When we think of summer, we think about swimming pools,
baseball, barbecues, summer concerts, carnivals, or even those summer nights,
sitting around the campfire and star gazing throughout the night. Throughout my
life, I have had some amazing memories with my summers. While we spend our days
in the present, we don’t think about what the moment is trying to teach us.
Sometimes, we don’t even look at the value of the moment and why moments can be
special, until later on down the road when we’re looking back at those memories
that were created. Imagine you are going to a baseball game. You get to the
game with your friends, and throughout the game, you’re sharing memories,
laughs, and making more friends with those around you. What’s the value behind
it? Friendships.
Every
summer, I always gain something new to learn. A lot of times, I always
experience a life changing moment. It would take pages and books to describe
every single summer, but the one I can say that was most inspirational, was
summer 2012. It was the final summer that I had spent with my best friends,
before we all had headed off to our separate ways. We shared memories, laughs,
philosophies and even tears. By the time that summer was coming to a close, we
slowly drifted apart and went our separate ways. After we departed, I ended the
summer by spending time with my family. Since that summer, I have learned that
family and friends is what makes a summer extremely special.
Throughout
the next few months, I started to write down a series of short stories and
drafts. All of the drafts had no significance, nor correspondence with each
other, but I felt that it could have been turned into something. I also thought
about the memories of high school and college, and long story short, I came up
with the title ‘Friends and Neighbors.’ While writing ‘The Five Phases of a
college student, The peasant in the crowd, and The teenage love diaries, I felt
that I had to write this story, as it serves as a sequel to Riley’s story of
his first year in college.
Friends and
Neighbors is a story about four, young-adult gentlemen, told through the voice
of Riley Johnson. In this story, we follow the characters, Riley, Eric,
Antwone, and Andre, spending their last summer in Riley’s childhood neighborhood,
before heading off on their separate ways. They each have their own trials and
tribulations, but what gets them through it all, is the value of trust and
friendship. This story picks up where Riley is leaving his first year at
K-State, and now he ventures back to his hometown of Junction City, Kansas. What
I try to include in this story, just as much as I did with the others, is to
keep the authenticity of setting, characters, and focus of detail. Though this
is a work of fiction, it’s still authentic in its own way. There were a ton of inspirations that have inspired me to write it, but nothing beats the inspiration of my friends, family, and hometown.
There’s
only one chapter that my professor has read, and it was hard enough to revise
that specific chapter. Although there are more chapters that need to be
written, some that need revision, and even other ‘books’ that serve as the
sequel and prequel, I will make sure that this story will not only be a good
impact, but will also serve as teaching lessons for high school, and college
students. By gathering all of my values of relationships, I thought that
stories will truly serve a good purpose
Here are some other writing projects that are in the works.
College, A year to remember: Riley’s
adventures through his first year at college. The prequel to ‘Friends and
Neighbors.’ (Official title is still being determined)
The
Teenage Love Diaries: The prequel to it all. Riley’s senior year of high
school, and how five friends deal with high school relationships, divorce, and
faith.
Gretel: A twisted, collegiate story
with the elements of Hansel and Gretel. From a small town called Atchison,
Kansas, Gretel goes through her first year of college, trying to find a
purpose.
