on the tip of the tongue

A person stands at the front of the room giving a presentation. They falter, they stumble, and then they forget a word.
Tell the story from the perspective of the forgotten word.

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One job, man. You had one job.

Spit me out. That’s all you had to do.

Now, I’m stuck here on the tip of your tongue. Right here on the very tip.

It’s a bit dry here by the way, buddy. Maybe that cool glass of water sitting right there beside your hand could have helped.

If you had simply taken a moment to take a sip, then I would be out there surfing with my friends across those radical sound waves.

But, no. You were too nervous to take that drink. Afraid you’d spill it allover the front of that pressed shirt. Afraid you’d make a mess.

Make a mess you did, didn’t you? You can feel all of those words backing up behind me, can’t you? The way they’re stumbling over each other trying to get out.

They aren’t getting passed me though. Nope. We are all stuck here because you are too stubborn to take a sip of water.

You’re starting to choke on them now. Those words clogging your throat. Those words that should have surfed their way right into the brain waves of your audience.

They should be haunting them. Instead, they haunt you.

Oh, sure. Now you’re going to take that drink of water. Now that it’s too late. You’re just going to glub, glub, glub…

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I’d love to read what you come up with. Write a story from the perspective of the word then share the link in the comments section.

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