"Terrified"

I give you a short excerpt from a story I've begun writing. I give you the excerpt because I have too many ideas and not enough time to finish it for publishing here on the blog. So, read on and hopefully enjoy. Lot of autobiographical stuff in there.

The name of the story is "Terrified":

Samantha, or Sam for short, had a great life. That is after she escaped her horrible childhood. Sam was not an ugly girl, nor was she a beauty queen. Her appearance did not put people off or make them spontaneously comment on her ravishing looks. But she was one of the most generous people you could ever have the privilege of knowing. This is directly because of her childhood.

See, Sam was sort of the odd person in school. Not the popular cheerleader with a handsome quarterback boyfriend, and yet she was not the typical forever alone either. Sam liked to keep to herself and find escape in things that did not interest her female peers, which is why she was singled out as often as she was. The terror of not fitting into any kind of box or stereotype made her an easy target for ridicule. Her elementary- and high school days consisted of people commenting on her unwillingness to conform, and not in good ways. Even though there were no physical attempts at hurting her, their words hit even harder than any kind of punch could inflict on her.

Her mother had always said to her when she was younger, “Just be yourself”, and she had always wondered what that meant. How could she be anyone else than who she was? It was not until her everyday life in school became a constant fight against tears, that she understood why people would pretend to be someone they were not. She had seen it in many of her former friends. Their attitudes and hobbies would change with the majority and their sense of self would disappear in the process. Unfortunately she was the only one trying to be true to herself and that made her a problem.

Despite being on her own for most of her high school experience, she had an older brother, that even though he was a couple of years older than her, provided a safe haven where she could be happy and not feel out of place. He always enjoyed spending time with her, whether it was playing videogames or making up stories which they would play out. Though, when at school she would keep to her classes and not stray far from the library in free periods. The libraries was where she felt the most at home, because here she could escape into the world of fantasies and imagine things that were very far from her own reality. It was a form of self-preservation that made her survive those formative years in school. Even though she did not socialize much she knew that things would be different out in the real world, she could be herself and not be terrified anymore.

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So that's the excerpt. I like it. Has potential. Even if I don't continue with this story (as I haven't found a place for it in my short story project) I might just finish it for the sake of the blog. Who knows. Right now I'm working on my third ss (short story) in my ss project. It's titled "Forgiveness". Now that story I love writing. You might even see an exceprt of that at some point. For now, I bid you adieu.

Tip of the day:

Chai tea the way I love it - 1/4 cup of boiling water and a teabag of chai. Steep for 4-6 minutes. Add 3/4 cup of milk heated in a casserole. Sweeten to taste. Super yummy.

Love + Blessings