Solving a Cube

When Interrogating a Cube

Rubix: (Says quietly) They'll judge, they'll criticize, they'll destroy. Like to everyone they can do. What's the point of writing or publishing this book if it'll be destroyed by the same people it's going against? What's the point? Maybe I shouldn't...

(Bennett gets up and opens the door.)

Bennett: She broke... I don't think... I didn't mean to... Talk to her lawyer? But- Okay fine.

(Bennett goes out and another person comes in to take a seat)

Rubix: You're the last person I want to see right now.

Rubix: You must be proud of seeing me like this.

Rubix: Where's my donut?

Naomi: Bennett was pretty harsh, huh?

Rubix: ...

Naomi: He feels bad, but we asked him to do it.

Rubix: ...

Naomi: You wrote this as a reflection and for readers to know what's going on in that head of yours.

Rubix: ...

Naomi: But you're sad how it turned out. You're thinking that they'll be disappointed with how sad this atmosphere is.

Rubix: ...

Naomi: You're thinking that you'll erase this whole interview and write something more cheery and funny instead, like you always do, like how your readers expect you to.

Rubix: ...

Naomi: But that's not how you do things. You do what your readers don't expect. Remember the purpose of this post, an interrogation against a cube. Interrogations go deep and personal.

Naomi: You keep forgetting how many people actually enjoy the book. You still can't comprehend the numbers, you still can't accept people have read what you made, in their own free will. You don't realize how many lives have been changed, how many laughs created, how many eyes watered, how many curses censored, how many ships sailed, how many ships sank, how many screams uttered- In which you're thinking I'm over exaggerating, but the comments say otherwise. However, you're still tied down to that insecurity the people who bullied you created out of you, and you're using it to hold down your potential.

Rubix: That's what bullying does, it holds people back from their potential, from who they are and what they will be. And I hate it. Every story my readers sent me of their experience against bullying is like a survival story, or in some cases, a still-surviving story. Reading about bullying, writing about it, you tend to just lose your faith in humanity. There are times when I laugh at my attempt of trying to fix this world-

Naomi: But you are. Whether you make someone's day or change their view in life, you're doing something.

Rubix: But is it enough?

Naomi: You're overthinking it. You don't realize what you're doing now. You're doing something, in your own way, and that's what matters.

Rubix: When I said the reason I started writing was for myself, it wasn't true. The reason I started writing was to make people laugh. Such a small and simple goal. The joy of making someone laugh whether it's from a corny pun or being myself, and seeing the smile on their faces, was for me. In Wattpad, reading the comments, I'm able to read that I was able to do this to my readers, to random strangers. But... with TGGBB, I felt like I was drifting to uncharted territory, to the harsh world I want people to ignore because they could be laughing and be happy instead of taken away by things like... bullying did to me.