Zeff
03-07-2013, 12:20 AM
The Story of Handsome and Sweetheart
Some many years ago; far before you were born; there lived a boy and a girl in a small, old, farm town. As small as this old farm town was; the Boy and Girl never knew each other until they were older. It turns out that the Boy was slightly older, and in school was ahead of the Girl. They never had any classes together, in fact never knew who each other was until after they both graduated from high school.
A few years had passed since they left high school when they met; at least for the Boy. It’s by luck that they ever even did, really. The Boy noticed the Girl one day when he was with his friends. The boy had always kept to himself, it wasn’t that he hated everyone he had just been hurt a lot growing up and just learned to find entertainment and comfort in himself, silence, books, music, and pondering. He always liked to watch from the outside in and would just listen. Some that knew him might say he was very adept at putting on someone else’s
shoes.
One of the Boy’s friends had just recently started dating a girl. It just so happened that this girl he was dating, was a good friend of the Girl. When the Boy first saw her, his world stopped for a blink of an eye. Although quiet, the Boy was rather known around the town and knew who more people were, than knew him. However he had never seen her before, and was amazed he hadn’t. He was stunned by how beautiful she was.
Not much is known about the Girl prior to her meeting the Boy. However, unbeknownst to the boy she was quite a popular girl. Not only because she was incredibly pretty, but bewilderingly talented, brilliant; in fact she was top in her class; tough; she had a lot of brothers; and incredibly caring. In fact her wealth in care; lead some to believe she was actually quite nasty. The truth is the Girl had been hurt too.
Both the Boy and the Girl had big hearts. It was in fact sometimes a burden for the both of them. They had both once loved too easy and had been hurt by others in the past and the result was immense self-barriers that were near impossible to breach. The fact is, their greatest strength was also their greatest weakness. It was the ability to care, and to love.
When the Boy and the Girl first met, not much transpired. Honestly the boy was in such awe he probably forgot to even introduce himself. The Girl never even noticed him. When the Boy left with his friends, he asked the good friend of the Girl about her. The girl was almost taken aback by the Boy’s inquisition; he was always so quiet. They talked and that’s when the Boy came to learn about Sweetheart.
The Boy didn’t learn too much, but he did learn her name. He also learned that she was in a relationship already. Disappointed, the Boy looked past it and moved on, or at least he tried to. It turns out the next time he was hanging out with his friend, his girlfriend was there and soon after the Girl came over, and so Sweetheart met Handsome for the first time. Handsome was quite shy, but so was Sweetheart. As awkward as the circumstance was; them both being something of a third wheel; they got along great.
When Sweetheart left; Handsome was in shock. It had been quite a while since Handsome had opened up to anyone; and although he didn’t know it; it had been a while for Sweetheart too. Handsome had a hard time getting Sweetheart off his mind that day. He knew he wanted her from then on, but that he couldn’t. She was taken. Off limits. It was against his code to go after her. What he didn’t know is Sweeheart’s relationship was crumbling.
Several days went by and Handsome couldn’t help but wonder where Sweetheart was and what she was doing. He often spent the days daydreaming about her, or writing about her in his journal to keep himself preoccupied. Then once again, one day Handsome was with his friend and his girlfriend when Sweetheart showed up. Handsome was flustered. He wasn’t expecting to see her; he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to be presentable; however he still hadn’t been home from work yet that day.
Handsome pulled himself together the best that he could and waited for her to come inside. When Sweetheart came inside, Handsome could tell something was different. Although Sweetheart was shy and quiet at times, she always wore a smile. In fact Handsome noticed it was gone today although he had only seen Sweetheart a couple times. It turns out Sweetheart and her boyfriend had been fighting; and she ended it. Sweetheart was hurt again. Handsome wasn’t quite sure what to do other than just try to be a friend and comfort her, even though his heart was screaming for her.
Days went by and Sweetheart did find comfort in Handsome. In fact she even liked him a little bit, but it was still too soon. Sweetheart talked to Handsome often. The conversations started as your typical, “Hi, how are you doing? How was your day?” and would always end in a deep confession of sorts, or a question on how to solve a personal problem or fear. Both Handsome and Sweetheart took a liking to the conversation and even looked forward to them.
As weeks went by, Handsome and Sweetheart grew very fond of each other. They both had a lot in common, and had shared a lot of personal stories and experiences with each other. They had even had a couple dinners and outings together. Nothing serious, just testing the water, but Handsome was falling for her. Handsome knew he was falling for her, which was fine, but not at the speed he was falling. He tried his best to contain the way he felt, he didn’t want to move to fast and he didn’t want to scare her away.
Some more time passed when Handsome and Sweetheart found themselves sitting with each other Christmas Eve. Sweetheart didn’t know it yet, but Handsome had been working on a surprise for Sweetheart for weeks. Although it had only been a couple short months Handsome felt very strongly for Sweetheart, but he was smart. Some time shortly after Sweetheart and Handsome started talking on a regular basis, Sweetheart said to Handsome, “Please don’t give up on me.” It was shortly after that Handsome decided to buy a ring for Sweetheart for Christmas. Not an engagement ring, just a simple Promise Ring, although he tried his best to find the fanciest one he could afford. When Sweetheart said that to him he promised he never would because in that moment Sweetheart wasn’t a girl, she was a woman Handsome knew he could spend the rest of his life with when the time was right.
So Handsome slipped the ring on Sweetheart’s finger, looked into her eyes and said, “I promise I’ll never give up on you. I know I might not always be perfect, but you are perfect for me. You are my dream girl; you are the girl I’ve been praying for. I knew it the moment I saw you.” It was a beautiful night for both of them. Handsome had never seen Sweetheart glow as much as she did that night. In fact his face hurt from smiling so much and he found her smile brilliantly beautiful, almost blinding. Sweetheart was stunned by how lucky she was to have found someone that cared about her as much as Handsome did. She really didn’t know what else to say through a gleaming smile other than, “Thank you so much! You’re so handsome, Dear.” and gave Handsome the kiss of a lifetime.
A few weeks went by and winter was getting rough. Handsome was working long hours and Sweetheart was busy with college. Their schedules didn’t match and they were seeing each other at odd times for short periods. Handsome was getting frustrated and over worked and Sweetheart was stressed out and tired. Both of them were having trouble trying to juggle time for each other, and neither of them liked it. It almost became a chore and both Handsome and Sweetheart were growing depressed. Eventually things did take a turn for the worst, and Sweetheart broke up with Handsome. One day Handsome woke up, he rolled over, and kissed Sweetheart on the cheek and said, “Good morning Beautiful.” Handsome and Sweetheart had argued the night before. Although angry the night before, he resolved the issue within himself and prepared to move on, ready to mend the hurt when he returned home from work. He just never got the chance.
Handsome was devastated. He knew things weren’t good, but he also knew a little more time could fix it. They just had to make it through the winter. Try as he did, Sweetheart was done. She was standing her ground. Sweetheart was smart as well. She didn’t want to be hurt any more. From that day on Handsome never saw her face again. They tried to work things out, to remain friends and maybe one day repair the relationship. They would talk on the phone often but Handsome just couldn’t handle it. He could never keep himself together out of the anguish of wanting her so bad. Handsome always ended up pushing too hard, or showing signs of anger when Sweetheart would resist and refuse to believe what he was saying. It scared Sweetheart away. It would take a few years for Handsome to realize that. To realize that the power that captured her heart was the same power that drove her away, his power to care and love. Ironically it was the same power that pushed Handsome away from Sweetheart.
Nearly a year went by before Handsome ever thought about talking to Sweetheart again. Not a day had gone by where Sweetheart didn’t cross his mind. He missed her tremendously, he missed everything about her. One day Handsome decided to write Sweetheart a poem. He didn’t really know what to expect would come from it but it just felt right. The poem went:
Some time ago I met a girl
She grabbed my heart
And took it for a whirl
We started as strangers
And grew into friends
We knew of the dangers
And gave our hearts a chance to make amends
Things went well for a while
We were laughing, loving, and living
And I sure did love your smile
It made my heart worth giving
One day I made a promise to you
A ring I bought to slip on your finger
To prove these feelings are true
And to this day they still linger
It’s been a long time since I saw your face
I’ve longed to make it smile
My heart still waits in the same place
To say it’s not would be denial
I keep my promise in a box
Hoping one day to slip back onto your finger
It has no secret, key, or locks
It’s open to you if the feelings still linger
Maybe I fell too hard and deep
The emotions were like a stormy sea
Perhaps that’s why I cannot sleep
Like I did with you next to me
Maybe I’m pathetic for not moving on
But that’s easier said than done
When the feelings were so strong
And with you I had so much fun
I could think about you all day
And not miss you any less
So I’ll just sit here and pray
That I’ll figure out this mess
Just know I havn’t forgot the promise once on your finger
And although we’ve fallen apart
The feelings they still linger
Although I wasn’t always smart
You will always be my “Sweetheart”
It’s been some time now since Handsome wrote that letter. Handsome waited and hoped that someday Sweetheart might remember him and miss him like he missed her. Handsome thought about her and prayed for her constantly. First he asked God to bring her back to him. With no results he got angry, but over time he began to understand there is no reason to be angry. So Handsome then began to pray that Sweetheart be safeguarded and granted happiness. Handsome realized that as long as Sweetheart was safe and happy where ever she might be that he would be too; and too this day no harm has come to him and he has been relatively happy and he takes that as a sign of comfort that she is too. Unfortunately Handsome never did hear back from Sweetheart and I don’t expect I ever will.
================================================== ================================================== =================================
This next little story I wrote for a friend of mine one day while we were talking on the phone. I particularly like this one although I'm not completely happy with it. I'd really like to change a lot of things and add some more but I'll take it. This took me about 2 hours to write, I say this just because I'm curious how much time some others spend on theirs? I know I still have a lot of work to do grammatically and in my descriptions(if they exist.) Honestly I havn't even proof read this prior to posting. I would definitely appreciate constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!
A Slice of Heaven
“Hurry up Nevaeh! The bus is almost here!” called Nevaeh’s Mother down the hall from the kitchen. Nevaeh was still in her room wiping the sleepy seeds out of her eyes. She opened her bedroom door and trudged sleepily to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, cleaned her glasses, and although she brushed her hair, it was so bushy it wasn’t much good. When she entered the kitchen Nevaeh’s mother greeted her with a cheery good morning, handed her an apple and said, “Here, eat this on the bus if you’re hungry. You over slept again and don’t have time for breakfast. Look! Here comes the bus now. Here, I packed you a little extra in your lunch today since you missed breakfast.” And she handed Nevaeh her lunch box and said, “I love you Sunshine, have a good day at school, I’ll see you when you get home.” Neveah gave her mother a hug and said, “Thanks Mom, I love you too.” And she ran out the door and hopped up into the bus leaving her mother to watch from the doorstep.
Nevaeh was eight years old and a brilliant girl. She loved to color, and she was already adept at reading and writing for her age. Nevaeh was also a very kind, quiet, gentle child. She was always trying to help other kids in her class when she could. In fact she had just helped Mike learn how to do multiples of 6. Some kids envied Neveah, so much so that they would often taunt her, or exclude her from games at recess. Neveah did have some friends though. She liked to talk to Jane, and she though Timmy was funny. What the other kids, even her friends, didn’t know is that she envied all them just as much, if not more.
Nevaeh’s mother and father separated before Nevaeh ever really knew what it was like to have a dad. Every day when she would wait in line to get on the bus to go home from school; she would watch some of the other kids whose parents would pick them up and wondered what it was like to have a dad. She often heard the kids speak about their dad’s. They all sounded so wonderful to her. She began wondering to herself, “Why don’t I have a dad?”
Later that day when Nevaeh returned home from school she noticed a car in the driveway she’d never seen. She walked down the pathway to the door and went inside. “Mom! I’m home!” she yelled as she walked in. She heard her mother say “I’m in here Nevaeh” from the living room. She grabbed a sugar cookie her mother had made earlier that day and left on the counter as she walked by towards the living room. When she turned the corner into the living room she found her mother talking to a man she had never seen before. “How was your day Muffin?” asked Nevaehs mother. Nevaeh began to tell her mother that her day wasn’t that exciting when her mother began talking again. “Nevaeh, this is Ben. I met him the other day at the market. We began talking and he asked me if I’d like to have coffee sometime so we made plans for today. Well the conversation was so good I invited him over for dinner. It turns out you and Ben share the same favorite meal, spaghetti, which is what we’re having tonight.” She turned and smiled at Ben. “Hi Nevaeh, I’m Ben. It’s nice to meet you, your mother tells me you quite an extraordinary girl” said Ben as he leaned over to extend a hand out to Nevaeh. Nevaeh blushed as she shook Ben’s hand and said shyly, “Hi Ben.”
While Nevaeh’s mother finished getting dinner ready, Ben sat on the couch next to Nevaeh and watched the television in awkward silence for a while until an extraordinarily funny event happened as they were watching and made them both start laughing hysterically. “Can you believe he did that Nevaeh?” asked Ben, face red still trying to catch his breath. With a wide grin Nevaeh nodded her head. “Are you always this shy?” asked Ben, “I’m not gonna bite and I don’t have cooties ya know” he said. Nevaeh giggled and said sheepishly, “I know.”
The three of them sat around the table to eat dinner a short time later. Since that moment at the television Nevaeh had become a different person and wasn’t as shy any more. In fact she kept asking Ben all kinds of questions while they ate dinner. Ben was happy to answer all her questions, he actually thought they were really good questions for an eight year old girl to be asking. Things like where he was from, what he did for work. She asked him if he had ever been anywhere cool, like Egypt, and the Sahara. Ben had never been to either of those places, but he did tell her what he imagined they would be like. It turns out that Ben’s imagination was almost exactly what Nevaeh’s books had said.
From that night on Ben started coming around more often. Nevaeh really liked it when Ben would come over. She thought Ben was really funny and full of stories. She really liked having someone to talk too. Nevaeh’s mother really liked having Ben around too. It had been a while since she had a man around. It seemed like she had been lonely forever and it all changed when he came around. She also really like the positive influence Ben had on Nevaeh. She couldn’t recall Nevaeh ever being to talkative and intuitive in the past.
As time went on Nevaeh’s mother asked Ben to move in, and so he did. Ben and Nevaeh had become real close. Nevaeh finally knew what it felt like to have something of a dad. Ben would bring her to school in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon. He would often take her with him when he would walk his dogs. He had even bought her icecream a few times. Ben had fallen in love with the little girl. He loved that he felt like a dad, that he could be such a positive influence on this little girl. One day on his way to bring Nevaeh to school, Ben asked Nevaeh, “Do you know what your name spells backwards?” Nevaeh had never thought about it before. He said, “It spells Heaven.” “Do you know what that means?” he asked. She shrugged and told him, “No, I guess not.” “It means I’ve got a little slice of it sitting next to me” and he smiled at her. Nevaeh blushed like she so often did when Ben said such things to her and asked him, “Do you believe in angels?” Ben nodded his head, “I do.” “Do you think I have one in Heaven?” she asked. “I know you do Sweetheart” he replied. “But how if he’s sitting right next to me?” she responded. Ben was stunned. He didn’t know what to do. He flashed a smile at Nevaeh and wiped a tear from his cheek. They didn’t say anything else the rest of the way until they got to the school and said good-bye, but on that short trip they both knew they loved each other. Ben had a daughter and Nevaeh had a father.
A few years went by and Ben asked Nevaeh’s mother to marry him. They got married in early fall and everything was going great. They had all moved into a new house and Ben and Nevaeh’s mother let Nevaeh get a pet rabbit for doing so well in school with all the new transitions happening. One day Nevaeh came home to find her mother and Ben sitting in the living room talking quietly. It sounded so Nevaeh like her mother had been crying. Ben looked pale. “Hi Sweetheart, how was your day?” asked Ben. Nevaeh’s mother stood up as Nevaeh went to sit down in the recliner. “I have to run to the store, I forgot to get a couple things for dinner tonight” and she left the room wiping her face with her sleeve. “My day was good” she answered Ben. “What’s wrong with Mom?” “Oh, she just had a really rough day at work, that’s all. She’ll be alright.” he replied.
The next morning Nevaeh climbed into the car with Ben to go to school. She buckled her seat belt and waiting for Ben to start the car, but he didn’t. “Whatcha doing?” she asked. Ben was staring at the wheel, gripping it nervously. “Are you okay Dad?” Nevaeh asked a little scared. “Oh yeah, everything is fine. I’m just not feeling well this morning, that’s all.” he said. Then he said, “Actually I wanted to talk to you Nevaeh. I think you need to know something.” “What do you mean? What do I need to know? she asked. “Nevaeh, things won’t always be like this. I won’t always be able to bring you to school, or take you on walks. Things will start to change.” He said quietly. “Well yeah I know that Dad, I’ll grow up and be able to drive my own car to school and stuff.” She chuckled. “Oh I know that Honey. No these changes you won’t see for a long time. I’ll be much older then, so will you. Are you listening to me, Nev? This is very important. I want you to listen and remember what I’m going to tell you, okay?” Ben said sternly. Nevaeh nodded he had her attention. “One day you’re going to get a call, this call is going to change everything you’ve ever know, okay? You might start crying, but that’s okay Nev, strong people cry too, but listen Nevaeh, promise me when you get that call you will be as strong as you can possibly be, okay?” he finished. “Why?” she asked, “What will the phone call be about?” “You don’t need to worry about that right now Dear, just promise me you’ll remember this conversation and stay strong. If you start to feel weak just remember I’m always with you in here.” as he pointed towards her heart. Nevaeh was confused by what just happened, but she didn’t think too much of it that day, or for any days to come until one day ten years later the phone rang.
Nevaeh was in her twenties the day the phone rang. She had graduated high school and was doing very well in college. She decided she was going to be a teacher just like her Dad. She was attending a college out of state from her home and living with her high school boyfriend who just transferred to her college the year before. Things were going rather well but money was very tight and she hadn’t been able to visit home in two years. When the phone rang, Nevaeh answered it with a cheery, “Hello!” “Hi Sweetheart” said a familiar voice on the other end. It was Nevaeh’s mother. They hadn’t talked in some weeks. “Oh, hey Mom! How are you?” asked Nevaeh. There was a slight moment of silence and Nevaeh’s mom said, “Nev, I have to tell you something.” And she began to sob. “I don’t k-know how to say t-this Nev.” She said through the sobs. “What is it Mom? What’s the matter, are you okay?” asked Nevaeh frantically. “It’s not m-me Nev. It..It..I-It’s Ben. Ben passed away this morning Sweetheart.” She sobbed uncontrollably.
It was in that moment that Nevaeh remembered the conversation she had with Ben ten long years ago for the first and she began to cry. For hours they cried and talked to each other. Nevaeh made plans to fly back home as soon as she possibly could for the funeral and to be with her mother. During that call with her mother, Nevaeh came to learn that Ben had been battling a cancer of the heart shortly after he came into their lives. They both had learned about it the day Nevaeh came home and she saw her mom leave wiping her eyes. Ben was supposed to tell Nevaeh the news but never did. Instead he decided to keep it to himself and made Nevaeh’s mother promise never to tell, and that is why he had that conversation that morning in the car. He loved Nevaeh so much as a little girl he couldn’t bear to see her cry and worry. He kept it to himself to watch her grow up happy and succeed.
Nevaeh couldn’t believe everything that just happened. It all happened so fast. How did she never know? How did he hide it so well? Why didn’t he tell her when she was older? Nevaeh was devastated and did not know what to do with herself, so she cried. She cried, and then she cried even more. She cried until her eyes ran dry. Eventually Nevaeh fell into a troubled sleep full of sadness. Dreams flickered by in the form of memories. All the times she spent with Ben, how loved she felt by him. How much she loved him. The dream shifted again and she found herself sitting in a familiar car. Sitting next to her was Ben, but he was different. She was different. They were both younger she realized and it began. It was the memory of the conversation in the car. “But this is a dream!” she screamed to herself. “Wake up! I don’t want to be here, wake up!” she yelled into the infinite dreamscape. “Why are you yelling Nev?” said a sweet, familiar voice. “Dad?” she asked looking over at Ben. “It’s good to see your face again Sweetheart, I missed it.” He said through a smile. “This can’t be real.” She thought to herself. “Oh, this is certainly real.” said Ben. Nevaeh was stunned. “It’s okay Nev, you don’t have to be afraid, and you don’t have to be sad, we’re in Heaven, see?” and Ben waved his hand in front of Nevaeh and they were standing in a meadow that ran as far as Nevaeh could see. There were millions of beautiful wildflowers growing everywhere of every color. The sun was shining beautifully and there was a cool breeze blowing fresh, crisp, sweet air over her face. She could hear birds singing far off in the distance, they were beautiful and soothing to listen to. “How can we be in Heaven? Am I dead too? This isn’t real.” She said and tried to shake herself awake. “Relax Nev, enjoy this, you’re not dead, you are dreaming but I had to say good-bye to you before I left.” He answered her. “Where are you going?” she asked confused. “Well Nevaeh, it turns out I’m an angel now, and I need to go a watch over things now.” And golden, feathery wings spread from between his shoulder blades. Nevaeh and stared at him entranced. The wings were dazzling and now Ben seemed to how a glow emanating from within him. “What are you going to watch over?” she asked Ben still half in a trance. “Well, you’ll just have to see. It’s a little slice of heaven!” and he kissed her on the cheek and everything faded to black.
When Nevaeh woke up the next morning she was utterly distraught. As if that dream hadn’t been intense enough, reality was starting to hit her again. “Ben’s funeral is in 3 days” she reminded herself. She got up, got dressed, and started packing. It had been several hours and she was nearly done packing when she remembered something she forgot in her closet. It was a stuffed bunny rabbit Ben had bought for her after her real rabbit had died. She couldn’t forget that. She raced up the stairs into her room, opened the closest door and scanned the top shelf with her hand until she felt it. She grabbed it and ran back down the stairs to put it in her bag. As she went to go put the rabbit into her bag, a small piece of paper fell off from it, like it had been stuck in the collar of it. She reached down, picked up the paper and opened it. All it said was: I told you that you had an angel in heaven. I love you. -Ben
Some many years ago; far before you were born; there lived a boy and a girl in a small, old, farm town. As small as this old farm town was; the Boy and Girl never knew each other until they were older. It turns out that the Boy was slightly older, and in school was ahead of the Girl. They never had any classes together, in fact never knew who each other was until after they both graduated from high school.
A few years had passed since they left high school when they met; at least for the Boy. It’s by luck that they ever even did, really. The Boy noticed the Girl one day when he was with his friends. The boy had always kept to himself, it wasn’t that he hated everyone he had just been hurt a lot growing up and just learned to find entertainment and comfort in himself, silence, books, music, and pondering. He always liked to watch from the outside in and would just listen. Some that knew him might say he was very adept at putting on someone else’s
shoes.
One of the Boy’s friends had just recently started dating a girl. It just so happened that this girl he was dating, was a good friend of the Girl. When the Boy first saw her, his world stopped for a blink of an eye. Although quiet, the Boy was rather known around the town and knew who more people were, than knew him. However he had never seen her before, and was amazed he hadn’t. He was stunned by how beautiful she was.
Not much is known about the Girl prior to her meeting the Boy. However, unbeknownst to the boy she was quite a popular girl. Not only because she was incredibly pretty, but bewilderingly talented, brilliant; in fact she was top in her class; tough; she had a lot of brothers; and incredibly caring. In fact her wealth in care; lead some to believe she was actually quite nasty. The truth is the Girl had been hurt too.
Both the Boy and the Girl had big hearts. It was in fact sometimes a burden for the both of them. They had both once loved too easy and had been hurt by others in the past and the result was immense self-barriers that were near impossible to breach. The fact is, their greatest strength was also their greatest weakness. It was the ability to care, and to love.
When the Boy and the Girl first met, not much transpired. Honestly the boy was in such awe he probably forgot to even introduce himself. The Girl never even noticed him. When the Boy left with his friends, he asked the good friend of the Girl about her. The girl was almost taken aback by the Boy’s inquisition; he was always so quiet. They talked and that’s when the Boy came to learn about Sweetheart.
The Boy didn’t learn too much, but he did learn her name. He also learned that she was in a relationship already. Disappointed, the Boy looked past it and moved on, or at least he tried to. It turns out the next time he was hanging out with his friend, his girlfriend was there and soon after the Girl came over, and so Sweetheart met Handsome for the first time. Handsome was quite shy, but so was Sweetheart. As awkward as the circumstance was; them both being something of a third wheel; they got along great.
When Sweetheart left; Handsome was in shock. It had been quite a while since Handsome had opened up to anyone; and although he didn’t know it; it had been a while for Sweetheart too. Handsome had a hard time getting Sweetheart off his mind that day. He knew he wanted her from then on, but that he couldn’t. She was taken. Off limits. It was against his code to go after her. What he didn’t know is Sweeheart’s relationship was crumbling.
Several days went by and Handsome couldn’t help but wonder where Sweetheart was and what she was doing. He often spent the days daydreaming about her, or writing about her in his journal to keep himself preoccupied. Then once again, one day Handsome was with his friend and his girlfriend when Sweetheart showed up. Handsome was flustered. He wasn’t expecting to see her; he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to be presentable; however he still hadn’t been home from work yet that day.
Handsome pulled himself together the best that he could and waited for her to come inside. When Sweetheart came inside, Handsome could tell something was different. Although Sweetheart was shy and quiet at times, she always wore a smile. In fact Handsome noticed it was gone today although he had only seen Sweetheart a couple times. It turns out Sweetheart and her boyfriend had been fighting; and she ended it. Sweetheart was hurt again. Handsome wasn’t quite sure what to do other than just try to be a friend and comfort her, even though his heart was screaming for her.
Days went by and Sweetheart did find comfort in Handsome. In fact she even liked him a little bit, but it was still too soon. Sweetheart talked to Handsome often. The conversations started as your typical, “Hi, how are you doing? How was your day?” and would always end in a deep confession of sorts, or a question on how to solve a personal problem or fear. Both Handsome and Sweetheart took a liking to the conversation and even looked forward to them.
As weeks went by, Handsome and Sweetheart grew very fond of each other. They both had a lot in common, and had shared a lot of personal stories and experiences with each other. They had even had a couple dinners and outings together. Nothing serious, just testing the water, but Handsome was falling for her. Handsome knew he was falling for her, which was fine, but not at the speed he was falling. He tried his best to contain the way he felt, he didn’t want to move to fast and he didn’t want to scare her away.
Some more time passed when Handsome and Sweetheart found themselves sitting with each other Christmas Eve. Sweetheart didn’t know it yet, but Handsome had been working on a surprise for Sweetheart for weeks. Although it had only been a couple short months Handsome felt very strongly for Sweetheart, but he was smart. Some time shortly after Sweetheart and Handsome started talking on a regular basis, Sweetheart said to Handsome, “Please don’t give up on me.” It was shortly after that Handsome decided to buy a ring for Sweetheart for Christmas. Not an engagement ring, just a simple Promise Ring, although he tried his best to find the fanciest one he could afford. When Sweetheart said that to him he promised he never would because in that moment Sweetheart wasn’t a girl, she was a woman Handsome knew he could spend the rest of his life with when the time was right.
So Handsome slipped the ring on Sweetheart’s finger, looked into her eyes and said, “I promise I’ll never give up on you. I know I might not always be perfect, but you are perfect for me. You are my dream girl; you are the girl I’ve been praying for. I knew it the moment I saw you.” It was a beautiful night for both of them. Handsome had never seen Sweetheart glow as much as she did that night. In fact his face hurt from smiling so much and he found her smile brilliantly beautiful, almost blinding. Sweetheart was stunned by how lucky she was to have found someone that cared about her as much as Handsome did. She really didn’t know what else to say through a gleaming smile other than, “Thank you so much! You’re so handsome, Dear.” and gave Handsome the kiss of a lifetime.
A few weeks went by and winter was getting rough. Handsome was working long hours and Sweetheart was busy with college. Their schedules didn’t match and they were seeing each other at odd times for short periods. Handsome was getting frustrated and over worked and Sweetheart was stressed out and tired. Both of them were having trouble trying to juggle time for each other, and neither of them liked it. It almost became a chore and both Handsome and Sweetheart were growing depressed. Eventually things did take a turn for the worst, and Sweetheart broke up with Handsome. One day Handsome woke up, he rolled over, and kissed Sweetheart on the cheek and said, “Good morning Beautiful.” Handsome and Sweetheart had argued the night before. Although angry the night before, he resolved the issue within himself and prepared to move on, ready to mend the hurt when he returned home from work. He just never got the chance.
Handsome was devastated. He knew things weren’t good, but he also knew a little more time could fix it. They just had to make it through the winter. Try as he did, Sweetheart was done. She was standing her ground. Sweetheart was smart as well. She didn’t want to be hurt any more. From that day on Handsome never saw her face again. They tried to work things out, to remain friends and maybe one day repair the relationship. They would talk on the phone often but Handsome just couldn’t handle it. He could never keep himself together out of the anguish of wanting her so bad. Handsome always ended up pushing too hard, or showing signs of anger when Sweetheart would resist and refuse to believe what he was saying. It scared Sweetheart away. It would take a few years for Handsome to realize that. To realize that the power that captured her heart was the same power that drove her away, his power to care and love. Ironically it was the same power that pushed Handsome away from Sweetheart.
Nearly a year went by before Handsome ever thought about talking to Sweetheart again. Not a day had gone by where Sweetheart didn’t cross his mind. He missed her tremendously, he missed everything about her. One day Handsome decided to write Sweetheart a poem. He didn’t really know what to expect would come from it but it just felt right. The poem went:
Some time ago I met a girl
She grabbed my heart
And took it for a whirl
We started as strangers
And grew into friends
We knew of the dangers
And gave our hearts a chance to make amends
Things went well for a while
We were laughing, loving, and living
And I sure did love your smile
It made my heart worth giving
One day I made a promise to you
A ring I bought to slip on your finger
To prove these feelings are true
And to this day they still linger
It’s been a long time since I saw your face
I’ve longed to make it smile
My heart still waits in the same place
To say it’s not would be denial
I keep my promise in a box
Hoping one day to slip back onto your finger
It has no secret, key, or locks
It’s open to you if the feelings still linger
Maybe I fell too hard and deep
The emotions were like a stormy sea
Perhaps that’s why I cannot sleep
Like I did with you next to me
Maybe I’m pathetic for not moving on
But that’s easier said than done
When the feelings were so strong
And with you I had so much fun
I could think about you all day
And not miss you any less
So I’ll just sit here and pray
That I’ll figure out this mess
Just know I havn’t forgot the promise once on your finger
And although we’ve fallen apart
The feelings they still linger
Although I wasn’t always smart
You will always be my “Sweetheart”
It’s been some time now since Handsome wrote that letter. Handsome waited and hoped that someday Sweetheart might remember him and miss him like he missed her. Handsome thought about her and prayed for her constantly. First he asked God to bring her back to him. With no results he got angry, but over time he began to understand there is no reason to be angry. So Handsome then began to pray that Sweetheart be safeguarded and granted happiness. Handsome realized that as long as Sweetheart was safe and happy where ever she might be that he would be too; and too this day no harm has come to him and he has been relatively happy and he takes that as a sign of comfort that she is too. Unfortunately Handsome never did hear back from Sweetheart and I don’t expect I ever will.
================================================== ================================================== =================================
This next little story I wrote for a friend of mine one day while we were talking on the phone. I particularly like this one although I'm not completely happy with it. I'd really like to change a lot of things and add some more but I'll take it. This took me about 2 hours to write, I say this just because I'm curious how much time some others spend on theirs? I know I still have a lot of work to do grammatically and in my descriptions(if they exist.) Honestly I havn't even proof read this prior to posting. I would definitely appreciate constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!
A Slice of Heaven
“Hurry up Nevaeh! The bus is almost here!” called Nevaeh’s Mother down the hall from the kitchen. Nevaeh was still in her room wiping the sleepy seeds out of her eyes. She opened her bedroom door and trudged sleepily to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, cleaned her glasses, and although she brushed her hair, it was so bushy it wasn’t much good. When she entered the kitchen Nevaeh’s mother greeted her with a cheery good morning, handed her an apple and said, “Here, eat this on the bus if you’re hungry. You over slept again and don’t have time for breakfast. Look! Here comes the bus now. Here, I packed you a little extra in your lunch today since you missed breakfast.” And she handed Nevaeh her lunch box and said, “I love you Sunshine, have a good day at school, I’ll see you when you get home.” Neveah gave her mother a hug and said, “Thanks Mom, I love you too.” And she ran out the door and hopped up into the bus leaving her mother to watch from the doorstep.
Nevaeh was eight years old and a brilliant girl. She loved to color, and she was already adept at reading and writing for her age. Nevaeh was also a very kind, quiet, gentle child. She was always trying to help other kids in her class when she could. In fact she had just helped Mike learn how to do multiples of 6. Some kids envied Neveah, so much so that they would often taunt her, or exclude her from games at recess. Neveah did have some friends though. She liked to talk to Jane, and she though Timmy was funny. What the other kids, even her friends, didn’t know is that she envied all them just as much, if not more.
Nevaeh’s mother and father separated before Nevaeh ever really knew what it was like to have a dad. Every day when she would wait in line to get on the bus to go home from school; she would watch some of the other kids whose parents would pick them up and wondered what it was like to have a dad. She often heard the kids speak about their dad’s. They all sounded so wonderful to her. She began wondering to herself, “Why don’t I have a dad?”
Later that day when Nevaeh returned home from school she noticed a car in the driveway she’d never seen. She walked down the pathway to the door and went inside. “Mom! I’m home!” she yelled as she walked in. She heard her mother say “I’m in here Nevaeh” from the living room. She grabbed a sugar cookie her mother had made earlier that day and left on the counter as she walked by towards the living room. When she turned the corner into the living room she found her mother talking to a man she had never seen before. “How was your day Muffin?” asked Nevaehs mother. Nevaeh began to tell her mother that her day wasn’t that exciting when her mother began talking again. “Nevaeh, this is Ben. I met him the other day at the market. We began talking and he asked me if I’d like to have coffee sometime so we made plans for today. Well the conversation was so good I invited him over for dinner. It turns out you and Ben share the same favorite meal, spaghetti, which is what we’re having tonight.” She turned and smiled at Ben. “Hi Nevaeh, I’m Ben. It’s nice to meet you, your mother tells me you quite an extraordinary girl” said Ben as he leaned over to extend a hand out to Nevaeh. Nevaeh blushed as she shook Ben’s hand and said shyly, “Hi Ben.”
While Nevaeh’s mother finished getting dinner ready, Ben sat on the couch next to Nevaeh and watched the television in awkward silence for a while until an extraordinarily funny event happened as they were watching and made them both start laughing hysterically. “Can you believe he did that Nevaeh?” asked Ben, face red still trying to catch his breath. With a wide grin Nevaeh nodded her head. “Are you always this shy?” asked Ben, “I’m not gonna bite and I don’t have cooties ya know” he said. Nevaeh giggled and said sheepishly, “I know.”
The three of them sat around the table to eat dinner a short time later. Since that moment at the television Nevaeh had become a different person and wasn’t as shy any more. In fact she kept asking Ben all kinds of questions while they ate dinner. Ben was happy to answer all her questions, he actually thought they were really good questions for an eight year old girl to be asking. Things like where he was from, what he did for work. She asked him if he had ever been anywhere cool, like Egypt, and the Sahara. Ben had never been to either of those places, but he did tell her what he imagined they would be like. It turns out that Ben’s imagination was almost exactly what Nevaeh’s books had said.
From that night on Ben started coming around more often. Nevaeh really liked it when Ben would come over. She thought Ben was really funny and full of stories. She really liked having someone to talk too. Nevaeh’s mother really liked having Ben around too. It had been a while since she had a man around. It seemed like she had been lonely forever and it all changed when he came around. She also really like the positive influence Ben had on Nevaeh. She couldn’t recall Nevaeh ever being to talkative and intuitive in the past.
As time went on Nevaeh’s mother asked Ben to move in, and so he did. Ben and Nevaeh had become real close. Nevaeh finally knew what it felt like to have something of a dad. Ben would bring her to school in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon. He would often take her with him when he would walk his dogs. He had even bought her icecream a few times. Ben had fallen in love with the little girl. He loved that he felt like a dad, that he could be such a positive influence on this little girl. One day on his way to bring Nevaeh to school, Ben asked Nevaeh, “Do you know what your name spells backwards?” Nevaeh had never thought about it before. He said, “It spells Heaven.” “Do you know what that means?” he asked. She shrugged and told him, “No, I guess not.” “It means I’ve got a little slice of it sitting next to me” and he smiled at her. Nevaeh blushed like she so often did when Ben said such things to her and asked him, “Do you believe in angels?” Ben nodded his head, “I do.” “Do you think I have one in Heaven?” she asked. “I know you do Sweetheart” he replied. “But how if he’s sitting right next to me?” she responded. Ben was stunned. He didn’t know what to do. He flashed a smile at Nevaeh and wiped a tear from his cheek. They didn’t say anything else the rest of the way until they got to the school and said good-bye, but on that short trip they both knew they loved each other. Ben had a daughter and Nevaeh had a father.
A few years went by and Ben asked Nevaeh’s mother to marry him. They got married in early fall and everything was going great. They had all moved into a new house and Ben and Nevaeh’s mother let Nevaeh get a pet rabbit for doing so well in school with all the new transitions happening. One day Nevaeh came home to find her mother and Ben sitting in the living room talking quietly. It sounded so Nevaeh like her mother had been crying. Ben looked pale. “Hi Sweetheart, how was your day?” asked Ben. Nevaeh’s mother stood up as Nevaeh went to sit down in the recliner. “I have to run to the store, I forgot to get a couple things for dinner tonight” and she left the room wiping her face with her sleeve. “My day was good” she answered Ben. “What’s wrong with Mom?” “Oh, she just had a really rough day at work, that’s all. She’ll be alright.” he replied.
The next morning Nevaeh climbed into the car with Ben to go to school. She buckled her seat belt and waiting for Ben to start the car, but he didn’t. “Whatcha doing?” she asked. Ben was staring at the wheel, gripping it nervously. “Are you okay Dad?” Nevaeh asked a little scared. “Oh yeah, everything is fine. I’m just not feeling well this morning, that’s all.” he said. Then he said, “Actually I wanted to talk to you Nevaeh. I think you need to know something.” “What do you mean? What do I need to know? she asked. “Nevaeh, things won’t always be like this. I won’t always be able to bring you to school, or take you on walks. Things will start to change.” He said quietly. “Well yeah I know that Dad, I’ll grow up and be able to drive my own car to school and stuff.” She chuckled. “Oh I know that Honey. No these changes you won’t see for a long time. I’ll be much older then, so will you. Are you listening to me, Nev? This is very important. I want you to listen and remember what I’m going to tell you, okay?” Ben said sternly. Nevaeh nodded he had her attention. “One day you’re going to get a call, this call is going to change everything you’ve ever know, okay? You might start crying, but that’s okay Nev, strong people cry too, but listen Nevaeh, promise me when you get that call you will be as strong as you can possibly be, okay?” he finished. “Why?” she asked, “What will the phone call be about?” “You don’t need to worry about that right now Dear, just promise me you’ll remember this conversation and stay strong. If you start to feel weak just remember I’m always with you in here.” as he pointed towards her heart. Nevaeh was confused by what just happened, but she didn’t think too much of it that day, or for any days to come until one day ten years later the phone rang.
Nevaeh was in her twenties the day the phone rang. She had graduated high school and was doing very well in college. She decided she was going to be a teacher just like her Dad. She was attending a college out of state from her home and living with her high school boyfriend who just transferred to her college the year before. Things were going rather well but money was very tight and she hadn’t been able to visit home in two years. When the phone rang, Nevaeh answered it with a cheery, “Hello!” “Hi Sweetheart” said a familiar voice on the other end. It was Nevaeh’s mother. They hadn’t talked in some weeks. “Oh, hey Mom! How are you?” asked Nevaeh. There was a slight moment of silence and Nevaeh’s mom said, “Nev, I have to tell you something.” And she began to sob. “I don’t k-know how to say t-this Nev.” She said through the sobs. “What is it Mom? What’s the matter, are you okay?” asked Nevaeh frantically. “It’s not m-me Nev. It..It..I-It’s Ben. Ben passed away this morning Sweetheart.” She sobbed uncontrollably.
It was in that moment that Nevaeh remembered the conversation she had with Ben ten long years ago for the first and she began to cry. For hours they cried and talked to each other. Nevaeh made plans to fly back home as soon as she possibly could for the funeral and to be with her mother. During that call with her mother, Nevaeh came to learn that Ben had been battling a cancer of the heart shortly after he came into their lives. They both had learned about it the day Nevaeh came home and she saw her mom leave wiping her eyes. Ben was supposed to tell Nevaeh the news but never did. Instead he decided to keep it to himself and made Nevaeh’s mother promise never to tell, and that is why he had that conversation that morning in the car. He loved Nevaeh so much as a little girl he couldn’t bear to see her cry and worry. He kept it to himself to watch her grow up happy and succeed.
Nevaeh couldn’t believe everything that just happened. It all happened so fast. How did she never know? How did he hide it so well? Why didn’t he tell her when she was older? Nevaeh was devastated and did not know what to do with herself, so she cried. She cried, and then she cried even more. She cried until her eyes ran dry. Eventually Nevaeh fell into a troubled sleep full of sadness. Dreams flickered by in the form of memories. All the times she spent with Ben, how loved she felt by him. How much she loved him. The dream shifted again and she found herself sitting in a familiar car. Sitting next to her was Ben, but he was different. She was different. They were both younger she realized and it began. It was the memory of the conversation in the car. “But this is a dream!” she screamed to herself. “Wake up! I don’t want to be here, wake up!” she yelled into the infinite dreamscape. “Why are you yelling Nev?” said a sweet, familiar voice. “Dad?” she asked looking over at Ben. “It’s good to see your face again Sweetheart, I missed it.” He said through a smile. “This can’t be real.” She thought to herself. “Oh, this is certainly real.” said Ben. Nevaeh was stunned. “It’s okay Nev, you don’t have to be afraid, and you don’t have to be sad, we’re in Heaven, see?” and Ben waved his hand in front of Nevaeh and they were standing in a meadow that ran as far as Nevaeh could see. There were millions of beautiful wildflowers growing everywhere of every color. The sun was shining beautifully and there was a cool breeze blowing fresh, crisp, sweet air over her face. She could hear birds singing far off in the distance, they were beautiful and soothing to listen to. “How can we be in Heaven? Am I dead too? This isn’t real.” She said and tried to shake herself awake. “Relax Nev, enjoy this, you’re not dead, you are dreaming but I had to say good-bye to you before I left.” He answered her. “Where are you going?” she asked confused. “Well Nevaeh, it turns out I’m an angel now, and I need to go a watch over things now.” And golden, feathery wings spread from between his shoulder blades. Nevaeh and stared at him entranced. The wings were dazzling and now Ben seemed to how a glow emanating from within him. “What are you going to watch over?” she asked Ben still half in a trance. “Well, you’ll just have to see. It’s a little slice of heaven!” and he kissed her on the cheek and everything faded to black.
When Nevaeh woke up the next morning she was utterly distraught. As if that dream hadn’t been intense enough, reality was starting to hit her again. “Ben’s funeral is in 3 days” she reminded herself. She got up, got dressed, and started packing. It had been several hours and she was nearly done packing when she remembered something she forgot in her closet. It was a stuffed bunny rabbit Ben had bought for her after her real rabbit had died. She couldn’t forget that. She raced up the stairs into her room, opened the closest door and scanned the top shelf with her hand until she felt it. She grabbed it and ran back down the stairs to put it in her bag. As she went to go put the rabbit into her bag, a small piece of paper fell off from it, like it had been stuck in the collar of it. She reached down, picked up the paper and opened it. All it said was: I told you that you had an angel in heaven. I love you. -Ben