Mav's Cafe: A five minute freewrite

I feel like I haven't been here in ages. I think it's true. I've been wrapped up in some real world projects for weeks now, but I finally got a little break! So I'm here with a freewrite.

If you want to give freewriting a try, check out @mariannewest who posts the prompts each day.

I got off the bus and took a deep breath. It smelled bad like a mix of exhaust, garbage, sewage and fast food. Somehow though, it filled me with a sense of freedom.

After seventeen hours on a bus with screaming babies with full diapers, old men snoring and two pairs of women who never stopped talking, I arrived in Gotham City.

Here is where I’d finally make my dreams come true. What that meant was a little rough around the edges but I knew where I had to start. I looked at my phone for the address then checked the bus route to get me to Saven, the place to be if you wanted to be part of the art community.

A few hours later, and at least two wrong bus choices, I ended up at Mav’s Cafe. I’d read that all the best artists frequented the place, and I wanted to see if it was true. But I couldn’t wait. When the waitress brought my coffee I asked, “Is it true the best artists in Gotham come here?”

She just stared at me blankly before rolling her eyes and walking away. Dumbstruck, I just watched her go.

“Don’t let her bother you,” a voice said from behind me. “She’s snobbier than any artist that comes here. It takes a long time for her to warm up to newbies.”

He was a few years older than I but devilishly handsome with his disheveled hair and deep blue eyes. Not the sort of men we had back home. It took all my courage to answer him.

“Was my question that obvious?”

He chuckled, “Yes, but that’s not what gave you away.”

“What was it then?”

“You said Gotham.”

I felt it was my turn to roll my eyes. “That’s where we are isn’t it?”

He leaned toward me, his eyes fixated on mine. “No, it isn’t. It’s pronounced Got-ham by the locals, never Gotham.”

---

I have to admit I took a little over ten minutes to do this. When I started, I knew where I wanted to end so I had to work my way there. I based this off a true story. Would you like to hear it?

Shortly after the TV show Gotham came out, my son saw the title on the screen (he was too young to watch and he hadn’t been given the appropriate superhero Marvel vs. DC superhero education yet). So he asked, “What’s Got-Ham?” or something to that effect. Since that day I can’t ever see or hear Gotham without thinking got-ham. Today’s prompt gave me the chance to infect everyone else with the same disease. Perhaps you’ll be immune...

I also wanted to write it this way because there is a city called Berlin in our state. In your head you just read Ber-lin. But that’s a city in Germany. Here it’s pronounced Berl-in. See the difference? It’s an immediate giveaway that you aren’t from anywhere around here if you pronounce it the German way.

So I had a desired end for this as soon as I read the prompt but the rest was all freewrite.



Join the Freewrite fun today! Visit @Freewritehouse

---

Proud to be part of the

Please the Bananafish god by entering the Finish the Story Contest

Photo by Nick Hillier on Unsplash
All images are mine or licensed from Adobe except where noted. Freewritehouse, and the Bananafish Tribe used with permission from their owners