20 Nov There’s a Monster in my Boot…
Why do writers write?
There are many reasons. Some pursue fame and fortune, while others may find writing therapeutic.
For me, like many other writers, the main reason I write is because there is a “monster in my boot.” Let me explain.
As I drove back from the school run with my 2-year-old today she announced (loudly) that a monster had hitched a ride with us from school and was now travelling in the car. The conversation went like this:
2-year-old: Mummy, Mummy! A monster’s got in the car! It’s next to me!
Me (concentrating on the road – honestly): Ah, yes. That happens sometimes. What shall we do?
2-year-old: Mummy, Mummy, it’s gone into boot of the car!
Me: Oh, that’s ok, then. I’ll let it out when we get home.
There was a few minutes silence until we arrived home. Upon arrival, I dutifully opened the boot of the car and stood there for a few seconds, allowing time for the said monster to escape.
2-year-old (a bit confused): Mummmmmmy, why you open the boot?
Me: Well, to let the monster out.
2-year-old: But, Mummy, there not a monster in the boot.
Me (very confused): Oh. Well, there’s not now, no. I’ve just let it out…
Hadn’t I?
My daughter had obviously moved on from the monster ambush and had decided I was a lost cause because she said nothing. I, meanwhile, shut the boot of the car, wondering if I had indeed let her monster out or whether it would materialise again on our next car journey (probably when I’m trying to reverse park).
To me, this scenario sums it up and it makes me smile. She says there’s a monster in the car. Of course there is, nothing is more likely. Every child knows that monsters lurk everywhere – it’s just something we forget as we get older – and presumably these monsters need to travel about somehow. So when ideas such as these present themselves, it’s a game worth playing. It’s a story worth divulging and exploring, even if only for a short while. The day has become richer and more alive with an ‘otherness’, bursting full of possibilities. And there is almost certainly something to learn along the way.
So that, mad as it may seem, is why I write. Because there is, and always will be, a monster in my boot.