"Rene..."

Submitted by: Estelle Cerutti (CN 9)

Not every story has your lovable ‘’happy ending’’. There are twists and turns, up’s and down’s, and so many other obstacles that get In the way of you trying to live your life. But in the essence of living on this earth what keeps everyone together? Love. Love is what binds our human hearts together to live a life where we can share experiences, discover new things, strengthen relationships. And even release a new figure of love to others. My story may have up’s and downs but in the end what matters is that YOU yourself is the one happy. Being alone in life is probably the saddest feeling ever since basically you have nobody to talk to, nobody to greet each day, nobody to laugh with, basically all you do benefits to yourself. And that’s actually pretty sad. Living in my little apartment never bothered me much but sometimes I felt I needed a change. One night walking home from work (which was pretty late!) I felt as if somebody was following me so I made my walking pace a little faster since I was scared and nobody was around at all. One block away from my apartment someone grabs me by the arm and hammers me to the ground. I catch myself and try to regain my vision. I quickly look over and see a tall man with a gun on his right hand and a mask to cover his identity. He ushered me to give him my purse which naturally I said no as I was trying to stand up again but in result he just pushed me again (making me fall AGAIN…). I was scared because I knew nobody was coming for me and it was dark and I should’ve taken the bus and I should’ve done so many rights but all I’ve done is wrongs. He pointed the gun to the temple. I closed my eyes because I knew it was game over but out of nowhere someone just takes the gun and kicks the masked man. In disbelief I back up a bit clutching my purse next to the lamp post. My supposed ‘’savior’’ managed to fend of the masked man. I could hear the masked man groan in pain as the other man headed towards me. He reached out his hand and asked if I was okay. I replied with a weak smile and thanked him. He offered to go to his place with was close to my apartment. I wanted to deny but to be honest I have a cut on my forehead which he noticed immediately so he insisted. 

That was basically the first time I met him. He literally swept me of my feet by helping me when I was in danger. But that isn’t where my story end’s. The next part is about to be a little more serious.

A month after the incident which caught the media’s eye my hero was now my best friend. I guess not being lonely isn’t that much of a bad thing. We hang out a lot these days since were basically window buddies. Yes WINDOW BUDDIES. A small glance out the window and we can already start conversing. Sometimes he would come over to my place or vice versa to watch some Netflix, play video games, have some awesome ice cream. And literally just have fun. February 14, 2024 valentine day. We were walking by the sidewalk where you can smell the enormous amount of coffee coming from Starbucks. I asked him if he was spending his valentine with a special someone and he just replied with a simple ‘’no’’. I was surprised for someone with his qualities that he was single. I tried not to bother him about it anymore so he asked me if I was free. I said yes and he took my hand and dragged me around the street to a cinema. ‘’The Notebook’’ was on and we watched it together. Considering it was a Ryan Gosling movie I burst into tears when we left the cinema. Everyone was staring so he put his arm over me and hid me in his coat. He said that the day wasn’t over yet and he brought me to a local Italian restaurant. We started digging in on some delicious pasta and wine. He asked me if I was okay and I asked him why he asked. He simply replied by revealing a rose and giving it to me. He asked me if I could be his valentine. I stood up from my seat and hugged him. As he was walking us home it started raining. He covered me again with his coat and we ran as fast as we could to a bus stop. It was too late since we were dripping wet anyways. On that day on the bus stop, shivering cold, his arms hugging me for warmth. He started singing softly to try and make me feel warmer. I ended up sleeping in his arms for the rest of the day since I was exhausted. 

It’s been 3 months since we have been dating. After tremendous hard work we decided to move places and officially bought our own apartment for the two of us. To keep the originality we stayed in a close building from our former place. I wanted to travel around since life’s too short for so much things. So we packed up and travelled to Japan. It was Cherry Blossom season so it was naturally the best season to go sightseeing. We stayed at a fancy hotel and ate some awesome ramen at the restaurant. Life was good. One night he told me to come with him to the park located near the river stream. We were on the bridge and I was sitting on the railing. He held me in his arms to make sure I wouldn’t fall. We stayed like that for what felt like forever until finally he set me down and he kneeled. He said those sweet four words in the cutest way possible. And what other answer do I got but ‘’Yes!’’. A week later after returning from Japan I called my close friends about the news and they were ecstatic. I called my parents and they wanted to meet him first as usual. Since we were both Catholic we wanted to follow the tradition of the church. It took a lot of work to prepare everything. We finally got married in the bridge where he proposed because I said I liked the ducks. The scenery was beautiful and we decided to live in Japan. Work wasn’t hard to find and we kept a stable lifestyle. We kept our steadfast relationship and promised if we ever got separated by anything we would always find our way back to each other. After living out lives we had 2 daughters and 1 son. And the name of the man that saved me? His name is Rene Diaz.

Any event in the world can result to anything in the future. In this story for example if I had changed my course and never been attacked by the masked man I never would have met my ‘’savior’’ and I never would have had the same life. This project goes to show that do what will impact your life in the future and do something your future self will thank your past self. Live life to the fullest and be proud of who you are. Spread your religion and tell people what you feel if they judge you ignore them, if they insult you ignore them, if they hate you ignore them. You are who you shape yourself to be. Be thankful for everything and build your future. Life is about moving forwards and not looking back.