True Story

The first time that I saw him, I was at Church.

He was halfway across the chapel, speaking in front of everyone present. I mostly paid attention because I thought that his face was nice to look at. He told everyone his name and a brief life story. His name is Noah, and he's new at my church. He was home schooled for most of his life. And Dang. He's a good speaker. He was also going to youth group next week. I decided to also go to youth group. It wouldn't be very suspicious for me to go or even want to go. I normally go every week. So going to youth group and trying to meet Noah wouldn't be a problem.

***

It was a week after the first time that I saw him. It was at youth group. Both Noah and I got there early, but I did not talk to him yet, because Noah was chatting with one of the youth leaders. I decided to wait it out and talk to him later. So, I sat down at a table with a group of my friends. After a bit, the table that I was sitting at started getting crowded. So I decided to move to another table that had some of my other friends at it.  My friend, Maria, and I started to converse. That is when he came over.

"Hi. My name is Noah," Noah said as he sat down next to me, "what's your name?"

"Hey. I'm Skylar," I replied.

"Nice to meet you," Noah smiled and we shook hands. 

He has a strong handshake, I thought.

Then Noah and Maria started talking. Apparently, Noah and Maria knew each other. And Dang. Not only is he a good speaker, but he is also personable.

And since he was sitting next to me, I could see Noah's facial features very well. He had short, black hair, fair skin, hazel eyes, and a hawk-like nose. And he looks amazing when he smiles. He also wears a lot of black, as if he's goth or he works at Starbucks.

When youth group started, since it was casino night, every person there got a bowl of poker chips. Then we dispersed into different groups and started playing different casino games. So I decided to go to Texas Hold 'Em. Noah was in charge of that game, since he knew how to play that game the best. After I learned how to play the game, I also learned that I'm very good at it. At the end of the night, I have one of the biggest amounts of chips out of everyone in the youth group, and so did Noah. The people with the biggest amounts of poker chips and got prizes. Since I had so many poker chips, I got a gift card. After I received the gift card, I started talking with some of my friends. Then I realized that Noah was gone. I wanted to at least say goodbye.

***

I have come to a realization.

To put things into perspective, I met Noah in late June, and it is now mid-September. My realization is that you can like a lot of someone's traits without actually liking the person. Noah is an amazing person. He is humble, funny, personable, intelligent, genuinely nice, a great speaker, Soft-spoken yet firm with what he believes in, and he is a Christian who can quote the Bible better than anyone that I have ever met. And that's saying a lot, since I practically live at my church and with my youth group. Noah is also quite nice to look at. Also, have I mentioned his dimples yet? Doesn't matter, they're amazing just the same. Another realization that I've had is that Noah has all the traits that I would like to see in my husband. Yet I don't have a crush on him. Yeah, I like him as a friend, but no more than that. Mostly because I don't see us working out more than that. We live very different lives. And that's all right.  However, in the end, I wish him the best.

Yet I don't think that I should like Noah anyway. It is typically frowned upon to have a crush on a priest.

A New Idea

Skylar woke up on a Tuesday morning, crawled out of bed, and smiled. Today was her second day of spring break! The lovely thought of it!  She could run outside, climb a tree, hang out with friends, stay in her PJs and watch Netflix all day...

Then a thought made her stop in her tracks. I forgot about my blog!

Skylar came downstairs, got on the computer, and opened a new Word Document.

Hmmmmmm.... What should I write? She thought, without any ideas, I've already posted anything and everything that I've finished.

This would pester Skylar all day if she didn't think of something soon.  Just looking at a blank Word Document for an extended period of time would be absolute torture to any writer.

Well, Skylar thought, I should probably get myself breakfast if I don't have any ideas.

So she got up, and left the blank Word Document to itself.

 

***

 

After breakfast, Skylar forgot about the empty Word Document until she got on the computer in the afternoon to check social media. I should at least TRY to write a little something for my blog, so people don't think that I'm dead or anything... But what should I write? I still have no ideas!

But then Skylar realized that she could just write about her not having any good ideas.

She's so Mean.

I  woke up on Saturday morning and I knew something didn't feel right.   I thought I was just getting a cold, with the normal headache and sore throat.  I went on with my normal day, getting out of bed, putting clothes on, and heading downstairs to eat breakfast.  That's when I realized that my twin, Astrid, wasn't home.  I groaned.  She runs away from home a lot.
Oh well, I thought, I should go looking for her.  She must not have gone far.  After I finished my breakfast, I put my shoes on and headed out the door.
As I strolled down the street, I caught a glimpse of something to my left. It looked like a person in the shadows, but I couldn't tell the gender.  The person looked as if it was insane.  It was shaking, and it was slowly falling to the ground.
I walked towards it, and could start making out the figure.  It was Astrid!  I ran towards her.  "Astrid? Are you ok?  It's me, Raelyn!" I asked.
She gazed up at me.  "Raelyn... My twin....  I... I made pills that would help us...  Get stronger... We could.... Rule the world..." Astrid forced out.  Then she handed me a pill bottle.  "It'll make you feel... Fatigued at first... But then it.... Makes you powerful..."
 Then it hit me.
That's why I was feeling sick this morning!  "Astrid," I remarked, "you gave it to me, didn't you?"  She stared at the ground.  "I'm sorry...  I put in... Your dinner... Last night.  I  didn't know... What else... To do.  I want you... To help me.  That's... What sisters... Do... Right?" She asked.
I was furious.  Couldn't Astrid have asked me if I wanted to be stronger?  Or if I wanted to rule the world? Astrid always wanted to have control. I was so enraged, I wanted to take all control away from her. So I made up my mind.
"Astrid, I won't fight with you," I told her, "I'm going to fight against you.  You don't deserve any kind of power."   I immediately started walking back to the house.
I'm starting to feel stronger already.

David, the Crusader

Walking up a mountain.  Breathing heavily.  Occasionally looking back to make sure no one is following.  A few years ago, I wouldn't have ever imagined that my life would be like this. Now, it's just a day in the life of a Crusader.  I honestly want to go back to when I was a baker's apprentice, when my friend, Aadil, and I didn't have to fight against each other.  Those were good times.  Aadil and I would run through the town, trying to beat each other to the market whenever our master needed something.  Yes, we had our differences, but we didn't care.  We liked having each other around.  But alas, those years did not last long.  Now we have to fight on opposite sides of the Crusade. 

 

"David!" I snapped back into reality when I heard my name.  I gazed over at where the voice came from.  It was from my fellow soldier, Peter.  He was smiling at me.  "Thinking of a girl back home?" he asked.  I smiled back. We always teased each other like this.  "Well, it's a lot better than thinking of who I'm walking next to!" I replied.  Peter and I laughed and kept walking.  We tried to keep things light-hearted, even though we were, in essence, walking to our deaths.  We, along with thousands of other soldiers, were marching towards the Holy Land to reclaim it.  Every single one of us vowed to fight until the Holy Land was ruled by Christians again.  I both wanted to and didn't want to be a part of it. I wanted to be a part of it because I wanted to see the Holy Land as a Christian place again. I didn't want to be a part of it because I was afraid that I would never see home again. I would never see Aadil again, or my master.  But now, I have no choice as to fight in the Holy Land. Last I heard, we were halfway there.  That was three days ago. We have been traveling for almost a week now.  We should be there soon.

 

Suddenly, I heard battle cries from almost every man in front of us. They all started running, as if something was chasing them. Peter and I looked at one another.  We made it! I thought.  I screamed and ran.  At first, all I saw was a jumble of Christian soldiers.  Finally, the Turks broke through. One of them marched up to me and slashed his sword at me.  I deflected with my shield and cut my opponent in the arm with my spear.  We went on like this for awhile, attacking and deflecting, deflecting and attacking.  When all of a sudden, my opponent wailed in pain and fell.  I wondered what the heck just happened.  I went over and inspected the body.  With my foot, I turned my opponent to his back.  There was an arrow sticking out of his shoulder blade.  Who did that? I thought.  I glanced around for someone with a bow and arrow.  Then I saw him. 

 

Up in a tree was my friend and fellow soldier, Jacob.  I should have known.  Jacob's weapon of choice was the bow and arrow.  I saluted Jacob and went on.  After that fight, my adrenaline felt like it was through the roof.  No one paid very much attention to me.  They were all off in their own battles.  Then I heard something.  It sounded like crying.  I advanced towards the noise.  It was coming from a bush.  I moved some of the leaves to find a cowering young woman hiding there.  She let out a yelp when she saw me, and I jumped back.  I took a deep breath and checked again.  "Ma'am, are you alright?" I asked.  The young woman stared up at me. "Are... Aren't you going to hurt me?" She replied.  I gave her a confused look.  Why would I hurt her? I thought.  Then I noticed the gash along her stomach.  "You're hurt!" I remarked,  "come with me, I promise I won't hurt you."  I held out my hand for her to take.  She stood up, but didn't grab my hand.  She started walking in the opposite direction.  "Hey! Wait up!" I told her.  The lady turned to face me.  "What's your name?" I asked.  She scowled.  "Why do you need to know?"  I gave her a puzzled look. "If I'm going to help you, I should at least know your name," I replied. She turned away.  "Helia.  My name is Helia."

 

Before I could say anything back, I was pulled back by two Turks.  I tried to fight back,  but they were a lot stronger than I was.  The Turks threw me into a wagon, tied me up, and drove off with me in the back.  We traveled for what felt like forever. Finally, we stopped, and all I heard was mumbles.  Eventually, a man came into the wagon and threw me out of it.  He untied me almost completely, except for my hands; which he kept bound.  The man took my arm and pulled me through a crowd of people who were facing the same direction.  Why are all these people here? I thought.  The man who was pulling me shouted, "WE HAVE ONE MORE!"  There was another man on a stool facing the crowd.  When the man on the stool saw me, he came up and pulled me to the stool. "Stand on it," the man said.  I wasn't sure what he would do to me if I didn't listen, so I obeyed.  The man shouted, "WHO SHALL TAKE THIS MAN FOR THREE SHILLINGS?" I was being sold into slavery!

 

 Everybody was silent for a moment.  "I WILL," shouted a voice from the back.  "ANY OTHER OFFERS?  GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE.... SOLD! TO THE MAN IN THE BACK FOR THREE SHILLINGS!"  Said the man who was selling.  The man in the back came up and gave the man who was selling me three shillings.  The man from the back then took my arm and pulled me through the crowd.  After we walked past the mass of people, the man who had my arm turned down an alley and untied my hands.  "Why did you do that? I asked as I examined his face.  The man looked into my eyes. They seemed.... Familiar.  "Your name is David.  I know this because mine is Aadil," he said.

 

AADIL! I thought.  My childhood friend and I were finally reunited.  And he remembered me enough to save me from slavery!  "Aadil!" I exclaimed as I hugged him.  Aadil hugged back. "I thought that we could open our own bakery, and have all our favorite foods from childhood there," he announced as we released each other from the hug.  "That sounds like a fantastic idea," I responded.