My Dear Reader Rebecca

Part 8 - Birthday Party

Readers be aware: This chapter has some talk about depression and suicide.

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Slowly and carefully, I read Cheryl's chapter like studying a bible, soaking in all her awesomeness, word by word, sentence by sentence. Each of her brilliant lines are like bright headlights shining at my eyes, dazzling me and generously bathing me with her glory.

I become a believer.

So this is how a "Great Job" is supposed to be. I start to get it. It's not about how much education you got in literature. How many obscene words you can show off in your book. It is all about honestly telling a story without filters and holding nothing back !

And sometimes, the less is more; the easy is difficult; the bad is good; and shortcoming is actually strength.

I feel like an atomic bomb just exploded in my brain. OMG ! Why the hell that I had never thought about it before ? I had been chasing ghosts in this forum. I tried to imitate others, tried to learn their styles, but to what end ? Months later, I still suck. I can never reach their heights, but why do I need to ?

We are here just to tell stories, not write textbooks for education boards. As long as the story is delivered successfully, who cares about how?

Cheryl, with her good grace, perfectly demonstrates how to write a happy ending. The job was done with flying colors. Can I nitpick the various imperfections in her chapters? No, because I couldn't even finish a single paragraph for it. Will her chapter win any awards? Of course not, but I do feel happy after reading it. So the purpose is served, and obviously both Liam and Shawn are very satisfied with it as well. What more do I need ?

This wisdom, my friend, is like a Buddha bestowing me with great enlightenment. Cheryl is indeed my angel.

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Since that impossible mission was accomplished by the angel, now the next thing on my schedule is to invite everyone on the list to come to the hospital and celebrate Rebecca's birthday together.

Hm...What a coincidence! Just the day before the big S.

From the birthday thread I collected over 200 user names, I figure that, if only they know that Rebecca is facing the biggest challenge of her life after her birthday, they will be very willing to come and celebrate it together.

My brain starts to show me a scene, perhaps based on some romantic movie:

Rebecca is casually reading my novel with a tablet. A balloon with the shape of a heart passes through the window. With curiosity, she opens the window, and sees that more than 100 people from all around the world have gathered together, each one holding a white paper plaque that says "Happy Birthday Rebecca!" I am one of them.

Tears run down her cheeks. She waves at us and cries out, "Thank you everyone!"

Music starts. We all chant the happy birthday song to her. This scene is so sweet and touching! More importantly, kinda big budget with over 100 extras.

Yes, this is a great idea ! It can be the best gift that I can give to her, before the big S.

My mind is running in high efficient mode again. I type a long article of 2000 words, then shorten it down to 500, then meticulously check all the spelling, phrases, grammar...etc. Make sure every word is appropriate. It tells people briefly about Rebecca's situation, and politely invites them to join the birthday celebration this Saturday in the hospital's cafe.

I use very mild language and purposely not to make it sound like a guilt trap, "You got to come here for this cancer patient and make her happy before she gets into the operation room..." No, no, nothing like that.