I tried something fun to be creative instead of writing what pops in my head. Sometimes, nothing pops in my head.
So, I wrote this for those of you who ever wonder what happened to Tommy and Gina from Bon Jovi’s Livin On A Prayer. Or maybe I am the only one that has ever wondered.
It’s not perfect, but I bet some of you will sing parts of it like the real song. If you need a refresher, I have the video posted on the bottom.
Once upon a time, not so long ago
Tommy lost his job on the docks
Gina’s diner closed down
Down on their luck, it’s tough, so tough
Started over in a small town
Tommy started playing at the local bar
Getting by with the little they had
Gina didn’t think love would be this hard
Trying to recall when she wasn’t so sad
You can’t live on a prayer, takes so much more
When you’re breaking plates, slamming doors
We still talk about the crash on lovers’ lane
Where three crosses remember their names
Tommy knew they didn’t have much, didn’t have much
They lived in sin, couldn’t afford a wedding band
Tommy thought they’d always have love, always have love
He was rolling down the mountain at a break neck speed. He could not believe how fast he was going. He tried to slow down, but he couldn’t figure out how. Once a pebble gets rolling, there is only one thing to stop him. He saw them in the distance but they were getting closer and closer the faster he went. There was no way to avoid the big, bad boulders so he just closed his eyes and
SMACK !!!
“Hey pebble, what do you think you are doing??!!” shouted the boulders. “Can’t you see how close to the edge we are? We have been balancing on this ledge for a very long time. We don’t need a little pebble like you messing our situation up.”
The pebble shook with fear. He had never seen boulders that big before. “I-I-I’m ssssorry. I didn’t mean to hit you but I was going so fast I couldn’t stop. Thank you for stopping me though. Do you think I could stay here?”
The boulders answered with a stern “NO!! We don’t need you here. You are not one of us and would mess our lives up with all your little talk.”
The pebble didn’t like their answer but went on his way. He tried to take it slower but with each downward slope and each breath of wind that blew he didn’t have much choice. He was so small he went wherever the wind blew him. Most days he didn’t mind, every day was an adventure. He never knew where he would end up. Other days, he just wanted to stop and fit in somewhere. He wanted someone to like him, for him to be a part of something bigger than himself.
A big gust of wind started to blow and off the pebble went again. He was going so fast he would hit the ground then bounce up in the air. He felt like he was flying. “This must be how the birds feel,” he thought to himself.
Oh crap, more boulders ahead, the pebble screamed inside. “Look out boulders, I am coming right at you. I can’t stop!!!” yelled the pebble.
Once again the pebble was met with disdain. “Get out of here pebble. We are way too powerful for you. Do you NOT realize that we can squash you if we wanted to. You are too tiny to live here. Be on your way before we change our minds and decide to hurt you.”
The pebble didn’t waste any time scurrying from that place. He thought, What is wrong with all these boulders?Don’t they realize I don’t mean to smash into them. I’m just trying to find my way. Like I could ever hurt them anyway.
It was then he heard a small voice in the wind.” Go pebble go. Go where the wind takes you. You are more powerful than you know. Everything that is and has happened to you is for a reason. I didn’t mean you any harm when you crashed into those boulders. I was using you to try to change their hearts. To learn to be more accepting. To love something other than their own pile of boulders. It is not too late for them for you have planted a seed everywhere I have sent you. The choice is theirs. You tried. Keep trying and going forward. Do not be afraid.”
The pebble looked around but did not see anyone. Strange, he thought. At that time another gust of wind picked him up and took him on his way.
Not again, seriously, the pebble thought unbelieving. Why can’t I crash into a pile of grass or a stream of water. Why another pile of boulders? He braced himself for impact.
SMACK!!!!
This time the boulders didn’t yell at him. “Help us,” said the boulders. “We are about to fall off the edge.”
“How can I help you? I am just a small pebble,” the pebble asked. He was thinking this had to be some kind of trick.
“We are about to fall off the edge and we have been asking for someone like you. See this small hole in between us? We need you to jump in there and seal it so we can be strong. With you securing that hole, we don’t have to worry about falling off the ledge.”
Wow, thought the pebble. They really need me. “You can count on me,” he bravely said. “I have been wanting a place to settle down. A place that will accept me for who I am.”
He then jumped right into the hole and secured the boulders together.
“Thank you,” he humbly said, to the boulders and to that small voice he heard.
It was then they heard this rumbling coming down the mountain. All these boulders were falling all around them but , miraculously, none of the falling boulders hit them. The pebble recognized them as the same boulders who yelled at him and told him they didn’t want him.
“Thank you,” said the boulders he was with now. ” Without you, we would’ve had the same fate as those boulders. You saved us pebble.”
Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer. She is all I can think about these days. She is, or should I say was, a beautiful, unique, blah blah I could go on and on person. She made me laugh. She made me cry. I rooted for her to win.
Then I killed her.
Some of you might have seen it coming. Some, not so. After writing about her for three novels, I was bound to run out of story lines, was I not?
So in my last novel, I killed her. Well, technically, not me. I’m only a writer. Or you could say it was me that killed her. I don’t know anymore. I haven’t been the same since she has been gone so I will let you be the judge and jury.
As soon as I typed the last words of the novel, I started thinking it was a mistake. How can I kill her off? What will I write about next? Can I create another character as perfect as Jennifer?
But, I had spent the last five months of my life writing this novel and it went where it went. And now I am where I am.
Missing Jennifer.
In a way, you can say I loved her. I created her. She was everything to me. She was a part of my life for three years. Yes, I loved her. Maybe more than Tom, her husband in the novels. Yes, I miss her more than words can say.
She can’t be really gone, can she? But she is. 100% fact. Because I killed her. Well, again, I will say technically not me but when it comes down to it, it was me. I could’ve wrote that she killed the villain and lived happily ever after, but that is not what I wrote is it.
But, maybe, she isn’t really dead. After all, I’m the writer. I can bring her back.
All I have to do is start writing.
It was the storm of the decade. One that the locals will be talking about for years. The winds howled, the lightning struck, the rain fell from the heavens like the tears that fell from Tom’s eyes when Jennifer was murdered.
Tom always liked storms. The electricity in the air, the way the rain smell, how it felt like the world was being cleansed from its ugliness. Jennifer loved storms also.
Tom and Jennifer lived in the country, miles from anyone. Tom enjoys the solitude. Most people don’t get it, but Tom doesn’t get most people.Jennifer, on the other hand, was a people person. But it worked for both of them.
Tom sat on his front porch, watching the storm proceed with its cleansing.
It could not have been ten minutes when the large oak tree that stood thirty feet from their house was struck by three consecutive lightning strikes. It was within seconds of the third strike that Tom saw someone walking up his driveway.
Tom thought he must be seeing things. Like flash blindness after someone snaps a picture of you with the flash on. Just a blurred shape. But after a few blinks, the person was still there. Still walking toward Tom.
Tom sat there in silence as the person kept walking toward the porch. He wasn’t scared. He knew that walk. But he knew that it could not be her. That is when the sky lit up like the Fourth of July as more lightning struck.
He had no doubt it was her.
His lips said her name before his brain could ask how could this be.
It was a long, cold, dark winter. One that she didn’t think would ever end. There was snow, rain, and sleet. A couple of times there was enough ice to nearly break the branches on the trees. The little girl held on. She waited for the warmer weather, the better times, the warmth of the sun. She knew it would come, it was just a matter of time. As she waited patiently, she would say her prayers, she would thank God for protecting her and her mommy and daddy during these cold, dark, winter nights.
Finally, the day had come. The first bud of spring appeared out of the ground. The bud peeked out of her shoot and could feel the warmth surround her. She was filled with so much joy that, at first, she didn’t notice she was the only bud sprouting. After basking in the warmth of the sunshine for a few minutes she looked around, startled that she was the only one. Where was everyone else? Was she going to be all alone? Did she come out too soon? Was colder weather coming back and she would die because of her eagerness to sprout? She was filled with fear and doubt but she stayed strong. She knew God had a plan for her. It was then that a little girl saw her and started yelling for her dad to come see the new flower. The little girl was so excited that the bud could not help but smile. Her excitement was contagious.
A little while later another bud awakened. He also took a moment to take in the warmth around him. He then looked to see if the others had awakened and that was when he saw her. She was within inches of him and he knew he would love her. It didn’t take long for her to notice him either, even though it took the help of a little girl yelling “Look, daddy, now there’s two!”
They welcomed the spring with all the other buds that started to awaken. With all the other flowers around them, they knew they were meant for each other. When the rains came, he would lean towards her to cover her petals. When the strong winds came they would lean into it together, holding stems. They were inseparable. When the bees came they opened their petals for them so they could spread their seeds to other lands where there were no flowers. They also knew that the bees relied on their pollen to take back to their hives for food. It was a beneficial relationship. Everything was new and exciting.
Then summer came. It was a scorching summer, one like they had never seen. There was no water. Many flowers died but not our couple. They shared what they had with each other. Every little drop of moisture was shared between them. Luckily, they were also planted where they had shade for part of the day. They counted the hours down together until they were cooled by the shade. Every once in awhile the little girl would come out with a can of water and water them, helping to keep them alive. They were often too tired to open their petals wide enough for the bees to come but they did their best. They knew the only way to survive this summer was with the help of others. They prayed their prayers for rain, for cooler temperatures but it was not to be. Sometimes in life, God doesn’t answer prayers and there are reasons only He knows why. They had reached a point in their relationship that they were still together, but they didn’t talk much. Too much too worry about, too much life got in the way. When was their next rain drop, how would they make it through another day without food, why couldn’t they be like they were in the spring? Did they waste this whole season of their life? They knew better because they still shared the little water they had, they still protected each other but the excitement was gone.
Before they knew it Autumn was here. They had made it through the difficult summer and were enjoying another season of their life. The rains came again, as well as cooler weather. When he looked at her she was still the most beautiful, most loving, most caring flower in the garden. When she looked at him he was still the bravest, strongest, most handsome flower this side of Eden. They held each other’s petals more each day, knowing that their days were winding down. They reflected on the spring and the summer. Days when their love was new and days when they didn’t know if they would make it. They thought of their seeds spread far and wide, soon to be new flowers that would spread their love and beauty around the world. It wasn’t easy, they had moments of doubt but they fought for each other, they fought for their love. They survived.
Soon the cold winds blew again. They held on for as long as they could but with each passing day, their petals would fall off. They knew it wouldn’t be long now but they held on for each struggling moment. Relying on each other to get by. Praying for just one more second. She was the first to go, as she was the first to sprout. He wasn’t far behind her.
The little girl, all bundled up from the cold, looked at her daddy and said, “Look, daddy, the first two here are the last two to leave. I wonder if they were happy here, I wonder if they were in love.”
“Now, now,” said the daddy, “we know flowers can’t fall in love but if they could, those two would definitely have been like me and your mom. Through all the seasons and all the weather, the rain, the sun, the cold, they were standing right beside each other. Holding petals all the while.”
The little girl giggled. Through the cold, dark, winter nights she was safe as she anxiously waited for the first bud of spring to blossom again.
