When an anonymous editor begins leaving comments on Percy’s document, all he wants is to be rid of them. Except before he knows it, he’s finally making progress on his story again.

Percy tells himself he’s leaving the comment for later, the way all writers do. But even as he thinks it, he knows it’s a lie.

Day 1

Percy triple checks the share-settings on the document. It’s still set to private. He looks at the comment again. 

Percy: Should i kill off Tesfira?
One reaction: [thumbs down emoji]

Maybe I clicked it by accident, he thinks.

Percy shakes it off, scolding himself for getting distracted. Again. A computer mishap is the least of his concerns when he’s in a perpetual state of writer’s block. Confidently, he positions his hands above the keyboard, but instead of letters, his fingers find the power button.

Day 2

Percy stares at the screen, the blinking cursor burning into his retina. He rereads the sentence.

Tesfira watched her friend carefully, so carefully that she didn’t realize her own hands were glowing with a power equally as powerful as Vasylia’s. 

He would’ve recalled giving a side character superpowers. His fingers drift to the backspace button, but he hesitates, a process he’s repeated several times over the last hour. 

The ideas trickle in at first. Then it’s a flood.

When Percy finally looks up, it’s dark. He’d barely noticed the dimming light. He glances at the word count — nearly 1,000 words added in this sprint. 

That’s more than the past two weeks combined.

Day 3

Percy’s computer chirps with an email alert. 

Anonymous Squirrel added a comment in the following document: “Percy’s First Draft”

Anonymous Squirrel: “When Vasylia gets recruited
for her powers, she should demand Tesfira get to
come with her. It’ll show Vasylia’s loyalty and
dedication to the people she cares about.”

For what feels like the thousandth time, Percy checks the settings. The document is still private. Just to be sure, he makes a copy, one that’s out of the reaches of Anonymous Squirrel.

The new document feels fresh without the scrutiny of an anonymous reader. Percy writes another 1,200 words – this time about Tesfira’s recruitment. He’s too lost in the scene to give Anonymous Squirrel another thought. 

Day 4

Percy’s first instinct is to abandon Google and move the document offline.

Anonymous Ferret added a suggestion in the following document: “Copy of Percy’s First Draft”

Replace: “Vasylia used her glowing hands to heal the boy’s wound.” with “Tesfira used her glowing hands to heal the boy’s wound.”

He closes his laptop and opens it again. 

Self-doubt begins to creep in. This anonymous ferret might be intruding on his work, but Percy is starting to suspect he’s no good without them. For the third time, the animal’s suggestion is just what his story needs: something to motivate Vasylia. 

Before he can overthink it, he accepts the suggestion and adds a change of his own – Tesfira saves the boy, but it’s Vasylia who gets the credit. Once the whole world believes Vasylia saved the boy, she can’t hide anymore. She’ll have to accept her role as the chosen one.

Satisfied with the changes, he’s about to close the computer, but there’s a question that’s bothering him. He adds a comment.

What happens to Tesfira now? Should I kill her off after all to get her out of Vasylia’s way?

Percy tells himself he’s leaving the comment for later, the way all writers do.

But even as he thinks it, he knows it’s a lie.

Day 5

Every few minutes, he refreshes his email, until finally he sees what he was hoping for: Inbox (1).

Anonymous Ferret replied to a comment in the following document: “Copy of Percy’s First Draft”

Anonymous Ferret: Are you sure you want to kill off Tesfira? It doesn’t seem meaningful. Besides, I’m too important to kill off now.

This whole time, something about the ending had been bugging Percy, but he could never quite figure out what it was. Suddenly, it comes into focus. 

His mind races with the edits, and his fingers fight to catch up. He doesn’t stop until he types THE END.

Day 6

When he returns to the document the next day, hands still cramping from his writing session the day before, he rereads the changes. Anonymous Ferret, as usual, was right. He didn’t have a good enough reason to kill off Tesfira. Not until he realized that Vasylia needed a final push, one so life-changing that she would have no choice but to accept her role as heroine.

He types out a reply to Anonymous Ferret. 

I owe you. Everything clicked into place after
your comment. What do you think?

Day 7

Percy’s inbox is barren. He was sure he’d have a reply by now, but the day drags on without a response. Eventually, he gives up. 

As the legs of his chair scrape against the floor, he realizes, with a jolt of satisfaction, he doesn’t need them anymore.

Process

Megan and Molly knew they wanted to submit a pair piece again for this year’s anthology. They write in different genres, but they’re both familiar with staring at a Google Doc and willing words to appear. Megan suggested a story where an author and character talk. Molly, of course, had to add murder.

Molly transferred their brainstorming to a shared doc, and Megan, the fantasy writer, came up with the story within the story. Once they had the basics, they outlined, drafted, and revised over a series of video calls, even managing to throw in an Easter egg from their last story.