Madyson Wallace-Stupart
11/18/11
Mrs. Boyle
Period F
The
Ability to Write
There was once, long
ago, a young man by the name of Christopher Abbot. His hair was a beautiful shade of chestnut
that seemed to glow whenever the sun bounced off it. The shape of his face was oval and his bone
structure seemed to be chiseled to the bone, making his features very distinct. The hazel in his eyes looked to be a collage
of autumn greens, browns, and yellows. His
figure was tall and lean; many say it was because of his profession.
Since birth,
Christopher had a knack for writing stories about things he saw and things that
occurred around him. And since then, he
pursued his love of writing, as he went on to work for the King of England as a
travel writer. Christopher was of high
value to the King because his stories were so entertaining. They always seemed
to have a suspenseful theme that kept the King at the edge of his throne,
itching to know what would happen next. His gift to write was what provided
Christopher with a living, a decent home, and a notable status around the
castle and even around London.
Christopher Abbot
seemed to have the ideal definition of a perfect life. He worked for the King, he earned a steady
salary, and he lived in a decent sized home not too far from the castle. But there were many a things that people
didn’t know about Christopher Abbot and there were many things he didn’t tell
people. One thing was that his wife was seriously
ill with breast cancer, and Christopher’s constant traveling left no one to
give her the care she needed.
Christopher would have to quit his job in order to give his wife,
Clarice, sufficient care and attention. But he loved
his job, for it made him happy and he realized how much it made others
happy too. He hated having to choose
between the love of his life and the thing he had loved all his life.
Christopher also knew
that he needed to keep working in order to pay for all of the medication and
operations that Clarice needed. But
these were only excuses in her eyes and she often felt as if her husband was
choosing to go to work every day while she sat at home slowly dying. The situation was tearing the once young and
happy couple apart and neither knew what to do about it. Christopher never told
anyone about Clarice’s situation because he couldn’t deal with the criticism
that he knew they would give to him.
One day, Christopher
arrived at work after a bad argument with Clarice, and his face screamed that
something was wrong, even though his voice didn’t. It was Thursday and everyone was bustling to
prepare for the weekly feast the King hosted every Friday, so hardly anyone
noticed him. Once Christopher finally
arrived at the King’s throne, he began reading his latest piece. Although no one else noticed the melancholy
Christopher, the King surely did.
“Why are you speaking
in this monotonous tone, with your shoulders slouched, and you face frowned
young Christopher.” the King inquired in his deep voice.
“I can’t enjoy the story if you don’t,” he
said.
Christopher would have
never dared to tell the King before, but today, he was dying on the inside, and
he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He
explained everything to the King. He
told him about Clarice’s illness, and how she really needed someone to take
care of her and how he was failing to do so.
He described how much it was affecting his relationship with his wife
and how terrible of a husband he felt for choosing work over the health and
well being of his loved one. As he said
his last sentence, tears filled in his eyes and overflowed like water in a
glass and came streaming down his face.
“I’ve never told that
to anyone before, Your Majesty.”
The King stared down at
the floor in utter shock as he let what he just heard sink in. It was so strange to him how he thought he
really knew all there was to know about Christopher’s life, but in reality, he
knew nothing. After what seemed like
hours, the King finally raised his head and glanced at his young distressed
writer. He only saw one appropriate
solution to this issue.
“Christopher, I want
you to go home and take care of your wife.
Then, if she’s well enough, I want you to bring her with you to the
feast tomorrow. Okay?”
“Okay, Your Majesty”
Christopher
left the castle in the same manner he came in.
He wondered why the King wanted his wife to come to the castle tomorrow,
but he realized that he had bigger things to worry about. He would have to face his wife again once he
got home and tell her about his talk with the King. He hated himself for what he did to her each
and every day. Then why was it so hard
for him to let go of writing so he could care for her?
Once
Christopher arrived home, he came through the door to find Clarice sleeping on
the couch. He walked over to her and
looked at her for a good while and then softly touched his hand to her
forehead. She was having another fever,
and they always made her very, very tired.
Christopher went to get a cold towel to place on her head, when he began
to think what life would be like without his dear Clarice. Maybe it was him that was keeping her from
getting any better. Clarice was the most
important thing in Christopher’s life, but he knew that it wasn’t showing in
her eyes. He remembered how great their
life together used to be before she fell ill.
They both loved their work, for she was a wedding photographer and he
was a writer. When they both came home
from work, they were joyous and enjoyed being around each other. And then cancer struck.
After
about ten minutes, Clarice woke from her nap.
Christopher walked over to her, kissed her forehead and took her hand. He explained to her of how he told the King
all about their situation. He also told
her that the King wanted them both at the Friday feast the next day. Her face look puzzled, but she was feeling
better than before, so she accepted the King’s request.
The
next morning, Christopher woke up early, since he hadn’t gotten much sleep the
night before. He couldn’t help but
wonder why? Why did the King want
them at the Friday feast so badly? What was he going to do or say to
Christopher? Would he get fired for being so unsupportive towards his wife? The thoughts racing through his mind were
making him crazy. He knew of only one
thing that would allow him to get all of his feelings and anxiety out at 5:00–
writing.
Christopher’s
wife woke up in a good mood that day.
She entered the kitchen to find her husband frantically writing, which
changed her mood entirely. She had hoped
that on this morning, her husband would be different; she hoped that he would
be concerned about his cancerous wife going into the castle of the King for the
first time ever. But she could see that his
number one love and passion was writing.
They both got dressed for the feast in silence and they were soon on
their way to the biggest change of their life.
Once
they had arrived in the castle, the place was even busier than the day
before. People were rushing to get
everything in place and perfect for the upcoming feast. They walked into the dining room and the
married couple gazed at everything in total awe. The table was filled to the edges with
mouth-watering food and drinks. Finally,
Christopher pulled his eyes away from the food and looked up to find the King
already sitting at the head of the table
With his white mustache, the King was wearing a smirk as he looked up at
Christopher and said hello.
Christopher
and his wife sat down after a few minutes, while more people began to file into
the dining hall. The seats began to fill
quickly and before long, the table was full and the King began to lightly tap
on his glass.
“I
would first like to thank you all for
coming to my Friday feast tonight,” the King declared loudly.
You
could tell the “all” was directed
towards Christopher and Clarice. After,
he asked Clarice to stand and introduce herself to everyone, and she did
accordingly. He then began to talk about
Clarice’s condition and all that she had gone through at home since she was
diagnosed with it. Christopher and
Clarice both looked at each other in confusion as the King was sharing their
person life with the noblest people in all of England.
“Now
Christopher, would you please stand up and introduce yourself to everyone?”
commanded the King.
As Christopher stood up, the King went on to say
these memorable words.
“You
have been such a great travel writer to me ever since the day I hired you. I have a very specific journey I want you to
go on for you next writing piece. I want
you and your wife, Clarice, to pack up all of your things and bring them here
in the morning to stay in your new home, my castle. I then would like you to take care of Clarice
for the next 6 months while we noble men pay for all of her medical care that
she will need to get better, and then write about your experience doing
so. When I saw you crying to me
yesterday, I saw the true you and how much it tore you apart to not be there
for Clarice. I then dismissed you and
thought up this solution to your problem here.
Would you like that Christopher?”
It was at these words
where Christopher and Clarice both sat down in awe. Buckets of tears began to flow down Clarice’s
face as she realized how much her life was about to change right now. She looked into her husband’s eyes as gentle
tears of happiness came down his face and reached her arms out to him. They both then realized how much they truly
did care for each other and how much they did need each other. Clarice and Christopher now knew that it was
not the writing that was getting in the way of their long lost happiness, it
was their own selves. Meanwhile, the
rest of the room, including the King, clapped and cried in joy as Christopher
and Clarice got what they needed all along – hope.
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