It Was Worth It

 

“Watch your heart, Baby,” Daddy whispered to me as he tucked me in every night. “Always watch your heart.”

“I vill, Datty.” I promised.

It seemed to take forever, but finally I was seven and not a baby. “Protect your heart, Honey.” Daddy instructed. “Protect your heart above all else and wait for your one and only prince.”

“What if my prince doesn’t come?” I asked him seriously.

“Your prince will come, don’t you worry.”

Tick, tock. I was now 13. Dad didn’t tucked me in.

“Guard your heart, Amanda.” Dad would say when I said goodnight. “Set up a strong wall and don’t let anyone in unless they’ve proven themselves. Set up the guards to keep watch and make sure they know how to use their arrows and swords. Guard your heart, Amanda, like it’s the most precious thing in the world. Because it is.”

“I’m not a little kid, Dad!!” I would protest. “I don’t need the prince and princess story anymore.”

Fast forward more. I’m 15. Brandon asked me to go on a date and I accepted. His looks alone crumbled the walls around my heart. The night of the date, there’s an accident. Dad never came home. I came home with Brandon to see cars, people and tears.

That was the first night I didn’t hear Dad’s talk. So I told it to myself.

“Watch your heart. Always watch your heart. Protect your heart. Protect your heart above all else and wait for your one and only prince. Guard your heart. Set up a strong wall and don’t let anyone in until they’ve proven themselves. Set up the guards to keep watch and make sure they know how to use their arrows and swords. Guard your heart like it’s the most precious thing int the world. Because it is.”

I rebuilt my wall, tighter than ever. I waited for my one and only prince.

And then I found him. Or he found me. No. It was like God reached down and pushed us both together.

On our wedding day, I gave away my first kiss to my forever husband.

Thank you, Daddy. It was worth it.

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Written for Thursday 360. Thank you, Whitney, for naming me Champion!! If any of you gets a writing urge, be sure to stop by. It’s a lot of fun.

B is for Being Old

It is now the second day of the A to Z challenge and I am still going. 😉

This was a story I wrote for Thursday 360 that I haven’t posted yet and it just happened to start with the letter B!!! 🙂

So here it is.

Being Old:

I hated being old. Every bone in my old body protested. Literally. I was your normal guy. I liked the newspaper, had severe arthritis, and had a daughter that lived an hour away. I hated having to depend on her.

Like I said. I hated being old.

Until I met Bobby.

I met him one night, shoveling out my driveway.

“Hey Kid!”

“Yes sir?” He didn’t stop shoveling.

“What’cha doin?”

“I’m trying not to go home.”

I called him in, cuz my bones were starting to hurt.

“Why wouldn’t you want to go home?”

“Dad’s gonna be drunk so if I’m late because I was working, maybe he won’t be so mad at me.”

“I’ll tell you what, let’s eat some supper and then it’ll take you longer.”

He smiled and I served diner.

After that, every Friday night, he was at my house. I’d give him a job or two to do and we’d eat supper and talk late into the night.

One day, in the newspaper, I read about a teenager who started on drugs to escape from his drunken father and was killed when he robbed a store to get money for his addictions.

And I started wondering. Would that be Bobby if he wasn’t over here? Would Bobby be laying in casket because I wasn’t old and didn’t have time to hang out with him? Would Bobby be doing something worse?

Suddenly, being old didn’t sound so bad. I had a time to be young, but there is a time to be old too. Not to work and have time for other things that come up.

The phone rang. “Can I come over??”

“You don’t even have to ask, Bobby.” I answered.

“I’ll be over in five minutes.” Bobby clunked the phone down and I smiled.

It’s not that bad to be old.

 Whitney’s thoughts on my story:

Being Old by Daleen: An elderly man struggles with being old. However, he bonds with a young boy from a troubled home and finds that, with age, comes blessings he didn’t know before. He discovers that he can make a difference, not only despite his age, but because of it, and that it’s really not so bad being old. There’s a really great message here. Thanks for sharing, Daleen.

This week, Whitney offered two awards, Grand Champion and Best Characterization.

Charles Short‘s story, Grandpa’s Trip to MacDonalds, won Grand Champion!! Congratulations, Charles!!!

My story won Best Characterization. 🙂

Thanks Whitney!!

My Heart Feels Heavy

Written for Thursday 360

Oh Lord, my heart feels heavy.

Why is that, My Child?

Lord, are you really there?

Yes, I am here.

I don’t feel you.

Who ever said that true relationships were based on feelings?

Everyone, Lord.

My Child, true relationships are hard work. Sticking with people through the thick and thin, even when you don’t feel anything, that is a true relationship.

But Lord, it’s hard!!

I know, Child.

The Christians Aren’t Leaving

Written for Thursday 360

Stacie looked up from the garden. “What are you thinking about?”

“Sermons.” Jayden muttered.

“Sure you are.” She nudged him with her elbow. “I’m your wife. I know when something’s wrong.

“I was followed again today.”

Stacie sat up straight. “You were?”

“Yeah, from Kirman’s closed market to Leon’s back alley. I think I lost them there.” Jayden dropped his head to his hands. “I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them, him, I don’t know. I turned, they turned. I stopped, they stopped. I started, they started.”

“What should we do?”

“Why are you asking me?” He moaned, glancing over at his wife.

“You’re the pastor and the head of this house.” Stacie answered.

“God wants me here.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“It is?”

Dropped Egg

Written for Thursday 360

He plopped his briefcase down beside the bench and sat down beside me. Then he glanced over at me and gave a little nod and a smile.

I smiled back, ready to start a conversation and go on a date that evening with The. Cutest. Guy. Ever.

And then?

He stared.

At the sky.

Before one well-thought word was out of my mouth, he had looked up at the sky, and stared.

I blinked in surprise.

He stared.

At the sky.

What was interesting about the sky??

Oh well. Let him stare at the sky. While he does that, I’ll plan out our future.

Kids?

Check.

Two boys (James and Charles) and two girls (Leota and Kira)?

Check.

Results for Thursday 360 – I Need To Return This

Judge’s (Whitney) comments on my story, I Need To Return This.

I Need To Return This by DaleenC: A bold and creative entry inspired by the “six word novel” often attributed to Ernest Hemingway. This is a story of the events leading up to the return of an engagement ring. Forty-six words chock full of subtext. They say brevity is the soul of wit…but not everyone can accomplish wit in brevity. Well, it seems that Daleen can. 🙂

Champion: Daleen. (Your piece was the most creative and the one that most captured my interest.)

Thank you, Whitney!!

Be sure to check out Thursday 360 when you get a chance!!

I Need to Return This

Written for Thursday 360

The turn. Her voice rising into a shriek. The look of drunken terror from the other driver. Screaming her name as they rolled down the bank. The funeral. The closed casket. Her family’s angry glares. 

“I need to return this engagement ring. It’s never been worn.”

The Backpack

Written for Thursday 360.

If I were a normal girl, right now I would be sitting on this bench to talk to friends, having a great time.

But I wasn’t a normal girl.

I was a Christian, wanted for refusing to pray to the idol sitting lifelessly in the temple.

So instead, I sat on this bench, praying—Lord, please protect me while I do this job for You because You know what could happen if I’m caught—under my breath, trying not to notice how sweaty my hands were.

Finally, he came. The man with the backpack.

“Dionna?” He asked, using the name he was told.

I nodded and took the backpack from him. He glanced around before leaning close and whispering “God bless you and protect you.”

“And you.” I answered in the same hushed voice.

I turned and started for Pastor’s house, continuing to pray. I took shortcuts, ducking between houses and shops to see if anyone followed me. I backtracked. I watched the road behind me like a hawk.

I saw no one and slipped into Pastor’s house. Him and his wife, Chante, were waiting. I opened the backpack and silently slipped out the five books.

Pastor peeled off the paper covering the book.

A smile grew over his face.

“It’s a Bible!!” He still whispered as if the walls could hear him, but that didn’t mask the excitement in his voice.

He passed it to me and I stared in wonder. A real Bible!!

He peeled the paper off the next book. “Songbook.” He flipped it open and started humming a song.

Chante opened the next package and pulled out a pack of pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks, everything we would need to have a school.

We looked at each other and laughed, tears dripping down our faces.

Thank you, Lord.

 

Thursday 360

Hey all you writing fans!!

I found a cool writing contest called Thursday 360!! Come check it out!! Even if you don’t like to write, there will be plenty of stories to read!!

The description given by Whitney:

Welcome to Thursday 360!

Are you a Christian writer? Think you can write a mind-blowing short story in 360 words or less? Let’s see what you’ve got!

Here’s How it Works

New posts will publish here on Thursdays. Write a 360-word (or less) flash fiction story based on the photo prompt and post it in the comments section below. The results will be posted the following Thursday along with the new prompt. Winner will get the opportunity to display the Champion’s Badge on their website.

Rules and What-not

The rules are pretty simple. All entries must be posted by midnight EST the following Monday. They must be original, unpublished stories inspired by the photo prompt and they must have no more than 360 words (title doesn’t count). Stories don’t have to be Christian in subject matter, but cannot contain foul language, erotic, anti-Christian content, etc… (Let’s try to keep it G-rated, folks.) By posting, you attest that your entry conforms to these rules; I am in no way liable if it doesn’t. I reserve the right to reject/delete anything that does not follow the rules.

All entries remain the property of their authors.

Be sure to check it out!!!