by Some time ago I wrote short stories and posted them in other places. Since this journal gets more visibility than that site, I figured I post some here from time to time to see what you think. Here’s the first:
Being left at his Grandfather’s house, he saw his mom and the car move out of the driveway and then down the road. Turning around, Joey looked at the big white house and the barn that was down the hill a little way. He thought about his Grandfather being the only one in such a big house, but he also remembered the cabinets of food that is Grandfather had. As he walked toward the back door, he could remember all of the times that he had been over to the house when his Grandmother was there also. They had some good times playing cards and board games. He really loved his grandparents. He always knew that there were some sweet cookies of candy behind the cabinets in the kitchen. Just thinking about it made him hungry.
Walking in the door, he took of his shoes, and continued inside. Once there, he searched the rooms, looking for his Grandfather. He found him in the living room, sitting alone with a Bible on his lap. “Hello Joey.” The grandfather said.
“Hi Grandpa.” Joey responded. Joey walked over to the table where another book, full of pictures, was lying open. He looked at the pictures for a few seconds and then asked, “What’s this, Grandpa?”
“That,” the grandfather said, walking over to it, “is my college yearbook.”
“Did you know all these people, Grandpa?”
“No, son,” the grandfather said with a smile, “Not all of them. Here, I’ll show you which ones I know.” Picking up the yearbook, he walked over to a nearby chair. Joey came over and sat down beside him. The grandfather put his arm around him and started to point out people he knew. “This was Jim Boutchia. This guy was my roommate. He had to get up at three in the morning every other morning and he woke me up every time.” The grandfather said with a laugh. As he went through the names, running his finger over the pictures, recounting the events that had happened, he stopped on the picture of one girl.
“Who was that, Grandpa?” Tapping his finger on the picture, he looked at Joey.
“That, son, was a friend of mine, that I almost lost.”
“What happened?” Setting the yearbook aside, he stood up and walked over to window. “Please, Grandpa. Tell me what happened.”
“Well… Communication is the key to any relationship, be it a friendship or a dating relationship. I found out more about this girl from everyone else than I did from her. There was a time, though, that I almost blew it.”
“Tell me, please.”
“I wrote her a letter once. It basically told her that she was not being a friend to me. Then I didn’t talk to her, and she didn’t help me.” A tear streamed down the cheek of the old man. “Apart from God’s grace, I could have lost a good friend.”
Joey, noticing that his grandfather was getting to that stage where he was going to give a long sermon, focused on trying to get the cookies out of the cabinet. “Grandpa, can I have a cookie?”
“I almost lost a friend. Joey, friends are a gift from God. They’re one in a million. Never neglect, never forget, never intentionally hurt a friend. Always treasure them.”
