word count of two

how to defeat the python

John sat at his computer for nearly two hours without being able to produce a single word.  His hands resting on the keyboard like starfish drying out on a beach.  His eyes fixated on the blinking cursor that mocked him with every flutter. 

He had so much he wanted to say to you today - but couldn't find a way to start.  He knew you had such a weight on your shoulders and he just wanted to find a way to take some of it off before you were crushed by the heaviness of everything.   

John closed his eyes, and in that darkness behind his lids, the oppressive silence began to throb with the pulse of the world's pain. It was as if the room had dissolved, and the tide of emotions was a living thing, seeping in to fill the void, transforming into a hungry python that sought to consume him with all the fear, sadness, and anger it carried.

"Write something," John said through his pursed lips.  

He figured he could start with a single word to get the ball rolling - anything.  Just write something.  

Nothing happened.  
 
The emotion of the world was swallowing John up and soon he felt he might be gone altogether.  When his family would come looking for him they would likely just find his shoes.  Every other little bit of him would be devoured by the monster of the world's despair.

John looked out the window.  The world was burning.  Everyone was holding signs.  Everyone was shouting at each other.  Everyone was building fences between one another.  

The python of emotion tightened around his heart.  John tilted his head down away from the computer screen to look at it.

"This is how it ends," the snake said as it began to squeeze his heart like a breakfast grapefruit.