When I opened my eyes I saw Mary’s face. She smiled at me. For a moment I had no idea what happened. I did not know where I was or what time of the day it was.
“Babe, are you okay?” Mary asked me sounding concerned.
My beautiful sister, my role model, my inspiration was here. I knew everything was going to be okay. I started recognizing more of my surroundings. Mom and dad were standing there, I saw Sammy and Alyssa were there also. I noticed that I was laying on the living room couch. Looking around a little more, I also realized that a man that appeared to be a doctor or EMT was looking at me.
“Riley, you fainted and hit your head on the dining room table.” mom said to me gently.
I touched my face and felt a stinging pain.
“Babe, don’t touch it. The doctor will make sure you are okay. Just sit back and relax.” Mary asked me to while she was holding my hand.
I saw that the doctor talked to my parents. The weird fog of regaining consciousness started to disappear. Then I remembered the letter. I felt anxious at first which then slowly turned into anger.
“Honey, I just talked to the doctor and he said it is not necessary to send you to the hospital. It is only a minor injury. Your emotional well being is more important.” mom said gently.
“Okay, mom! Thanks. I think I have an idea who sent that letter. I remembered the familiar face I briefly saw at the mall. I did not see any stamps on the envelope. Am I right?” I asked.
“Yes, you are right. It just said “Riley” on it.” dad told me.
“I know I don’t have any exact proof, but I am very sure this threat came from Michelle. She was the face I noticed at the mall. She must have taken that picture of Mary, Alyssa and me. I cannot imagine that it was any of the other girls I met at Sammy’s house.” I said slowly feeling stronger.
“That sounds plausible. I was so mad and angry at Michelle when she reacted that way. Maybe I should have thought about it more before I told my friends about you. I am sorry, Riley. I did not want to put you in danger.” Sammy said sounding close to tears.
“Sammy, d0n’t worry about it. I know now that there are always people who will try to attack you, who hate who you are because they are jealous or because they hate themselves. So this was inevitable.” I said feeling determined.
I started getting up slowly, feeling braver.
“Honey, take it easy. You need to rest some more.” mom said seeming worried.
“No, I am just getting started. I will not back down. My name is Riley and I am a girl. I have a right to be my true self. Other people can threaten me, they can hate me or even try to harm me but I will not surrender. No retreat no remorse! If Michelle or anyone else thinks they can intimidate me, they need to think again!” I almost yelled.
My whole family and friends looked at me seeming not sure how to respond. I could feel that I started to smile. I walked over to Sammy and kissed her on the lips. Sammy kissed me back and then we hugged.
“Sammy, will you be my girlfriend?” I asked her.
“Yes! Absolutely!” Sammy responded and we hugged and kissed again.
I looked around and saw that everyone was smiling. I could also sense that everyone was still feeling concerned.
“I want to thank you all for the love and support I got from all of you. Mom and dad, I know you will always have my back. Mary, the love and admiration I feel for you is endless. I could not ask for a better role model and sister. Alyssa, you have been a wonderful friend for my sister. I hope we can be great friends too. Sammy, you are a cute little thing and I can’t wait to have many more adventures together with you. I will not let a little ridiculous letter let my new life derail. I want to go on many more adventures with all of you. After all, this is only The Beginning.” I said.
Everyone came over to hug me. I smiled because I was the luckiest girl in the world.
The End
Comments
To all my readers
It has been a lot of fun writing this story. I enjoyed reading your comments and considering your feedback. It was a fun adventure. When I started writing, I had no idea that this story was inside of me. It has been amazing seeing the characters grow and develop. For those of you, who want to read more about Riley's adventures, do not despair! After all, this is only The beginning.
Cheers
Yours truly
Anna Olivia
I’m glad...
...to hear that this is only the beginning. Would have been a bit annoying if the story was to truly end there. Good story, can’t wait to see what happens next, and what else you produce.
Go, Riley!
Totally awesome chapter. So happy for Riley and Sammy. Thanks for sharing The Beginning of her journey with us; and of course I'll be keeping an eye out for any further stories by you, whether they're about Riley or anything else...
~hugs, Veronica
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
Thank you
Thank you so much for writing this story. It was so much fun getting to know the characters and I can't wait to read the sequel
EllieJo Jayne
Thanks again
Thanks again, everyone! Just to add to my comments from earlier, I decided to end "The beginning" where I ended it is because I wanted to bring a dark element in there (the letter) to make it more realistic but I decided against exploring it further because I did not want the sweet and sentimental character of the story to be damaged.
Anna Olivia
I'm Not Sure...
...that it's that simple.
There's no reason to think that Michelle knows Mary, and hardly a chance that she knows Alyssa, who lives out of town. We're left with the assumption that Michelle, coincidentally at the mall at the same time as the trio, saw and recognized Randy, in girl mode for the first time, walking with two young women Michelle didn't know, and instantly took a picture and dropped out of sight. There doesn't seem to be any way it could have been premeditated.
And then at some point between then and the threat's discovery, she looked up Randy's family's address (would she even have known their last name?) and either discovered they were within walking distance or managed to talk a parent into driving her there to drop it off. Not unlikely, I suppose, that at least one of her parents is as bitter about gay transvestites (which seems to be what they've decided Randy was) as she is and would be happy to let her drop off the threat or take it there themselves.
But I'll admit that I can't come up with anyone else who'd know they were there yesterday -- not even Riley's parents, who were told by Mary that they were at Alyssa's but not that they'd be going out.
Eric
Thanks
Eric,
thank you for your constructive criticism. I highly appreciate that and I will keep that in mind for my next stories. I can understand that you see "flaws" or "logical errors" in my story. You make it sound like your conclusions follow an unshakeable logic. However, I am not so sure if that is the only way to go about this.
Some stories do not give the reader every detail or a complete view of everything that is going on. I left the reader in the dark about how Michelle delivered the threat or how she ran into Alyssa, Mary, and Riley. A part of that is due to the perspective of how the story is told. I wrote it from Riley's perspective. We see through her eyes and we hear her thoughts. Please consider my story as a whole and not just this chapter.
In one of the earlier chapters, when Michelle stormed off from the group and accused her of being a freak we never hear from her again. Just like I explained in one of my comments before, I wanted to focus on the sweet and sentimental and only let some dark elements in because life is not just peaches and cream.
That being said, it is up to the reader to decided or imagine how Michelle found them in the mall. The town Riley's family lives in is very small. Michelle might have spied on them before. Riley's (or Randy's) last name is most likely known at school since they live in a small town, hence the school is rather small. Michelle's parents most likely feel the same as Michelle regarding Riley since often kids learn opinions and behaviors from parents. The note in the envelope said, "We don't want you here." Michelle's parents might have friends or relatives who would also jump on board with hating Riley and go to lengths to spy on her or threaten her.
Eric, you criticized my story a few times earlier. Again I appreciate the constructiveness but it comes across a bit harsh and all knowing. I am not trying to tell you what to say, but please consider writing a few nice things about the story as a whole you criticize too. I can not imagine that my story is only full of flaws because otherwise, you would not have taken the time to read it until part 14. That is my constructive criticism for you. This was not to retaliate or to let off steam.
Thanks again!
Sincerely
Anna Olivia
Looking for Easter Eggs?
At the risk of talking past each other here:
Thanks for the reply and the suggestion.
When I started writing the note, I was almost sure that I'd found something that you were trying to conceal, an indication that things weren't as they seemed. I noted that the photo included Alyssa but thought the encounter with the unknown person had been on the mall trip with Sammy. Under those circumstances, the two wouldn't have been related and it'd be likely that someone other than Michelle had been responsible for the threat.
And please recall that you'd made a point of the limited number of people who could have addressed a note to Riley. Since when Michelle left that night, she wasn't one of them -- it happened later -- that seemed to be another item pointing in a different direction. (Not that she couldn't have talked to Kaylee or Hannah about it later and happened to get the name -- apparently she did -- but I wouldn't have thought their different reactions to Randy would be something any of them would bring up in a friendly conversation.)
Perhaps I should have deleted the whole thing when I caught my Alyssa/Sammy mistake. But in the process of trying to sort that out I'd found other things that didn't seem to add up (as you saw). I was guessing that it was still a possibility that they were presented deliberately, adding up to a clue that the family had accepted the Michelle hypothesis too readily, and that they might discover they were wrong when the next story began at school.
So I wasn't writing this -- or the note in #13 that Michelle wouldn't have known Riley's name -- in order to put you on the defensive, and I apologize since it apparently came out that way. But you'd presented the identity of the sender of the note as a mystery, and I considered that an invitation to amass the clues, and, if they didn't seem to lead to the solution that the characters reached, to alert readers that there might be more to come here.
(And yes, it's a pleasant and very readable story, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.)
Best, Eric
Answer
Thanks, Eric. Again, I appreciate the comments and criticism. I was not getting defensive, I was defending myself or my story. Apology accepted. You sound very analytical and that is probably why I took it this way. Anyways, happy new year!
Anna Olivia
Ouch!
Hitting the dining room table, after fainting, is going to leave a mark. And calling in the EMTs was the right think to do.
Now because of how Riley reacted to the letter, it's time to bring the police into the scene. Give them the letter, after making a copy, and let them confront Michelle, getting her finger prints and telling her the laws pertaining to hate crimes--besides a police car pulling up in front of her house is bound to shake her up, if she sent the letter.
It would be nice to see the culmination of the letter incident to know who actually sent it and how their life changes because of it.
Others have feelings too.