A Rough Start

The world I grew up in was one of fantasy; full of exotic stories and dreams that come true. It started with my mother, who always spoke of great riches and far away lands. As for my father, he spent his days playing games and muttering to himself about dragons and warlocks. As a child, I could envision myself becoming a hero and saving my soul mate from a bad situation. We would then fall madly in love, live off the land, and build a great mansion to raise our perfect children in. Unfortunately, as I got older, I realized that things never worked out quite that way. At the age of 25, I was still living at home with my crazy mother and game-addicted father. Though I had a rather delightful childhood, I decided that my life was not one to be passed by so thoughtlessly. I knew that I had to become that hero I had dreamt about as a child, and the only way was to move out and start my legacy…

Desperate to begin my journey, I headed to a nearby dock in search of my ticket out of here. To each sailor I came across, I asked the same two questions; where he was going and did he need any help. Unfortunately, no one needed any help, and my dream took a turn towards reality. In real life, no one cares if you are trying to become someone; and there is no such thing as a free ride to anywhere.

I began to think that this was pointless and that I should just give up, when I ran into the path of a nice, older man who wore tattered clothes and a beat up cowboy hat; he addressed himself as “Pepper”.  Right away he started into telling me the tale of an ambitious young man who moved to the farmlands and saved every dollar he earned from chopping down trees for the local saw mill to buy a plot of land. He wanted desperately to build a wonderful house and fill it with children and love. Sadly, the man worked his whole life away and never got a chance to marry or have any children. His only friends were his workhorse and his trusty dog.

I could tell the old man told this story from his heart, and when I asked if the story was about him, he merely shrugged his bony shoulders and said, “Who knows.” Before he departed, he reached out to shake my hand, and as he did so, he slipped an old piece of paper into my palm and curled my fingers around it.

The last words he said to me before staggering off were, “Don’t let your mind become overwhelmed with one task, or your legacy will end as mine has.”

I was surely confused by what the man meant by that, as well as his strange appearance in my life, but mostly I was confused about the paper the man slipped to me. It was an old deed to a piece of land, the paper and writing appeared to be nearly 100 years old. Why would this old man give me, a mere stranger, a plot of land he worked so hard to obtain. The bigger question though, was where this “Riverview” was located?

I grabbed my dufflebag of belongings and headed to the town hall to do a little research. I quickly learned that the town was merely a few hours drive from where I lived and was mostly made up of a few old farming families who had become rather wealthy over the decades. I also found instructions on how to get to this land that was just handed over to me. As it turned out, it was legit. So after a few signatures on more recent documents, I was the new owner of a plot of land and a house.

I guess you could say this was my lucky break in my fantasy. Maybe these child stories are not so far-fetched? Either way, I grabbed myself a cab and told the driver where to go. It seemed to take hours to get there, and by the time I was dropped off, it was nearly midnight.

To say the least I was shocked. I was told I was given a house… not a poorly built shack.

Well, I guess it was better than sleeping under the stars. I went into the house and laid down to attempt to sleep. The bed was no more than a bag stuffed with straw and covered with a sheet. I can honestly say, that was the worst night of my life.

When morning came around, I ate a piece of stale bread with some homemade jam. I knew there was no way I could stand to live like this, so I made a promise to myself that I would do whatever it took to make a name for myself. If the pioneers could do it, so could I.

After finishing my breakfast, I got dressed and wandered out. If I was going to live here I needed to learn my way around. Besides, I had to find some way to earn money and I knew that there was a small fortune in rock collecting.

                                                          

However, it’s not as easy to carry around loads  of rocks as one might think.
After a bit more wandering, I found a beautiful river not far from my land, most likely the one the town got it’s name for. As a child I had watched my father play fishing games and it did not look that hard, throw in a line and wait for the bite. How much harder could real fishing be?

Turns out, it’s not that easy. I fished all day and well into the evening and had only managed to catch one measly minnow. I decided to return home before the sun set so I didn’t get lost.

On the way home, all I could think about was how much I dreaded having to spend another night in the old man’s bed. However by the time I got home, it was dark and I was so tired I fell into the covers and was sound asleep. Never in my life had I worked as hard as I did that day, which is sad on my part. I knew that I could manage if I just kept at it. “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” I was told that back in high school by the quarterback of the football team. I guess I never thought too much about it. If I wanted to become a legend, I would have to actually put in a little sweat for once.

And sweat I did. I woke up that next morning and stretched my arms out wide ready to embrace the new day when I smelt something horrendous. I sniffed around; was there a skunk outside or something? I lifted my arm up and quickly discovered that the smell was me! This shabby shack didn’t have any showers, tubs, or sinks; but there was no way I was going degrade myself enough to wash up with toilet water. I grabbed my dufflebag and headed out in search of a shower and running water.

I followed a paved road into town and found a local fitness center. I snuck into the shower room and quickly cleaned up. Once I was feeling good and looking great, I decided to head upstairs and see if there were any beautiful locals working out. I was 25 and never had I ever kissed a girl, but with my new life here, I could be the handsome prince I always wished I were.

I scanned the area and saw a bunch of beautiful young ladies working out. They were all clearly flaunting what they had to offer and while I was smitten by them, they wanted nothing to do with me. Until I saw Carlotta Lobos… It was as though my world paused, I felt my heart leap as it pounded in my ears. I could do nothing but stare at the beautiful woman before me.

She may not have been the prettiest girl there, or the thinnest,  but she was wonderful in my eyes. She turned her head and her gaze met mine. My heart pounded even louder in my ears and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She smiled at me and walked over.

“Care to dance?”

I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or if it was my imagination. That is until she grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the stereo.

She was much better at dancing then I was, but she didn’t seem to mind. She just kept laughing and smiling and moving with the beat. When she finally got tired, she started talking to me. We got along rather well and I couldn’t believe how love struck I felt by her.

We chatted there for a long time before she told me she wanted to go shower up. I felt my heart sink, for I knew that meant goodbye. Or so I thought.

“Come with me!”

She grabbed my hand and ran down to the shower rooms with me behind her. She had me wait outside the room while she showered in an amazingly record time. She came out wearing a stunning swimsuit and asked me if I would like to take a swim with her.

I told her that I didn’t have any clothes to swim in and she just laughed. I felt my face turn red and I asked her what she was laughing at. She told me that it was ok, that she had a better idea anyways…

It was right there in the fitness center shower room that I had my first kiss. It made me weak in the knees and gave me flutters in my stomach. She was so soft and gentle, and when I held her in my arms it felt so natural. I had only known her for a short time, but I felt like we were meant to be together. Maybe my fantasy didn’t have me save a princess from an evil step mother or rescue her from a tower. I just had to find her, and when she kissed me, it felt like a spell had been broken from my heart, one that had imprisoned me within myself. “True Love’s Kiss,” is it real? I don’t know, but I knew that Carlotta was going to be my wife, and I was going to be sure of that.

Chapter Two: Moving Up