Komi Komi Literature Club!

Chapter 7: The Slump

Fidgeting a little, Komi reached for her phone and began sifting through her contacts. She needed help but, of course, she was hesitant to ask for it. None of her friends outside the club had much of an interest in literature, and the girls in the club all had their own poems to worry about, so where did that leave her?

Although reluctant, she decided to send Monika a text. After all, she was the one in charge of the club, so surely she'd be able to offer her guidance, right? After taking about 10-15 minutes to type her message, she sent this formal text:

"Good evening, Monika. Sorry for disturbing you at this time. If it isn't too much trouble, I need your help." She sent her request.

After the text was sent, she closed her notebook and got up from her desk. She started to make her way to her bed, but then her phone began to vibrate! She grabbed it and picked it up. Monika had replied! That was fast!

"What's up, Komi? Is everything alright?" Monika asked.

"Yes and no. I'm fine, but I am having trouble figuring out what to do for my poem this week. It is my first time trying to write one and I'm stuck." She explained succinctly. She sat down on her bed and watched for Monika's reply.

"Oh, I see! Well, you know, there's really no hard and fast rules to writing a poem. It can be anything you want it to be!" Monika explained, adding a cute smiley face to the end of her message.

"I know that, but the more I try, the less confident I feel." She admitted. After sending this message, Komi closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

Suddenly, her phone began to ring, startling her! She jumped back a little in surprise before looking down at her phone. It was Monika! Monika was calling her now! She looked around nervously before finally mustering up the courage to answer the call.

"Ah...hi." Komi greeted her shyly.

"Hey, Komi! Sorry to surprise you, I'm just doing some stuff right now so it's easier to talk instead of text." Monika explained.

"I-I see...I'm interrupting. I'm sorry." She apologized, speaking slowly between her calculated breaths. Now Monika was getting to see why Yuri had suspected that she had some form of social anxiety; this was difficult to listen to.

"No no, you're totally fine! What's wrong? Well you said you were trying to write a poem, right?"

"Mhmm. I...don't know what to do." Komi said quietly.

"I gotcha. You don't have to feel any pressure like that, Komi, it's okay. You can always just save it for a later week once you feel more comfortable. I realize it can be awkward and even scary to put yourself out there like that." Monika acknowledged, offering Komi a more comfortable option.

"Mm mm." Komi quickly shook her head.

"Huh? If you said something, I didn't hear you."

"I...I want...t-to...try." Komi insisted.

"Okay...well then, why not start with a short poem? Just try and write down a poem that's just like 3 lines long." Monika suggested next.

"Is that...okay?" Komi asked.

"Yeah! One of the most famous poems by my favorite poet, Shel Silverstein, is literally like one sentence long!

"'So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.'

"That's the whole poem!"

"I-I see..." Komi nodded slowly, resting her hand on her thigh and closing it into a fist.

"Yep! That might be a good way to start. You know, now that I think about it, is that poem actually by Shel Silverstein? Hold on, let me look it up...uh...whoops! I was wrong, haha, it's actually by William Carlos Williams. My bad, I'm not citing my sources properly." Monika joked and laughed again.

"It's alright." Komi replied plainly.

"Yeah, but you get the idea, right? Does that help any?"

"Yes," Komi answered with a nod. "Thank you."

"You're welcome! Oh! And by the way, Komi, your voice sounds super different – way different than I thought it would!" She commented.

Komi felt a lump get caught in her throat. She tensed up, unsure of how to respond to this. Luckily for her, Monika kept talking.

"I thought your voice would be like Yuri's, you know? More mature and breathy, I don't know. But your voice is cute! It's higher than I thought, so I guess it's like Sayori's! Ahaha, sorry if that weirded you out, I just couldn't help but notice." Monika said.

"Thank you...goodnight." Komi said.

"Yeah! Goodnight, Komi. I'll see you tomorrow at the meeting. Happy writing! And hey, if you ever need anymore writing tips, I've got plenty of 'em saved in the ol' memory bank – I might have to dig through some old files though." Monika joked with a giggle.

"Mhmm! Thank you. Goodnight." Komi nodded and expressed her appreciation again before hanging up the phone.

She let out a sigh and flopped onto her bed. She was feeling both excited that she had done better this time with talking on the phone, and exhausted from the concentration it took just to maintain her conversation with Monika.

The poem could wait until tomorrow...