Let's Get To Know Someone... :)
Author: thewriterbear
Story: The California Five - Scott
Title: Six More Years
Challenges:
Chocolate Chip Mint #19 - ambiguous
Rocky Road #23 - a grave
Pistachio # 13 - a decision
Toppings: Cherry (I very rarely write in third person) and Sprinkles (Focus on secondary character, Scott)
Word Count: 632
Rating: PG - 13 (reference to violence)
Summary: Scott wrestles with a tough decision.
Scott Rider found himself wrestling once more with his decision. It had been years since his father’s death. Could he handle this finally? He sat on the bed in his dorm room, staring at the picture of him and his girlfriend at the beach. She looked gorgeous in that picture, despite the sadness in her eyes. That had been taken two months after her mother had passed. If only she was here… she would understand, and help him through this. But she was miles away, off at college as well.
Quickly, before he lost his courage, he scrawled a note to his roommate and
tacked it on to the bulletin board.
“Left for a quick trip. Be back in an hour or two.
~ Scott”
He got into his car and drove the half hour to his long-ago hometown. For a moment, he cursed himself for going to college so close to where he grew up. But as he reached the edge of town, and the cemetery, he forgot everything except the lump that had clogged his throat. His hands began to shake on the steering wheel as he pulled into the parking lot. He stepped out of his car, and felt that familiar taste in his mouth that longed for some nicotine to kill the anxiety. He hadn’t smoked in well over a year, but it still came back every now and then. Especially when his stress levels rose.
The path towards his father’s grave led up a hill, and slightly to the left. The second row of headstones. Third or fourth one. Years ago, he had written down the directions, just in case he decided to visit after all.
It appeared faster than he had thought it would. He found the cold, steel-gray headstone, quite fitting for the man.
“Lawrence Jackson Warner”
“Beloved father, cherished husband and loyal friend.”
The bile rose in Scott’s throat and he felt rage like he hadn’t felt in a very long time. It began coursing through his veins, leading him to clench his fists and grit his teeth. The headstone could not have been further from the truth. His father had been a mean drunk with nothing but himself on his mind.
A tear slipped out from beneath Scott’s anger. He felt himself choke up, and the tears kept falling. He would never understand the man who laid six feet below where he stood. His body began aching; the scars and bruises may have faded, but the memories were so ingrained in him the pain still haunted him.
Staring at the stone, he remembered seeing his mother passed out on the couch, hung over. Lawrence coming home, and storming through the house. Drunk, like usuall. If his mother didn’t wake up, Lawrence came after him.
Flashes of nightmarish memories kept hitting him until he finally fell to his knees in tears. Could he forgive this man? That had been why he had come to the grave in the first place. He wanted to be free of the anger, and just let it go. But how could he let it go when it still seemed written all over his life? He hadn’t seen his baby brother since that day Social Services took them both away from the home. How could he forgive the man that had let it all happened?
Despite his religious conviction to let it go, to give it up to God, he found himself even more angry, confused and hurt then he had before going to the grave. He decided, then and there, that it was not possible for him to forgive. At least not yet.
It had only been six years; maybe it would take another six.
Story: The California Five - Scott
Title: Six More Years
Challenges:
Chocolate Chip Mint #19 - ambiguous
Rocky Road #23 - a grave
Pistachio # 13 - a decision
Toppings: Cherry (I very rarely write in third person) and Sprinkles (Focus on secondary character, Scott)
Word Count: 632
Rating: PG - 13 (reference to violence)
Summary: Scott wrestles with a tough decision.
Scott Rider found himself wrestling once more with his decision. It had been years since his father’s death. Could he handle this finally? He sat on the bed in his dorm room, staring at the picture of him and his girlfriend at the beach. She looked gorgeous in that picture, despite the sadness in her eyes. That had been taken two months after her mother had passed. If only she was here… she would understand, and help him through this. But she was miles away, off at college as well.
Quickly, before he lost his courage, he scrawled a note to his roommate and
tacked it on to the bulletin board.
“Left for a quick trip. Be back in an hour or two.
~ Scott”
He got into his car and drove the half hour to his long-ago hometown. For a moment, he cursed himself for going to college so close to where he grew up. But as he reached the edge of town, and the cemetery, he forgot everything except the lump that had clogged his throat. His hands began to shake on the steering wheel as he pulled into the parking lot. He stepped out of his car, and felt that familiar taste in his mouth that longed for some nicotine to kill the anxiety. He hadn’t smoked in well over a year, but it still came back every now and then. Especially when his stress levels rose.
The path towards his father’s grave led up a hill, and slightly to the left. The second row of headstones. Third or fourth one. Years ago, he had written down the directions, just in case he decided to visit after all.
It appeared faster than he had thought it would. He found the cold, steel-gray headstone, quite fitting for the man.
“Lawrence Jackson Warner”
“Beloved father, cherished husband and loyal friend.”
The bile rose in Scott’s throat and he felt rage like he hadn’t felt in a very long time. It began coursing through his veins, leading him to clench his fists and grit his teeth. The headstone could not have been further from the truth. His father had been a mean drunk with nothing but himself on his mind.
A tear slipped out from beneath Scott’s anger. He felt himself choke up, and the tears kept falling. He would never understand the man who laid six feet below where he stood. His body began aching; the scars and bruises may have faded, but the memories were so ingrained in him the pain still haunted him.
Staring at the stone, he remembered seeing his mother passed out on the couch, hung over. Lawrence coming home, and storming through the house. Drunk, like usuall. If his mother didn’t wake up, Lawrence came after him.
Flashes of nightmarish memories kept hitting him until he finally fell to his knees in tears. Could he forgive this man? That had been why he had come to the grave in the first place. He wanted to be free of the anger, and just let it go. But how could he let it go when it still seemed written all over his life? He hadn’t seen his baby brother since that day Social Services took them both away from the home. How could he forgive the man that had let it all happened?
Despite his religious conviction to let it go, to give it up to God, he found himself even more angry, confused and hurt then he had before going to the grave. He decided, then and there, that it was not possible for him to forgive. At least not yet.
It had only been six years; maybe it would take another six.