Many writers have shared their thoughts with the public:

"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you." - Beatrix Potter

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Ana s Nin

"Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others' writing, is what makes you feel famous." - Gretchen Bernabei

"Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth." - Edna Ferber

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Ben Franklin

"One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones to form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment." - Hart Crane

"There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are." - W. Somerset Maugham

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Many aeons ago, there was not a beginning but a change initiated by a guy called Adam pounding upon a sturdy, wooden door during a particularly noisy eruption of multiple volcanoes.

Eventually, but not too soon, the roar, hiss and splat of spewing lava and Adam's knocking merged with the measured tread of heavy boots steadily descending stone steps.

One... two... three... four... five steps... as the occupant bellowed impatiently, "I'm coming... I'm coming..."

The knocking continued as did the steps. Six... seven... eight... nine...

For a few moments, there was total silence. Even the volcanoes were dormant. Then there was the loud click of a switch and Adam was illuminated by a single spot of starlight.

The totality of his nakedness was only just hidden (from who knows where) by a pad of drawing paper he carried in one hand and a pencil tucked behind an ear.

Finally, at long last, the door creaked open, but only halfway. Adam peered into the dark interior but could see no one there.

That didn't stop him from complaining.

"I've been knocking for ages."

From somewhere within came the reply, "There's always someone knocking."

"But you sent for me. I'm your set builder."

The door opened wider and Adam stepped inside and then, a few paces more, onto an empty stage where all three walls and the boards upon which he stood were painted a green that shimmered beneath a cluster of fluorescent galaxies.

"Hardly Broadway," said Adam.

"Do the best you can."

One... two... three... the heavy tread of the still-unseen occupant began to ascend the stone steps.

"Wait... don't leave yet. Where's the script...? The set designs...? When do we open...?"

Four... five... six... seven... the tread continued upward.

"Too many questions. Get on with it."

Adam now had to shout to be heard. "I'm going to need some help. I'll need actors. I'll need front of house!"

Eight... nine... the occupant's voice echoed from above, "I'll send someone."

Again, there was complete silence as Adam paced the stage regretting, to some extent, that he had taken on such a project. On the other hand, if the man upstairs was not going to help, he was free to create - perhaps something magnificent.

But where to start?

Adam took the pencil from behind his ear and started sketching some ideas on his notepad, looking around at all the green that surrounded him.

After a time, Adam placed his pad and pencil to one side and began to pace the stage. He peered into every corner, ran the palm of his hand over some parts of the walls, and stared for a long while into space.

Then he sat with his hands cupping his chin, trying to imagine what his creation could look like. But the ideas wouldn't come. He had designer's block. Everything was a complete blank. He was about to give up and return to wherever he came from when a light tapping on the stage door signalled a second coming.

At first, Adam chose to ignore the interruption. He did not want to be seen abandoning his post but there was no other way out so he hoped the caller would give up and leave.

Instead, the knocking became louder and more insistent, threatening to alert the man upstairs, so Adam eventually opened the door.

As every reader would expect, Eve stood on the step, dressed in a fur of such elegance that Adam was taken aback by the body shape it almost completely concealed.

"About time! I shouldn't have to wait an eternity!" she said.

Adam only just managed to hide an inexplicable pleasure at seeing her. "What do you want?"

"I'm wardrobe. I'm here to dress you."

"Why don't we undress you instead?" asked Adam, who wasn't all that sure of why he'd said that.

Eve pushed her way through to the stage with a remark she didn't quite understand either. "Forget the sexist remarks. Save them for the script."

"What script?" asked Adam.

"The same script we're quoting from now," said Eve, as she tested the strength of the boards with several light taps of her foot. It was then that Adam noticed the sewing machine she carried.

"Where can I set up?" asked Eve.

Adam pointed to the opposite corner well away from where he had now decided to start work.

"That will do. Over there."

"But why is it all so green... so yukky green?" asked Eve.

"I haven't started work to replace it yet because you interrupted me. By the time I'm finished, the stage will be full of all things bright and beautiful!"

"Well, before you start, I'll need to measure you."

"I don't have time to be measured."

"Stay still. Clothes maketh the man that maketh the world."

"What...?"

"You've got to dress for the part. Now hold still."

"What...?"

"A stitch in time and all that. Stand straight!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Now just your inside leg..."

"You are taking liberties, madam."

"Your suit will be of horsehair, itchy side in. That should help you concentrate on your work. Oh, and I've brought you this."

Eve pulled a long, thin piece of material from beneath her fur and looped it about Adam's neck, using it to pull him closer before knotting it.

Adam looked down at the figure of an apple emblazoned on the front of the material.

"What do I need this for?"

"It's a fashion accessory and my creative statement to the new world," said Eve as she retreated to her corner.

"It will never catch on," said Adam.

In no time at all, Adam was enjoying the opportunity to have a good scratch of his intimate parts thanks to his new suit - an enjoyment he and his descendants would never tire of. And the more he scratched, the more his enthusiasm for artistic endeavours was aroused. Although he had soon decided on the overall colour scheme for the new world, some of his ideas had to be varied somewhat to accommodate the opinion of a sometimes too-insistent Eve.

But, despite the bossiness she called 'women's lib', Adam soon considered Eve to be a valued partner in the development of the stage they shared. Although not fully understood at the time, Adam's appreciation of Eve gradually blossomed into something more - even before he had painted any flowers, birds, or bees.

Of course, Eve preferred to keep the relationship strictly professional, at least until they had completed the job. So she ignored any unnecessary and weird comments about states of undress and cosy corners in the meantime.

Although Adam could have easily blamed what Eve often described as his poor workmanship on the quality and quantity of what he had to work with, he refrained from doing so. Instead, he remained hopeful that a better outcome would be achieved to the entire satisfaction of Eve, with the next coat of paint, no matter how cosmetic that achievement might be.

Unfortunately, the availability of resources remained a worry. Only a few tins of paint and a few two-inch brushes were eventually delivered by an Uber Paints driver, Vladimir.

Ordinarily, Adam would have been happy to receive even such a small quantity but its delivery became complicated when Vladimir took an immediate shine to Eve and decided to stay for a few snuggles in her corner. Eve cemented the relationship by making him a new suit, together with another long, thin piece of material, this one emblazoned with a snake. This she looped around Vladimir's neck mistakenly thinking it represented something that tied them together. Some badge of allegiance. Very mistakenly.

This greatly upset Adam but there seemed little he could do about Vladimir's intrusion so he decided to ignore the situation and get on with his work.

He first chose a light blue with which to paint the back wall and work was progressing well until Vladimir took it upon himself to object. He claimed half of the back wall belonged to him and Eve and demanded he paint it red.

Naturally, as the chief set designer, Adam took exception to this interloper demanding anything. It was only when Eve suggested that the whole wall should be painted pink that the two men agreed to paint it red and blue in equal shares.

As the men obliterated the green of the back wall with their chosen colours, Eve returned to her sewing machine to make them ever more uncomfortable garments of the itchiest material she could find. And with no pockets! She wanted to see their hands at all times.

With two-inch brushes, it naturally took Adam and Vladimir some time to paint the rear wall but, when finished, the main backdrop of their new world was clearly defined by Adam's blue and Vladimir's red. However, at Eve's insistence, a single vertical line of pink divided the two colours - a pink demarcation line the two men called 'no-man's land'.

Before Adam could object, Vladimir had ignored Eve's wishes for more pink and painted the whole of their side, the far wall and the floor boards, red. "It is a statement of my dominion!" Vladimir declared.

Although Adam was tempted to paint the rest of his side blue as a statement of his own, he resisted the dictates of an ideology yet to be force-fed to future artists and decided to preserve some of the original green once favoured by the man upstairs. As a result, Adam soon found himself with a surfeit of blue paint and some time on his hands to further decorate with flowers, birds, and bees.

As he painted the latter, Adam often glanced across the stage at Eve who had, by now, created several, long racks of horsehair suits. They had been demanded by Vladimir as a sign of the overall success of what he now considered to be very much his own domain.

At first, Eve was too busy to notice but her creative interest was eventually piqued by the images Adam was painting upon the blue and green of his alternative realm.

This interest did not go unnoticed by Vladimir who was otherwise quite busy reinforcing his 'statement' with additional coats of red, over and over again. Sometimes, Vladimir's exuberance became so intense that Eve found herself boxed in everywhere, waiting hours for paint to dry before she could return to her own work. Plenty of time to gaze longingly at the tranquillity of Adam's existence.

It was when Vladimir had stopped for a brief moment to stir some red that he realised Eve's interest for what it was and suspected she could possibly leave him for Adam. He immediately stopped his stirring and began lining up Eve's clothes racks from the rear of the stage to the footlights, packing the horsehair suits closely together, end on end, completely blocking any view of Adam's work.

Adam could not believe that he had so quickly and easily lost the initiative with this project. As chief designer, appointed by the man upstairs, this was not what he had expected from a fellow inhabitant - especially a former Uber driver whose only experience with decorative substances was its delivery. It was certainly not what the man upstairs would have wanted, Adam was sure of that.

Although reluctant to admit he needed help, Adam nevertheless called to the man upstairs for some inspiration as to how he might resurrect the situation.

"Can you hear me sir? Can you hear me...? I beseech you. I could do with some advice and support down here..."

Adam listened intently, hoping to hear footfalls upon the stone steps. Even a roar of disapproval at being disturbed would have been welcome. But there was nothing but silence, broken only occasionally by tweets from his painted birds and the buzz of busy bees.

Then came a response he did not welcome.

"Keep it down! We are trying to prosper with hard work and discipline over here," shouted Vladimir.

"Well you won't get far without the approval of the man upstairs. He's really in charge here," Adam replied.

Adam hoped that might be taken as a warning to Vladimir but it didn't seem to have the desired effect.

Instead, Vladimir countered, "There is no man upstairs! No evidence that he exists. I've never seen him, have you? Everything here is of our creation and subject to our will."

It was then that Adam noticed that the clothes racks had been gradually pushed toward him, inch by inch, past no-man's land, into his area. As it was appropriated, Vladimir quickly overpainted Adam's green and blue with multiple coats of red. It was an invasion!

With no response from the man upstairs, Adam sought the assistance of Eve and called out to her.

"Eve! Eve! I know you don't agree with what Vladimir is doing. Don't let this greedy man spoil everything!"

When she eventually replied, Eve's voice was no longer that of the assertive and confident tailor Adam had first known. "Adam, just let him have what he wants. He's in charge now."

"She's right. I'm in sole charge here. Eve doesn't have any say in the affairs of my state," added Vladimir.

Adam looked to the heavens, praying silently for some help, but still there was no response.

Then he had an idea...the wall of suits had to go...they were on a stage...a stage with footlights beyond which their world dropped into the chasm of an orchestra pit...and, beyond that, the infinity of stalls and front of house...

Adam took hold of the first rack and propelled it over the footlights. Eve screamed to see her work so easily disposed of and then screamed again as the second rack, and then the third, the fourth, and the fifth followed. It was like a fashion show but without the models; a parade of the very latest line of clothing swaggering off the runway into oblivion.

Speechless for once, Vladimir stood in wet paint, a tin of red hanging limply from one hand and a dripping paintbrush in the other. Eve rushed to the footlights and screamed again, into the darkness.

Then she turned to Adam...but not with the hate and bitterness he expected...

It was then that Eve knew she loved Adam and Adam had even stronger feelings for Eve. It was a match made in the heavens. Adam held out his hand to Eve. "Let's get out of here. Let's leave this place of red devastation to the madman."

Eve turned to Vladimir then drew back in disgust as he threw the red contents of his paint tin across Adam's green floor.

Adam gestured to Eve to follow him. "Come on. There's a new place down the Milky Way. The Garden of Eden. The madman's Uber is still outside. We'll grab that."

According to a later report, Eve did escape from the red planet with Adam and the rest is history.