On The Wheels of Passion

From the streets to an adroit writer

Doran is a masculine 5’7” man who believes in fitness every day. He always goes for morning runs each day to destinations of his own choosing. On this Saturday morning, he decided to take a stroll across Museum hill road after his run. Halfway across, he sees a young man in black pants and a white t-shirt with the writing, “I’m tired of life.” This man was trying to hoist himself up the railing. Doran an amazing writer who is observant realized that the man could have no other purpose than to jump.

He walked closer to the scene and greeted the man, “Good morning sir.”

“Do not even think about it. You cannot help me. Go away!” The man sparked out.

“I’m just passing by. I don’t mean any trouble …”

The young man sick with agony, cut Doran shot, “You’re just like the rest, isn’t it? You do not care at all. You do not want to help. I come to you, you call me a thief. I look for a job, you ask me for the experience. I finally get the courage to do something with my talent but I do not earn anything. My life is miserable. Why then should I still be on this earth? I have no place here anymore.”

Tears started streaming down his face as he turned around and looked at the stranger behind him.

“Killing yourself is no option,” said Doran, “what if you haven’t tried all there is to try? Your success might …”

“No!” The miserable young man shouted. “You look like a well off guy. I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. Why would you even care so much about a poor young miserable man like me?”

“You know you remind me of me. Looking at you makes me recall the old days when I was starting off in my craft. I was as bitter as you are for not receiving help from anyone. I had to do it myself if I wanted to change my life situation. I started writing short stories, growing myself to a point where I was able to write long stories comfortably. I did the work even when I did not receive anything in return. I had to put my name on the map. And now, I am proud of myself. If I had killed myself, I would not have made something of myself. Always remember this, # being broke is hard, being rich is hard, choose your hard#.”

Silence scattered far and wide around Doran and the young man like the autumn leaves for a couple of minutes before the young man spoke again,

“I cried silently, but oh so bitterly, so much that my body racked with pain. I did not know what to do with my life then this morning when I woke up I told myself that it was over. I’m sorry stranger …”

“Please get down from there and let me help you.”

Flushed with embarrassment, the young man climbed down the railing and approached the stranger. A tear slipped down and opened the floodgates, “I wanted to be a writer …” he couldn’t control his tears anymore; he broke down completely hugging the stranger.

The stranger comforted him until he stopped crying. He then introduced himself to the young man, “Nice to meet you, sir. My name is Doran.”

Wiping the tears from his face, “I’m Dante. Excuse me for crying…”

“No. You have all the right to cry. Let all that pain out. I will comfort you. Don’t be sorry.”

After a while, Doran and Dante went over for breakfast at Doran’s house. Being a Saturday, he had less to do. He literally did nothing on Saturdays. He showered the later proceeded to prepare breakfast for his guest. After breakfast, both he and Dante sat down to know each other better.

“You said earlier to me that you wanted to be a writer. What changed? What genre did you want to write in?” Asked Doran

“I was a writer and my writing was not bearing any fruit. I guess I just lost hope. I was writing short fiction stories.”

“… Interesting. For how long did you write for?”

“Five months then I stopped.”

“You were almost doing half a year. Can I read some of the stories you wrote?”

“Yeah, they’re all on my laptop.”

“What about your parents, do they assist you?”

“After completing my diploma and finding no job, I just sit in the house with them. They can only do much to some point. They are still three of my siblings in school. That’s why I opted to pivot on my hobby.”

“Okay, I hear you.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“I’m all ears.”

“What will you do to me? Will you help me?”

“I will introduce you to a website where you will earn money after publishing your stories there. I will also nurture you to become a better writer. I will mentor you. All my four years’ experience will be golden to you.”

“Thank you so much. God bless you.”

“Today being a Saturday, I usually watch movies. What movie would you like to watch?”

“I don’t know … maybe we watch, The Hitman’s Bodyguard. What do you say we watch?”

“Sounds like an action movie. Let us watch it.”

“It is an action movie.”

“Alright, let me draw the curtains so that we feel like we are actually in the theatre.”

Dante smiles as he gets comfortable on the black leather couch.

It's been a great day, Dante went home after the movie. From that day, his mood changed and he became a happy young man. He wrote and gave it to his mentor, Doran to edit and critique. After some time, he became immune to criticism.

Dante was slowly becoming the writer he wished to be. He was now doing online competitions and was winning most of them. His hard work was paying off finally.

He introduced Doran to his family after their four-month friendship and Doran became part of his family.

In 10 months, Doran was ready to let Dante fly on his own wings now as he was already an adroit writer. Their friendship has grown to be strong over the months. Each weekend, Doran and Dante meet for movies. They are now brothers.