One Lifetime

Chapter 1

All my life I had believed in fairytales. I had faith in the power of love and, to me, the notion that not everything could be fixed with a smile seemed rather foolish and downright pointless.

I grew up in Brattleboro, the town nestled in southern Vermont. I had assumed this to be the tiniest town in the continental US (my stupidity went away with the passing years). I loved my town. It planted the seeds for me to become the free spirit I am today.

 Naturally, I was an optimist, a dreamer. Oh boy was my belief in Santa firm. A large part of my childhood was dedicated to counting off the days until Christmas until I could finally open my presents.  Well, imagine my surprise when my parents had finally had enough of my unrelenting obsession and had a very serious discussion with me. The concept of there not being a Santa had quite literally stunned me. And then the tears had come. I had cried and stayed in my pajamas for a week straight and basically given up on life in general. The world had seemed pretty black and white then; either there was a Santa or there wasn’t, but, oh, I wouldn’t make the mistake of associating my childhood with the words black and white. God, I had been a goddamn colorful person. I had been happy. I was the brown haired, brown eyed girl whose smile had had the ability to light up a whole room. I enjoyed the sunshine, and I wanted that sunshine to be a part of everyone else’s life too. I wanted to make people happy. I wanted to BE happy. The idea of unhappiness anywhere in the world baffled me. I mean, if people wanted contentment, all they had to do was allow their lips to turn at the corners and morph into a smile. So simple. So easy. My perception of the world had been SO simple, easy and beautiful.  

One thing that could be said about me in the early days was that I was quite capable of finding the silver lining. I can admit now, that some of those silver linings might have been nonexistent. I guess I was naïve and too young to comprehend the fact that not everything could be glued back together. Sometimes, things just.. break.  

I’m 26 now. I think it’s safe to say that when I turned 21, life changed for me. It was like a star had suddenly shot through the sky. There had been change. I had been changed. Forever. Because love changes you in ways that you fail to recognize at that time. Well, he had changed me. And I would never forget him because everything that we had gone through together had thrown my ideas on life and happiness out the window. That’s what Derek Mason had done. He had changed me and the impact he had left on me was undeniable and so very THERE. 

------

This is a rather small chapter, I'm aware, but I wanted you guys to have an inkling of what I'm about to write. Cheers!