His personal alarm clock chimed. He had set it on the bedside nightstand when he had arrived at this cheap motel, and it dutifully woke him up each day at 7am, his preferred waking hour.

But that had been how many… five? six? days ago. He was unsure, and glanced at his combination day-planner and notepad next to the clock.

Six days!

He’d been here almost the entire week given to him by the assignment editor, and written nothing. Nothing!

In search of “the story”, he had gone to all of the usual sights of Buffalo. That had taken him an entire three days. Of course, he visited the Anchor Bar (“The home of Buffalo Wings”), taken in the Chippewa Avenue nightlife, and even dropped by the SUNY -Buffalo campus. And even spent a whole day at Niagara Falls. (“Was that yesterday, or the day before?”, he wondered.)

But when he googled for stories about each of those, he realized he had nothing unique to contribute. Everything had been said.

And yet, he was leaving tomorrow, and needed something to say.