I could try to describe how I went about creating the
characters in the story. I could tell
you how I worked to make them more realistic or believable, but I would rather
just visit a bit and hope you get to know them.
When I write a story I have explained that I want the story to be so
real you feel as if you can see, hear, and experience what is there in the
story and know the people there.
John and Becky…. are first
introduced in the story discussing their problems and fears. He was layed off from his job and his
unemployment resulted in them having to leave their home to reside where ever
they could afford to rent for them and their children.
Unless we have actually lived through times that did more
than challenge us financially but also posed a threat, we may not relate to the
dire circumstances the family faced and was about to have to find a way to
survive.
As Becky and John talk it becomes evident that their
circumstances had forced her to work in less than desirable and at times even
dangerous environments. As John gazes
out the window and reflects back to what he knew about the area where they live
it is clear that they grieve for the safe and optimistic life they had before
the financial ruination they suffered when the company he worked for closed.
Life is filled with many things including challenges and
problems we work to find solutions for. We
may even think the problems are so big until we find ourselves faced with some
that are by comparison insurmountable.
John realized the life they had been forced into not only took away
their hopes and dreams they took for granted but was a threat to all he held
dear…his family.
Life is also filled with changes. Some changes bring pain and hardships. Some changes are filled with excitement and
joy. Some things actually threaten destruction. We somehow find ways to meet these
changes. Not all of our decisions or
actions are the right choices but there are always consequences. We often find ways to adapt, blend in, get
around, avoid, or conquer in situations we face.
As John gazes out the window and compares what the area had
been to what was before him, he also realizes what it is doing to his
family. He knows in his heart that to
survive, the children will naturally find ways to fit in or be accepted. In those circumstances there would be not
bright and hopeful futures.
John saw little hope to be found in the streets he saw below
him but many pitfalls that were already claiming and stealing away the children
he loved. He could hardly believe they
were the same people who had lived in security and comfort in a nice home, safe
neighbor hood, wonderful schools and little worries compared to the life they
had and would have staying in the place fate had forced them.
John had tried to be there for his family. He had not only provided financially for them
but tried to be a part of their hearts and lives. He thought he knew them, but there were times
the children were like strangers he had never met. There were times the man he saw in the mirror
looked so lost and defeated he knew him not.
John realized what a shock all of this was to each of them in their own
ways.
He had gone from going to little league baseball games with
his son to see the games to watching out a window and wondering where the boy
was, with whom, and if he would make it home?
It was a different world.
He wanted to lead and teach his children how to be
responsible but now he could not even have the boy safely take out the trash. When a dead body was found in the dumpster in
the alley where they took their trash, John trembled at the thought of what
might have happened if his son Bobby had been there taking out the trash. The wrong place at the wrong time … is a
phrase you could hear often, … but it will not bring you back from the dead.
He wanted them to learn to get along with others but there
were places where it was unsafe unless you belonged to one of the gangs and to
do that and to belong was a life changing event….
Bobby had already changed so much that John felt he did not
even know the boy. His oldest daughter was
caught up in a world he had no way to begin to know. He felt shut out and lost from his children. His youngest was learning and would soon
imitate not only the two eldest but also others that would become important in
her life.
Becky worked long hard hours in a place filled with all
kinds of things and most of them he would never want her to have to deal with,
let alone handle and be in the middle of.
She was trying with all of her heart and soul to help her family survive
but lived each day with fear and resentment and no direction to place blame for
their situation. She had heard words
like the economy and job security and many other topic so often discussed by
people who thought they knew what they were talking about. She had heard conversations and even been a
part of those and more. She had been
part of the different charity drives to raise funds and awareness to social
problems such a drugs, homelessness, gangs, hunger in the world, and people in
need….
She realized a different perspective from the one she once
had. She realized no matter how much a
person might talk or even think about some situations they never fully
understood them until they had to live it themselves. You could talk about being homeless or loss
of your home but until it was you that faced that possibility you never really
understood and felt what more there was to the issue. How could you really know what it was like to
be so hungry and see empty shelves when you open the cabinet if you were not
homeless and had a cabinet to open?
She remembered a lunch she had attended for a local food
pantry to help with contributions.
People had gathered at the expensive restaurant chatting about many
things. One woman proudly announced that
although she did believe in the cause she thought many times it was abused as
people that had jobs just did not manage their money and wasted it. Food should be their first priority and if
they did not do that she had no sympathy.
Becky was working full time and then some. John had used his unemployment until it ran
out but what priority was most important when there was not enough to cover
them all? She pondered now how anyone
could say such a thing if they were faced with the rent, utilities and other
things that stood between them and being homeless? She felt so enlightened to understanding of
things she had never dreamed and so hopeless and helpless at the same
time. Now it was she and her family they
would have avoided standing too close to, but did not mind making a deductible
contribution to help and then discuss how worthless some were over their coffee
or dinners. Becky was afraid and angry
and desperate.
Becky had always thought they needed to be there for their
children too. She believed she was not
only their mother but their best friend.
They would always be able to share everything. She often would talk and discuss things
allowing the children to have their say and help in making decisions. Becky felt that was a good thing in their
relationship…before…. She had begun to
feel as if she did not even know them and they looked at her as the enemy or at
least something to get around so they could run away into their new life and do
what ever they wanted to do. She was
afraid of who and what they were with and had no way to know because there was
no sharing with their best friend…or their mother. She had begun to feel as if she had lost them
completely.
Who and what these people were and what was to come of them
were questions no one had answers for.
What and where they would go or how they would get there were soon to be
more than just something to discuss.
They would soon be in a position to experience even more difficulties
and the choices they made, would change their lives forever.
I wanted to write a story.
I wanted it to be filled with people, places and things of
interest. This story has so much more
when we think about these people and their story. It could be our story if life took certain
turns. There may be things we know and
believe to be true but then again in other circumstances … what then???? How heartbreaking would it be to feel as if
we are loosing those we love the most and what would we do?
What about the children?
If the things they had always heard from their parents was so true, then
why were they where they were living as they were? If good people they had known all of their
lives were so special, where were they when you needed help? They did not understand life but were finding
new friends they could be accepted and become a part with. They were finding new friends that had all
kinds of things to tell and teach and so many so called answers. Children do have a survival instinct but what
was it and who, that was trying to save them…or was it more to recruit them to
their world for what they wanted from them?
The children were not prepared for any of what was now all
around them and they were a part of in the neighborhood and the schools. We all have choices to make and consequences
for good or for bad from those choices.
No matter what Life Goes On and we have to find a way to go
on in life and make the best of what we have to do the best that we can do.
I will be back soon to share more from the inside…
