The Angel

Author's Note

"Tell me to write a romance, and I'll give you a tragedy."

I did so much research on the musical (Waitress), leukemia, Cleveland and Playhouse Square for this story. I'm also terrible at writing happy things, and I'm certainly not the best at writing either, but this story was extremely simple for a reason... Not just because I was lazy.

One: I wanted a somewhat normal love story. No vampires and werewolves. No magic. No jawline-that-can-cut-someone CEO. No prince on a white horse. No controlling Greek god. No mafia member who bought a girlfriend at an auction or something... Just a guy who respects a girl -- no inappropriate touching or weird talk -- and sees her as his equal. Both have a lot of flaws, and they can't always fix that part of them. Still, while they see each other as imperfect as they truly are, that doesn't mean that they don't see each other as perfect for each other. Honestly, the basic man who can court a woman properly is my dream guy.

Just true love. Because love and lust are two very different things. (Of course, I'll accept the whole trust part of consummation, but that would still lean towards love and not lust.)

The chapters in Alec's perspective -- note that they all focus on some time he spent with Lilac. The reason he never has a chapter on his own which describes his past or himself, or even a chapter with his mother or even with Elizabeth is to represent how much focus he had on Lilac -- to show how his entire world seemed to revolve around her. The writin style used for him isn't exactly as descriptive, and it seems somewhat rushed. After all, his character represents someone who has forgotten how to appreciate the world around them. There are, however, the exceptions to this... which are usually parts in which he is focusing on Lilac.

As for Lilac, note that the way she describes things are more descriptive both physically and emotionally..., and that in Chapter Eight, her emotions are the most descriptive. It represents her overall ability as a person to take in the tiniest of details and either appreciate them or rip them into bits. Her peak breaking point is chapter eight, and everything becomes more mellow from there.

In Elizabeth's short chapter, she knows that she's only a side character in this story. Her focus is on both Lilac and Alec -- not herself.

Now, let's take a look at the character's themselves. Mainly Alec. Alec is not the person you would easily see as a dream guy, or even generally, a good person. For the most part, in beginning chapters, his affection towards Lilac is not quite as visible as one may hope. Still, through little moments here and there, his soft side breaks through. His internal conflict with his past is barely mentioned... even if he, not Lilac, is the story's main focus. This is also to focus on the present and future aspects of life -- not the past. So how does Lilac fall for a guy like this? Because she, of all people, was the only one to see the person he truly is. He stuck around her for more than half of their lives, and during the course of that, she's would know him the best.

Let's also take into consideration Elizabeth herself. Most love stories have the stereotypical antagonist: a selfish, annoying, secondary "love interest" who wants to part the main couple and snatch the guy or girl for themselves. But let's be honest: if Elizabeth was the female protagonist instead of Lilac, you'd be rooting for her on her side. In fact, Elizabeth puts Lilac on a pedestal compared to herself. Not all girls who will be the second love interest are crazy women who need to be slapped a thousand times. Sometimes, you just need to see a story from more than one angle. (Can we also just appreciate her full name? It's Elizabeth Alethea. Elizabeth can be interpreted to mean "my God is my oath" or "my God is my abundance." Alethea is a goddess of truth. Split up the name meanings and you get either "my oath of truth" or "abundance of truth." It's her role to push the main characters into realizing that they love each other -- not get in the way of it.)

And then our dear Lilac. She's the pure, innocent one. She's a simple while simultaneously complex character. Alongside a lot of faults. Like all of us. No -- she's not perfect -- and she knows that. Her character flaws include two main ones: her overwhelming selflessness (to the point she loses self preservation -- "as long as you're happy, I'll be fine") and hesitation about the life she wants. She's meant to be realistic and doesn't romanticize her illness. She also knows she's dying. She accepts it. What she's scared of is being unable to live a life before then. Another part that you may notice is that, as time goes on within the story, the words focus less on actions and more onto the character's feelings and thoughts. Lilac's always been focused on the emotional side of things, and this represents her growing influence on Alec over time.

Repetition has always been the most significant style of writing that you'll notice about me. The most important, key details or thoughts in any story or speech I've made are given to throw you back to the very start. Note that the prologue is not the only part of "The Angel" which is repeated; most of Alec's dialogue in the last chapter is from earlier lines. Another noticeable repetition example is the thought of a race. In fact, part of that idea was pulled from a few old characters of mine (who I have not put into a written book yet). It can also be interpreted as an idea traced back to a poem by by A.E. Housman, "To An Athlete Dying Young." In particular, I'm talking about line 5, where death is "the road all runners come."

Fun Fact: I actually implemented several parts of my very first written speech into the book.

Additionally, several recurring themes include the following:

The reminder to live now; to be able to take risks when needed; to appreciate what you have; to both live in the moment and plan for the future; that we have to move on after a loved one's death; to not wait for so long that you postpone all that could be; that there's more than one side to a story; that the world is not completely positive nor completely negative; that life is what you make it; to understand that love is as painful as it is beautiful...

There's so many ways to interpret this story, and in a way, any interpretation is correct.

I'll just leave it up to you to figure out who the angel is.