Saving Grace (Chapter 1 - Part 2)

[Echo-Sage]

     Here is the rest of the chapter. This book is going to be a drama/romance. It is kind of sad, the way it's going. But I like the characters, they're real and interesting. The first one you met I don't have a name for yet. Michael Stone maybe. It is written from two perspectives. The second, which will come in the second chapter, is from the girl's point of view. It will probably alternate between each chapter, so that you can get to know the characters at a nice, even pace, before they begin to interact together. This is the style I have chosen because I like getting into my characters heads, and I think it will be cool to see the relationship between them and what they think of each other. Anyway, let me know if you think I should post the second chapter soon. Thanks.

     That night, I crept under my covers, with a copy of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet under one arm. I didn’t like disobeying my dad, but I knew that if I didn’t read it I would fail the class. That would give him something else to yell and scream about. I was actually kind of excited about reading it, as I’d never really read a romance before. I wondered what the guy was like, was he strong and courageous? Smart and clever? I couldn’t imagine what the girl must be like, hopefully she wasn’t like the girls in school, all posh and shallow.

     To be honest, I was worried too. Worried that I didn’t have the ability to read this book, which measured over two hundred pages. My dad didn’t like when I read, so most of the books my teacher gave me for class he threw into the trash. I had to spend time at school searching the internet for info on what the book was about, usually using a site called Wikipedia. I was surprised he hadn’t thrown away this copy when he found it. I’d have to hide it good in a secret place, and to prepare myself for the ranting rage that would come on him. I wasn’t scared, he’d hit me before, once across the mouth or sometimes in the stomach. It hurt, but the pain wouldn’t last long.

     I’d told a kid at school this once. He said I should tell the cops, that it wasn’t right to keep on letting him hit me, that fathers were supposed to protect and nurture their children. I told him my dad did; he disciplined me in that way. At least, that was what he’d always told me. The kid said that an excuse, so I wouldn’t feel inclined to tell the authorities. I told him I didn’t mind and he left. I don’t know if it was right or wrong what my dad has done in the past, but I’d grown used to it by now. Besides, he hasn’t hit me in a few years. Now that I was seventeen I was on my way to becoming a man, and I didn’t need no one beating on me anymore. That’s what I told myself anyways, to keep away the fear that my dad would do it again. Maybe I was scared, I don’t know.

     That night I surprised myself by getting through the first fifty pages. It was written in an odd way, and the words sounded kind of funny, and the way he worded things didn’t seem to come out right, but I understood a lot of what he was saying. I liked Romeo, he was kind and nice, and he had a good heart. He was the kind of boy I was, not looking for the faults in other people like some of the kids in school do, but he was somebody I thought I respected. I didn’t mind the girl, Juliet, much, she seemed okay. She wasn’t annoying like the girls in my school; she was like Romeo, gentle and caring. If I had to pick my favorite girl I’d pick her over all the rest. She was different, a good kind of different. The kind you could hold on too and really wanna see more of in people and yourself.

     Even in the early pages I could see the two of them loved each other a lot. It didn’t feel rushed or anything, it seemed natural. Not like in movies, where the guy is some muscled hero who saves the woman from the monster or the bad guy. It seemed real, something you could believe in, maybe even something you would want yourself one day.

     People talk about the one person in the world they could love, and spend the rest of their life together with; someone to hold hands with, and to kiss and hug, and make breakfast for on some Sunday morning. My momma was like that with my dad, only he didn’t show her that stuff in return much. But when he did momma would smile and look happy, like they were the only two people left in the world.

     I think if I ever loved someone I’d want it to be like that. Easy, not something very complicated, but nice and sweet. I wouldn’t have to try so hard to impress her, and she would laugh at the dumb jokes I told, and not get angry at me when I made mistakes, but she’d forgive me when I made them. That’s the kind of girl I would want to marry, someone I could raise a family with and grow old together and love with all my heart until the day I died.

     I’m not sure if I believe in love though, or that it’s so easy to find it. I know what it would probably feel like, wanting to make that person happy, and to take them out to dinner, and to give them everything they could ever want in life. There’d be a feeling in your heart that was strange, but it’d be a good feeling, and it would be like you love your friends and your family, and I guess your horse too, only stronger. That’s probably what it felt like if I were to take a guess.

     But the people on the television, and movies, and in all those magazines, they talk about how hard it is to find that one person in the world to love. That’s there’s someone out there for all of us, you just gotta reach out and search for them until you find them. And you’ll know when you’ve found them, because you will have that feeling in your heart, that strange, tingly, yet pleasant feeling.

     But they say there’s over seven billion people on the planet, in separate places, and houses, and in different parts of the earth. How is it that you would be lucky enough to find that one special person, amongst all those other people? What are the chances that you, just one person out of billions, would find that one person out of billions, that you would want ever love and have that feeling towards? I think you would have to awful lucky to find them. I just don’t think there’s enough luck in the world for everyone to have that happen to them, especially not me. I doubt there’s a girl in the world who I would ever love, or even have the desire to search for them.

     I suppose if there is one somewhere out there in this big old world, she would have to be kind, and nice, and gentle, like Juliet. She would have to be quiet and reserved, not like the girls in my school, not annoying like them. But someone sweet and kind and caring, who would want the same thing from me too. Even if there is such a girl, she probably doesn’t live anywhere near me, probably in France or Italy or Germany or some exotic place like that.

     And it seems so trivial to just go out on dates with people to try and find that one person. It seems to me, if you really wanted to find them, you’d fly to every country and continent in the world to find them, and money wouldn’t be an option, because you would have such a desire, a burning desire to find them. You would get that money at any cost, just to have even a few minutes with that person, so you can experience that feeling in your heart, that feeling that most people will never get themselves. Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many divorces and breakups and boyfriends and girlfriends cheating on each other and what not.

     I don’t know why I’m thinking all this before I go to bed, I should probably be asleep anyway, seeing as I have enough work to do tomorrow without wondering about these things. But it really makes me wonder, if there really is someone out there, like me, who wants the same things, someone who I could love and want to make happy, and they would make me happy too. My dad won’t let me go anywhere far anyway, so it’s not like I would ever get the opportunity to find that one girl.

     Still, it makes me feel good to think about it. To imagine that I could be happier then I am now, that maybe I could even have children of my own one day, who I could love too. I could teach my son to farm and treat animals and people right, and if I had a daughter, well, I guess my wife could take care of that. I don’t know what I could teach my daughter, my wife would be better at that I think. I don’t understand girls as it is, so I guess even thinking about marriage and children and finding that one girl is stupid.

     I’ll try and fall asleep now, so I can get up early to feed Wynng and the pigs and everything else I gotta do tomorrow morning. I should remember to make dad breakfast or I’ll just get in trouble again. I’m gonna try and read through some more of Romeo and Juliet tomorrow night, before I go to school in the morning after. I’m not expected to be done with the book until Wednesday, but I’m interested in finding out what happens next. I hope it’s a happy ending, I like those the best.

[Kat-NE]

Romeo and Juliet + expectation of a happy ending = poor guy .

I was going to mention in my post on part one that having his name in the beginning would probably help draw readers in, but I forgot.

I like him. Seems like a nice, simple guy. God knows those don't exist, so it's nice to see, even though it's fiction. And I like the idea of alternating the perspective. I always find it adds to the story, having more than one perspective.

I want to read more. Keep it up!