Well. Progress has been made. · 3:26am Jun 24th, 2014
So, after receiving some encouraging news about how I failed to make my writing suck (I know, it surprised me too), I've been smacked upside the head by my muse and dragged to my computer.
So, yay.
I've officially roughed out the entirety of the book. Just 3 pages of things I need to cover, and I'll fill in the rest as I go. Know this, though; it will not be an easy journey. There are a few elements on this book that are near and dear to me, and unfortunately, they aren't exactly happy ones. For those of you who were expecting a light-hearted book full of frolicking ponies, I'd suggest finding something else. If, however, you want to read a story about love and it's imperfections; about how terrible things can happen to the best of us without reason or warning, then stick with me.
The topics will get heavy. The feels will reach maximum over-feel. But there will be humor sprinkled throughout, and I won't make this a 400-page crapfest. There is a light on the other side, I promise you. In that vein, I give you the last paragraph of the book. No spoilers, so don't worry.
"Though the road was long and hard, and the burden of the past a heavy one, we have made it through the valley and ascended the peak to gaze at the vista on the other side. I can't really say where we'll go from here; I know that there will be more challenges ahead of us. There will be sadness and anger, and more than a few tears; but there will be happiness as well, and in spades at that. We have faced the fire and emerged stronger because of it. No, I know not what the future holds. But we've made it through this, we can make it through anything. All we need is a little time and a lot of love."
Some of you may hate me for what I'm about to do; and that is fine. I accept this as an inevitability. But before you decide, let me finish my story. Read it through to the end and tell me that I'm wrong.
To answer the questions you haven't asked yet, I'll say this: Love is not easy. It is not all sunshine and rainbows. A love without pain and suffering is hardly love at all. When you love someone, you give them the power to destroy you from the inside out, and trust that they will not. But people are not perfect; we all make mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes add up and up and up until they threaten to bury us. And sometimes... they do. All too often, in fact. I can't tell you how many times I've been buried under the mistakes that I've made, feeling trapped and seeing no way out. But this is where love comes in.
Love is patient, love is kind; and sometimes, love is a shovel.
Slowly but surely, with enough love and patience, you can dig yourself out of anything. That's what this story is about; the redeeming power of love. Love can heal all wounds, but the scars remain. Scars that ache before a storm, that are stiff and sore on a cold winter's morn; but it is these scars that serve to remind us that we lived. They tell a tale all their own, about painful lessons learned.
So I invite you to stay a while. Hang your feels up there by the door, and have a seat. I'll light a fire to chase the chill from your bones, and we'll have tea and tell stories about the old days. And maybe, if you listen closely and don't interrupt, I'll tell you how I got these scars.
I've been meaning to comment on your past few blog entries, but circumstances kept preventing me from getting around to it before the next journal was posted. Anyway, now that I've got the chance, I've just got to say this...
I've collected a number of stories in my "favorites" list over the years on various sites, but there are only a few that I manage to get around to reading a second time thanks to my limited free time and seemingly ever-expanding "read later" list. I want you to know that A Dream That Wasn't has been a masterpiece I've read through not once, not twice, but three full times since it made my gold star list, and your journal last week got me reading it for the fourth time, now (Twilight would be proud).
It's a great story, made all the more relatable by the experiences you've woven into it. We've seen Dave at his best and his worst, sympathized with his experiences, and still stubbornly stuck with him through thick and thin. There may be more storms on the horizon for him, more battles to be fought; after all, love is a choice, and that choice isn't always easy, but with it, you can endure the storms of life to make it through to a brighter day. I'll be looking forward to the unwritten adventures yet to come. It's a great story, and I plan to see it through until the end!
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Well said, good sir. I'm honored that you think so highly of my story, and I applaud your dedication. I'm beyond pleased that there are people out there who enjoy this story as much as I do, and I'm equally humbled by the fact that people not only read it, but enjoy it. The fact that I'm able to spread happiness and wonder simply by putting my heart on a page is beyond fathom for me. I'm glad we've been able to have this experience together, and I very much look forward to the coming saga.