ll learn by sitting there, writing shit bound to sit in your hard drive without a reason to exist?

Have you some sort of fetish for rhetorical questions?

At least I’m not questioning myself.

Actually, I think you are.

… Whatever. Server, begin broadcast. Set frequency to Public.

Wait, what do you mean by ‘set frequency to—’

[FREQUENCY SET – BROADCASTING IN 3… 2… 1…]

Hello, scrap-pals. Scatterbrained adventurers, dwellers of that horribly wonderful galaxy that is the human mindscape. If your souls are weary, if your hearts are heavy, if you legs are buckling, this is the only virtual oasis where you can find true solace from yourselves. Come forth, and visit johnforcolin.com, where we talk about everything from mental health to self-development, and teach you ways to carve your own private, individual, special place in your mind. End broadcast.

[BROADCAST FINISHED.]

Nice. So, what were you saying?

I could delete that broadcast in five seconds tops.

Yeah, but you won’t.

How are you so sure?

Because that would be the only real defeat you’ll ever face.

…

Look, I know it’s hard to juggle between writing your book and blogging. But it’s also true that you’ve got so many things to share, and I think it’s time for you to start putting ’em out there, and find someone who tells you you’re wrong. Otherwise you’ll never get better, both as a writer and as a person. C’mon. You’re not alone in this. You’ve got me.

Wow, I’ve got ‘me’.

Do you think that’s nothing? Have you got any idea of how lucky you are to—I can’t find another way to put it—to have yourself? I think the world would be a better place if more people knew that.

… So that’s why you did all this. You want to remind people of how strong the are. How they’re always able to better themselves and the others around them.

That’s why you did all this.

… ‘We.’

‘We,’ if you will. So? Still wanna give this website up?

No. No, I don’t think I do.

Good. Because I already paid over three hundred bucks on it.

What?