Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Beginning and End (04/16/09)
-
TITLE: My Storybook Hero | Previous Challenge Entry
By Kimberly Michalski
04/23/09 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
We engaged in a fun and spirited banter for weeks over the phone before we agreed to meet in person. Edward made me laugh. He cared about things I cared about. He owned a brilliant mind. Most importantly, he shared my faith. I wanted Edward to be the right man for me, but my internal man compass, if such a thing existed, had an apparent defect. I always gravitated to less than noble characters.
We met at a wings restaurant, fitting for the sentiment I felt when I arrived on a wing and a prayer. I didn’t know if we were destined for a bright future but, he shined in his warm smile and impeccable clothes. He looked nothing like my date, Tom, a year prior, whom I regretted meeting for coffee. I didn’t heed my first impulse to bolt for the door when Tom arrived for our only date in khaki slacks, blue dress shirt and muddy sneakers. I thought he deserved a chance. For all I knew he fell victim to a shoe thief en route to meet me and the grubby running shoes in his car sufficed as a lucky spare.
The unlikely scenario also explained his mussed hair and wet armpits: a probable chase ensued in pursuit of the perpetrator. I ordered a cup of coffee with Tom, the pursuer. After three and a half delicious swallows of my robust grande when he told me he divorced his wife because he grew bored, I knew I struck something less than a best-seller.
Wearing my regurgitated coffee on his dress shirt should have sent him bolting for the door, but no such luck. Then again, in contrast to soggy armpits and muddy sneakers, a little coffee stain hardly seemed noticeable. My relationship with Tom lasted as long as some books I read. Page one, page two, skip a few: The end.
But, the kind man, Edward, who stood before me wore clean shoes, which scored him high marks. We sat down in a booth and ordered. The comfort we felt being in our skin and face to face soothed my frayed nerves although visions of spurting coffee danced in my head. We met for a second date. And several more. Then he told me he wanted to be together forever. As an avid reader especially of text between lines, I knew what he really wanted to ask: “Do you share my interest in walking the relationship all the way to the altar?”
One date triggered second thoughts when he parked his SUV in a snow bank and we walked in the blustering sub degree weather to the closest store only to learn the shovels sold out hours prior. I wondered how such a brilliant a guy could not be prepared for the worst during a blizzard!
Exiting the store, I spied a battered shovel leaning against a soda machine, which we borrowed. I shivered all the way back to his SUV. The icicles hanging from his nose hair indicated he felt equally frozen. Especially since he wore no gloves and only a thin coat. He ordered me into the warm vehicle and began shoveling. I climbed inside, opened the window a crack and listened for his instructions.
“Okay”, he yelled, “give it a little gas”. I pressed the petal, spun dirty snow in his face, fishtailed hither and yon, sped out of one snow bank and into another. Again, he shoveled. I listened behind the wheel for his instructions. Edward demonstrated a cheerful and calm spirit, which earned my appreciation and trust. I wondered if he had second thoughts about me when he saw the scratches on his front bumper. I told him he was my hero and he asked for another date. A year later, we set a date.
We began our future with a storybook winter wedding on a hill in the middle of nowhere equipped with gloves and shovel.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.