Ancil“No, no. God no. I used it to scare him away. Do you really think that I will kill my own father? He may be a horrible dad but you never give up on family. You never give up on flesh and blood because in the end, they are all you’ve really got. Even if I wanted to kill him, I couldn’t.”
“He loves you, you know that? I saw it in his eyes. I really did.”
“I just wish he wasn’t so abusive,” Kate said.
“Tough love, I guess.”
“How could that be love?” Kate asked, finally making eye contact with me. “If you love someone, you won’t purposefully try to hurt them. It just doesn’t work like that. You love someone, you try to make them happy.”
“You’re right,” I said, nodding my head.
Kate kept staring at me as though she was waiting for me to say more. “Aren’t you going to say something deep and philosophical like maybe he doesn’t know how to love or if you’ve never experienced love then you can’t express it?”
I laughed a little then said, “My head hurts.”
“Oh right,” she laughed, looking down at the fire.
Suddenly, I heard a twig break in the forest which startled the both of us. We both stared out into the direction of the sound.
“What if it’s a Walker?” I joked.
“Then we’re going to have to shoot it in the head,” Kate said, playing along.
“How many bullets do you have?”
“If it’s a herd, not enough,” Kate said.
After waiting about 30 seconds for our unknown stalker to show itself, we decided that it was nothing and we both continued to stare blankly into the fire.
“What have you been doing since the concert?” Kate asked.
“Well, I started a new book.”
“Oh really? Wow. What’s it called?”
“The initial name was Lost Four Letters but I’ve been thinking to call it Lost for Words instead,” I said.
“Lost for Words sounds better. Lost Four Letters seems like you’re trying too hard to vaguely bring across a point that you could have just said simply. Assuming that the four letters are L-O-V-E you could have just named the book Lost Love. Lost for words on the other hand could mean anything and the reader will actually have to read the book to see the title reveal itself.”
“Yeah, I was thinking Lost for Words too,” I said.
“So what’s it about?” Kate said, repositioning herself on the forest floor and making herself more comfortable, the orangey glare from the fire lighting her face. I could tell that she was preparing for a long synopsis.
“Well, it’s about a guy who dreams about being a writer but also dreams about finding a woman who can appreciate the very thing that he dreams about. And on his journey to accomplish his first dream, a young woman with luscious hair, beautiful eyes and… and a nice butt.” Kate laughed a little. “Fulfils his second dream,” I continued. “She comes into his life and shows him how it feels to fall deeply in love with a woman. A feeling he never experienced before and a feeling that he would move heaven and earth to feel over and over and over again. But he messes up. He did something stupid and unforgivable and he beats himself about it every day hoping that one day she’ll give him a second chance.”
“How does it end? Does the guy get the girl?” Kate asked.
“He does, and they live happily ever after. But I haven’t worked out the details of their happily ever after just yet,” I said, maintaining eye contact with Kate.
“Maybe their happily ever after doesn’t have to be something grand and spectacular like in the movies but something that would just take them away from all the stresses of their hometown. Just starting a new life together without all the commotion and chaos of their present,” Kate said. “Maybe they should catch a flight and fly as far away as possible, making a new home in a foreign country. I think that’s as good a happily ever after as any.”
“But where are the — characters — going to get that kind of money?” I stammered.
