Her

: : Part IV : :

: : Part IV : :

Benson is an Engineering Major and spends most of his time studying, building, and thinking. He is very good at Engineering, which surprises you, because of his laid back attitude. You think he is smart but not smart enough for an engineering course. But despite this, he is one of the top engineer students in his course.

But when it comes to plans, well thought through plans, Benson isn’t that good at that. His laid back attitude comes back and bites him and you on the ass. You know this from experience, Benson is book smart but not a smart ass and he isn’t people smart. He can’t read them. He is pretty much Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory but more laid back and less OCD-like.

Benson, to his credit, came up with another plan ten minutes after you rejected and grumbled at his first two. This plan might work; you think that the plan is good. It is smart, and indestructible.

“There are only three things to be done with a woman. You can love her, suffer for her, or turn her into literature.”

And that is exactly what you plan to do.

Turn Sienna into literature. Turn her three dimensional self into two dimensional words that live on paper. How much can you really love words, sentences, paragraphs? How much love can you hold for something that if you switch the order around it turns into something very different? That is all writing is, having words and switching them around, having classics and stealing the words and swapping them around. But you know the answer already; you know the end of the tale before you have even written the first word.

A lot.

That is how much you can love something that isn’t real, that is how much you can love words.

_____

That day when you walk into your first lecture, your lecturer—Professor Collins- has the words ‘Literature’ and ‘love’ sprawled up on the white board. You find a seat in the middle of the theatre. You like this class, because it is the exact same one as last year. Twenty students, one lecturer, and one topic which you must write a fifty thousand word story on.

Once everyone was settled into class Professor Collins began to speak. “Love, something that drives literature, love is one of the strongest bonds between the words and the tale. Some of you love to write, some of you love to be loved, but all of you love literature. Or otherwise you wouldn’t be here in my class.

“So this semester you will hand in, yet another, fifty thousand word piece of literature. It can be about anything, as long as you keep to the guidelines and the topic ‘Love in Literature.’

“I know some of you are less than thrilled about the topic. Some of you aren’t hopeless romantics and that’s fine. But remember you have to know what love is. So for this assignment, you have to cover two topics; one, it has to be about love. And two, it has to scare you. Giving me a piece of literature isn’t going to cut it this year. You have to have a personal connection to the story. You have to let go of all those layers that you have to protect yourself. And you have to write what really matters to you. You have to feel what you write, not think what you write. From now on, every piece of literature you hand me, it is going to hold a bit of your soul. Everything that scares you, everything that you don’t know scares you. You write it. If you’re terrified of what you might find deep down within yourself, you should be, but don’t let that hold you back. Use it, manipulate it. That is what makes a good writer an unbelievable one.

“Now for my personal favourite part of the course, I must explain to you; in depth, what love is, like it is ever that easy.” You and a few others in your lecture hall snicker.

“Love, my writing minions, isn’t as easily defined into words as any other type of emotion or state of mind. It is something entirely different. Scientists believe…well, they have proven, that love is a chemical reaction between testosterone, oxytocin, vasopressin, and many others.

“Think of testosterone as sex. The physical attraction shared between two people. Then vasopressin and oxytocin create long term relationships, love. These three elements create love. You need three elements for your initial piece: lover number one, lover number two, and most importantly; the element that drives them apart or brings them together.

“Now back to the big picture. What is love? Love, in a non-scientific point of view is everything yet, nothing. It isn’t physically apart of this world, but it is what most people need.

“The bible says, love is patient, love is kind…and it never fails.” The professor smirks. “Well, whoever wrote that, hasn’t met my wife.” He joked and you laughed.

“Love,” Professor Collins paused, thoughtfully. “Love is the one thing that you can’t ever give up on. It makes a criminal a saint; it changes you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine. And it’s worth finding, it is worth fighting for. Love is worth all the heartbreaks, all the false lovers. It is worth all the pain in the world if you have it.

“For this week’s assignment; you have to research two people. The first a person is someone who wrote about love, it can just be a quote. The second person is someone who you love, but I won’t accept the paper if it is about your mother. It has to be love love; the undying type, not the family type. Next time I see you, you will hand in your small, emphasis on small, explanation on love.”

Everyone in the class begin packing up, scrambling with their pens and notes. You grab your book and write:

‘explanation of love.’

By the time you look up from your reminder, everyone was gone. You quickly pack up, and walk down the theatre stairs and walk out the door and you don’t stop until you are in your dormitory welding a pen and a notebook, writing.

You have decided that she deserves better than you, and the best thing you can do for her is to turn her into literature.