The finish line is around here somewhere

I've said it three times before so there is no reason for anyone to believe me now, but the short story I've been writing since June 8 is done. With the disclaimer: I reserve the right to make minor word changes up until the last minute.

This is the first story I've ever written with an actual plot. Things happen for reasons. People change. And it is light years better than when I finished the first draft. Almost all of the events have stayed the same, but the details are all different. I added transitions between paragraphs, removed bloat, and added in some humor. I also spent many quality hours with the thesaurus, because left to my own devices I tell a story like a valley girl.

It's taken weeks, far longer than I can afford to spend on a regular basis, but it's a real story.

I feel like Mister Gepetto: it's a real boy! A real boy! Let's just hope I can skip being swallowed by a whale now.

Hold the phone. I just realized the Blue Fairy at the end of the A.I. movie was supposed to be a Pinocchio reference. Because he wanted to be a real boy, get it? I was too busy making fun of the sudden change of tone at the end, "Two thousand years passed..." or whatever they said, to even notice. Or maybe I knew it once and then forgot; I couldn't have been that dense. Anyway. Movie comprehension fail.

Speaking of comprehension, I watched the most recent episode of True Blood and all I have to say is, "Wha?"