The One Dry Well
You know how some authors have only one story to tell? Their whole life they keep going back to the same theme, over and over. (I think this is said of Nabakov, but feel free to correct me.)

I'm sorta the inverse, I have one story I can't seem to write.  It comes from a line in an old Offspring song: "Turn it all around with the suicide move."  Thing is, it's not even all that great of a line, but something hooked my brain all those years ago, and no matter how I try I can't seem to tell the story that captures it.

I tried in "The Devil's Last Dance" but everyone who has read that story (S&T, 98) knows that the "suicide move" ending is about 2,000 words too long.   It showed up in my final GT story, but was fairly muted.   

Now that same perpetually flawed sentiment has worked its way into my Eb. proposal.  Just don't tell the editors.