Lauren Grossman's Love Story-Hero

Hero

By: Lauren Grossman

Dear Paul,

Remember that locket you gave me? You said you bought it from a guy on the street or something? I always wore it. I mean, I wasn’t sure if it was safe. You said go ahead, I wouldn’t buy it from some weirdo of something. So I wore it. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry. The one problem with it was that I couldn’t open the lock. I tried anything sharp or something to not break it. I tried taking it down to the Jeweler’s shop, I tried pretty much everything. I wish that it was opened, you know, when you were alive. But I can’t wear that locket again, never. Want to know why? Well, when I found out you were dead, from that crazy guy who shot you, I just took the necklace off (and it broke) and threw it on hard glass. The locket broke open. I wiped my tears, took a couple of breaths, and went towards the locket, after I spotted something in the locket. It had a little piece of paper, saying “You’re in danger.” And I buried the locket somewhere in sand and dug it pretty deep. If I had opened this locket sooner, I could of known that one of us were in trouble. This “guy” that sold you the locket, must of has something against you. I did more research, right, and this guy, who sold you the necklace, was someone I think you knew. You must of arrested him doing something. This guy was in jail for about 10 years, his wife left him, and he lost his kids. He must of wanted revenge, and this gold necklace, that you gave me, had a note to warn you. But he probably knew this locket of mine was hard to open. You must of not noticed who this guy was. It made you die! You were a policemen, saving children and adults’ lives. You did the right thing arresting this guy. He murdered a kid for crying out loud!

I loved you so much. You were the perfect man. But this damn locket got between us! As a policemen, why did you do that? I know that you were losing your job, and I know you wanted to get me something for Valentine’s day, but you didn’t have to! All you had to do was show me your love for me. That would of been the best present ever. But then something happened that explains this. And now, in this letter, I have to be a little more strict to you. Here it goes...

Remember when you went to the doctors a week before the killing? Test results went back, about why you can’t remember things so much anymore. You said you were having loss of memory. Well the results said you had dementia. If you would listen to me to go to the doctor sooner, it wouldn’t of happened. You were stubborn and said, no, I’m just tired, or I just forgot. No, you didn’t. Dementia can turn into Alzheimer's, which is not good! That’s why money was tight, because of this, because of you losing your job, because of your memory loss. Now, I’m not blaming you losing your memory, but you made it worse by not seeing the doctor. And this memory thing caused you to buy a locket from a guy you don’t remember seeing, but did.
All is I can say I love you, but then again, how can I forgive you? Someone I love died. It took me 2 months to stop officially crying, 2 months! Writing this letter is making me tear even more. If you would of gone to the doctors soon enough. If you would of listened to me. If really you wanted to be a hero, you would of saved yourself, and become a hero for that. You could of saved yourself possibly before saving others.


Your wife who loves you, but can’t seem to forgive you,
Hope

Lauren Grossman's FairyTale-Timothy's Story

Timothy’s Story

By: Lauren Grossman

Once upon a time there was a boy, around the age of 14, named Timothy. He had no Dad or Mom, he was an orphan. He didn’t have many friends. The only thing Timothy would do was read. He enjoyed reading. He read Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and anything from back then to modern. He would sit in his bed with his book and read. He had a whole pile of books placed in his room. He got these books from donations, but never really got money to buy his own. He loved reading. He felt like reading was the only thing that he could escape from the world. Timothy tried talking to people at the orphanage, but they never wanted anything to do with him. So Timothy used the words from stories as his friends, and books became his best friend.

       Timothy one day was reading a donated book, that was full of old poems, some by Maya Angelou, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, and a lot, lot more.. The edges were bent, and the spine you tell was going to come off. The pages smelled very old, with bents to it.  You had to be very gentle with this book, unless it will fall apart. The thing is Timothy didn’t care. He just wanted to read. As Timothy was reading a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, these 2 bigger kids came up to him.
       “Whatcha reading…Timothy? Or should I say Timonerd?” says one of the bullies, Bill. Bill was like in charge of everyone out of the kids in the orphanage. You would have to deal with him. He would pick on everyone. Gathers of laughter filled the room by Bill and his best friends, BJ and AJ, who were identical twins. Timothy tried ignoring him, but then Bill reached for his book and threw it on the ground. Timothy just opened his mouth, and now he was upset. The book fell apart.
       Timothy got off the bunk bed and got in front of Bill’s face. Timothy never realized how taller Bill was to him. He never really left his bed, because he just read and read, and was scared of Bill.
       “Why did you do that, you idiot?” asked Timothy. He didn’t mean to go that far by calling Bill a name, but he was sick of Bill and his friends.
       “Who are you calling an idiot?” Bill asked Timothy.
       “I am. I am sick of you picking on me. Just go the hell away.”
       Then, Bill pulled Timothy by the shirt and stared in his scared eyes. Timothy was scared for his life.
       “Now, let me ask you again. Who are you calling an idiot?” asked Bill, he was steamed.
       “N-n-no one.” Timothy said nervously.
       “I thought so.” Bill dropped Timothy on the floor and Timothy let out a bit of pain. Bill and his friends, left Timothy’s room.
       Timothy got up, wincing, and picked up the thrown book. It fell apart. Yes, he could still read the poems, but the book was like a treasure to him. It’s like he “lost” his best friend.
       It was time for lunch. Timothy didn’t want to bother. He hated the lunches, and yet, he had no one to eat with.  Nothing made him happy except books, which was sad for a 14 year old boy. But Timothy was sick of getting bullied, and he wanted to fit in. He got his tray of lunch, and went to look for a table. Everyone just gave him dirty looks, so he knew he wasn’t wanted at that lunch table. Timothy went and sat at an empty table, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with apple juice and white milk.
       As Timothy was sitting alone, eating, he had brought a book with him. It was Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. He was chewing and moving his eyes along the pages. He always had a lot of William Shakespeare books donated to the orphanage. No other kid picked them up, but Timothy did. As Timothy was reading, the double doors opened. This girl, Cindy, came through the doors. She was an orphan too. Cindy was very pretty, with her strawberry blonde hair,  and her blue flowery dress. She walked with a smile on her face. Cindy was always happy, no matter what the mood was. Sometimes it was like Cindy wasn’t an orphan because she acted like nothing bothered her, that she enjoyed life. There was something Timothy liked about Cindy. He liked how she looked at the positive things in life. He liked how nice she was. He liked her beautiful, blonde, straight hair. He just liked her. But he thought no girl that amazing to him, would date someone like him. He always wanted to speak to her, at least have the guts to say hi, but Timothy couldn’t do it. He just took a big sigh and continued his reading.
       Bill was sitting with BJ and AJ. He saw Cindy and did a whistle at her. He then called Cindy over and she walked over. Timothy could always tell Bill liked Cindy and had a thing for her. No way though could Timothy compete with Bill. Bill had brown spiked hair, not skinny, but not fat, and he had these charms with girls. All Timothy had was a very skinny body (because he didn’t eat always) and bushed hair and slim clothes. Bill could impress the girls, but Timothy couldn’t. All what Timothy really did was read, which he doubted could impress Cindy.
Bill was telling jokes to Cindy and she did that giggle that Timothy loved. It was soft and it gave Timothy a small chill. Timothy saw Cindy excuse herself from the table. Timothy then saw Bill look at him. Timothy then looked back down at his book. Bill motioned for his friends BJ and AJ to come over. Timothy tried concentrating on his book because he saw in the corner of his eye that Bill and his buddies were coming over. Then Bill came right in front of Timothy, and Timothy let out a big gulp.
“Hey you!” Said Bill, loud. He got the attention of the whole cafeteria and everyone started staring at Bill, AJ, PJ, and mostly at Timothy.
“What?” Timothy said, acting like he didn’t know anything.
“I saw you staring at Cindy. Lay off her, she is mine.” said Bill.
“Bill, look, I wasn’t doing anything. I just happened to look that way,” Timothy said with little confidence in him. He was surprise to say that, and lie with confidence. Timothy then put his eyes back on his book.
“Hey, I am talking to you!” Bill then took the Julius Caesar book and tore a page out of the book. He then threw the book to the floor and stepped on it.
“You asked for it, Timo-nerd.” Bill, BJ, and AJ walked away, out of the cafeteria. Timothy was holding back tears. He loved that book. It was actually in good shape, until now. He just ran out of the cafeteria, going into his room,  trying to pick up the book. Timothy was in a rush, from the humiliation. He just picked up the teared piece of paper forgetting the whole rest of the book, that is now lying on the coffee colored floor.
Cindy came back into the cafeteria, kind of jogging. She heard a fight going on, so she hurried as fast as she could. She noticed Bill and his friends were gone. Cindy wasn’t sure if she heard of Bill’s voice or not. She went into the lunch room, and didn’t see Bill or his friends. She sat down, at one of the lunch tables, and then noticed a book on the floor.

Timothy was just lying in his bed. He was sick of it. He wish he knew who his real parents were. He wish that his parents didn’t die at the age of 5, and having to be transferred to orphanage to orphanage. He wanted real family and real friends. But Timothy couldn’t have any of it. All he could do was think about this, until he heard a knock at the door.

Cindy came in and showed up with the Julius Caesar book, tucked in with her arm around it.
“Hi, Timothy, is it?”
Timothy nodded and felt sweat upon his head, nervous as anything.
“Okay, Timothy, I found this book on the cafeteria floor. In 15 minutes, about, I am having whoever lost a page in the book, come in and see who has the teared paper. Okay? So if it’s you, come to the cafeteria.”
Timothy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. That was him! He was the guy with the teared paper!
“Well I got to go!” Cindy then left with a smile on her face. She even giggled and then Timothy got that chill again.
Timothy hurried and got the teared paper out of the drawer. He wondered where the book went, he thought Bill took it or something. But no, Cindy, who was someone Timothy liked, had it. She had it! He was waiting for 15 minutes to pass by. It felt more like an hour to him. Sweat was on his face, and he was pacing back and forth in his room. Back and forth. Timothy didn’t know why Cindy wanted the owner of who’s paper it was, but he wanted to finally talk to this girl and say something! He didn’t care that Bill was her boyfriend. Timothy was ready for the 15 minutes, but it just kept feeling longer and longer.
15 minutes were up! He ran to the cafeteria, trying not to bump into anyone. As he got to the cafeteria, a whole line of boys were lined up to see Cindy. He couldn’t believe his eyes. They had pieces of paper, that were torned, but it must of been something they just made up. All the boys like Cindy, but only one could be with Cindy. And Timothy was going to make sure that he was the boy who could be with Cindy, even if it meant hurting Bill. But the thing was, Timothy didn’t think all these guys would be here. Timothy just had to put on the best act he could and his time would eventually up to give Cindy the torn up paper.
The line went outside of the cafeteria, but it went pretty fast. Timothy was so nervous. How was he going to be with Cindy if he couldn’t even talk to her? The line was getting shorter, and Timothy held on tight to the paper. He wanted no one, NO ONE, to steal it from him, mostly thinking of Bill, BJ, and AJ. He noticed Bill was up in the line, and trying to convince Cindy. She just nodded her head and said next. Timothy couldn’t believe his eyes and ears! Cindy was dumping Bill? Why? Bill and Cindy then got into a fight. Bill got so angry and came Timothy’s way. He then pushed Timothy, trying to take the paper. Timothy kicked him, hard. Bill actually landed on his back. Timothy finally stood up for himself. Cindy came over to Bill, couldn’t believe what he did to Timothy. She yelled, “That’s why we are over,” and went back to the front of the line.
“How come you’re doing this to me?” Bill asked.
“Because,” she said. “That anyone who read this, would be a guy I want to be with. Not to make fun or bully anyone.”
Bill went off, angry. Cindy then gave attention to the front of the line, which Timothy was staring right at her. You could see the nerves in his eyes.
“Hi, are you okay Timothy?”
“Y-yeah, I am fine.
“Sorry, Bill was a jerk. I don’t know why I dated him. I mean I tried changing him, he was okay to me, but he was a big bully. We only dated because I thought he was funny. Yeah, he was funny. But sometimes his jokes went by too far.” She took a pause and stared at Timothy’s eyes. All Timothy was doing was listening. “You’re a good listener. Sorry to dump this all on you. So you have something to show me?”
Timothy took a deep breath, very deep, and showed the paper. She matched it in the book and her eyes lit up. Timothy gave a big smile, which he never did in a long time. Cindy gave Timothy a hug. They walked off together, down the checkered floor hallway.
“If you were so shy, why did you come down here? You really wanted to meet me?” asked Cindy, as they were walking.

“Well, uh, yeah. I didn’t know what it was for. But I wanted to meet you. I mean, who knew if it was a set-up. “

“You were going to come, even though it was a set-up?”
“I guess. I have to face my fears.”
“Oh Timothy! You did! And I never would do something like that even though I was dating Bill. I didn’t agree with what he does, like for example, bullying people. Timothy, I think he learned his lesson!”
Timothy and Cindy have been really good to each other weeks after weeks, ever since what happened with the torn paper. They would read, and talk about the story. Cindy made him get out of his shell. Bill moved out of the orphanage, due to bully reasons. Timothy loved Cindy. Cindy never knew why Timothy never spoke or why he was so shy, but then she understood. They loved each other, wanted to grow up with each other. And they lived happily ever after. Timothy felt like this whole situation was like a book, a story, but it was true because it was a story. It was a real story. It was his story.

The End