The Black Rose

Chapter Nine

Author's Note, 11.24.14, 10:37pm,
This chapter is dedicated to May, Katie, and Hailey, the most dedicated readers.

I opened the door to my apartment and flipped the lights on. I could smell the coffee I had made when I woke up. Everything was just as I had left it; my bed was a mess, my sink was full, my closet was open and my book that I was reading, Night Skies In Daytime, by Katie Katz was flipped upside down as it's bookmark, apparently I was too blotto to just put the bookmark back in its place.

The book is about a young boy who grew up always wanting to be a super hero. Of course, that can't happen because he lives in the real world, but he never gave up the idea of making a difference. As a kid, he would always help out others in his elementary classes and would help his dad with building things. But, when the parents were out one night, they got into a car crash and died. The young boy, only seven years old, had to move in with his grandparents.

When the boy, now a growing young man at the age of sixteen, was woken up by hysterical crying from his grandmother because his grandfather wouldn't wake up was when he realized how mortal we are. We don't and we can't last forever. Dying is just as necessary as being born. Death teaches us to accept the things that can't be changed and to accept reality.

His grandmother died three months later, due to grief. They had been married almost fifty years.

The boy was now without family and it was decided by child services that it was best for him to go to an orphanage.

At the orphanage, he was looked up to by the fellow orphans because he was still always respectful and helpful. One time, a young teenage girl was distraught when she misplaced her necklace, the only item that survived a terrible fire that burned down her house and took her parents and baby brother with it. The boy, understanding tragedy and the desire to hold on to something in memory of what was lost, decided that he wouldn't do anything until he found the necklace for her. It took him only two days to spot it in an older guy's room, who planned to sell it and use the money on drugs. How he would do that from an orphanage no one was sure.

The thief was dealt with by the young man, no details provided.

When the boy was nineteen years old, he was finally allowed to enlist in the Army. After joining, the boy, now a full adult, found himself in the front lines of war.

He quickly made his way up the ranks and earned several honorable medals and commendations. Unfortunately, but heroically, when under heavy fire, he took a bullet to save his unit and died from too much blood loss. The last words be said were "I'm coming home, mom and dad."

People would ask me why I am reading such a long book, but I knew that they wouldn't understand.

I made a cup of coffee and reminisced on what occurred with Jace today.

I couldn't wait to see him again tomorrow. I should tell him about the book, I thought.