Slice of Life: Day 18: Pieces of Another Puzzle: 004

 

I almost became a ghostwriter - a gig that could definitely put some layers of Benjamins in your wallet. For someone who wants to be published, a chance to get my name out to a broader demographic. I spent a lot of time writing my sample, knowing exactly where, how and why it would fit. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. Things don't happen for a reason, but God continually works to make things good. Romans 8:28.

While He's working, the one good thing I can extract from this situation is that I now have a piece of writing I can use for another story. I worked over twenty hours on these Another Puzzle blog entries...and there's still work to be done. It's the life of a writer.

Another Puzzle shows how relationships are formed in various ways - some lasting longer than others. Some with greater expectations. The point was to show how the protagonist, until going to boot camp and eventually war, never experienced a powerful friendship that'd be better referred to as a brotherhood.  

Ghostwriting Scraps: Part 4

      fiction

...continued (and concluded)

    No matter the lifespan of a friendship or how it is initiated, whittled into its unique dimensions, there’s an underlying promise - unspoken questions answered by commitment, respect and showing up in times of need and celebration. A bond solidified with the knowledge your best friend has your back through the pitfalls and unkept promises. Even covering for you if you committed a crime. Those are the friends I’d like to think I have, ones that have my back in every way possible. Even lying if it kept me from behind bars. A best friend shows up at the birth of your children and sheds tears at your parent’s funeral. 

            

    But would they die for you?

            

    With all the unspoken promises of protection, one act rarely called into action on playgrounds, bowling alleys, ballfields and under the streetlights of quiet neighborhoods is laying down your life to save another. Dying so others may live – the ultimate test of friendship. It’s the question at the heart of any relationship – will they die for you? It’s answered with courage and fortitude, but human flaw often compromises the follow-through. Easier said than done.

            

    War challenges you, putting your propensity to sacrifice to the test. During battle, the promise of putting your life on the line and having each other’s backs is an unspoken commitment. Tattooed on our souls. And deep inside, the human flaw within us asks if we could die for someone else. Would we rise to the occasion? Put someone else ahead of ourselves? In battle, everything is real. The violence, the weapons. Dying. 

No matter how grave the situation, you don’t get called inside for dinner on the battlefield. The relationships you’ve built during boot camp don’t fizzle or fade. We call it the battle-buddy creed. A brotherhood. Not of biological blood but what was shed on the battlefield – the potential and the reality.

Whenever that question of sacrificing yourself surfaced, like acid reflux burning a hole in your chest, I didn’t know. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t need to know - or any protection professions. But we don’t live in a perfect world, and thankfully, when the time came, my brother in battle didn’t hesitate to risk it all. His act of bravery during the war saved my life. 

And changed it.

            

            It changed everything.

-rg