They had set up a small household in her hostel room: electric kettle, coffee mugs, tea bags, powdered milk, a jar of Nescafe. Every morning, he made undrinkable tea for her and passable black coffee for himself, before walking through the still-asleep hostel corridors to his own room. His reward: a sleepy kiss from her.

---*-

When they broke up, he tried sleeping in his own room but realized that he had forgotten how to sleep alone. During one such sleepless night, as he walked by her room, he saw her throwing out the coffee jar he had deliberately left in her room, hoping that it would remind her of him.

---*-

“But,” I say,” does her will matter?”

“Yes and no.” This makes me laugh.

“So, you can make your will reality. Are you a god?”

“To her, I am.” Okay, now I know he’s full of shit.

“You are making her up.”

“Maybe so. Still no shame in drinking decaf.”

“How do you will something to happen?” I say.

Eyes narrow, “you think about what you deserve. And then you find your will rolls over and erases everything!”

“What about her will?” I sip my coffee, which is, thankfully, caffeinated.

“What is her will compared to mine?”

Freak, I think.

What problems? It worked, didn’t it?

“There’s no shame in drinking decaf,” I say.

“True,” the stranger says. “I met my wife because of decaffeination. She was ordering a decaf at Dunkin Donuts. I followed her home. I willed her to be mine. Willed her.”

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. Maybe decaf had it’s problems.

Two hours ?! Well, it requires a bit of practice initially…..Keep trying, although be careful otherwise sooner or later you’ll end up with “Nanofiction Tourette’s” like me, where you just can’t stop yourself from churning out multiple 55s in rapid succession

You should give it a try too — Go on, it’s only 55 words