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Shook Chapter 11 Part 3: Dyan's Realization
After a wonderful trip to the west, the Blue Family is headed home. Dyan would never guess what ws about to happen next...
Dyan’s time at Phoenix was one of the best times of her life! In the daytime, she was going to water parks, climbing the hills, and going to fancy restaurants. In the nights at the hotel, Dyan had lots of time to get more writing for her book done.
It was magical how many ideas had found their way into Dyan’s head, and Dyan was able walk Spirit through all her adventures, from her time at the haunted spaceship station, to the time she tried a poisonous drink on the spaceship, to the time she nearly passed out on Doom Hill.
Spirit’s life was no longer boring! Spirit had strengths, she had weaknesses, and most of all, Dyan was nearly done writing it. In the end, Spirit was adopted by the aliens.
“We want to travel the universe…with you by our side!” Said the Mother Alien.
“Oh wow, of course I’ll join you guys!” said Spirit. Then Spirit began to cry tears of joy, and all the aliens hugged her.
The End.
Dyan closed her notebook shut with a happy slam. “Done!”
“With what?” asked Azure, who was sitting right next to her, eating a granola bar.
That’s when Dyan remembered where she was. The trip to Phoenix had ended, and after the plane ride back to Georgia, the family had piled into their hippie van, collected Bear, and headed two states up, back home.
Bear was running around the family, whining and barking, being rewarded with rubs from the Blue children. He even went to Dyan, and sat in front of her, staring. Dyan gave him some face rubs.
“I’m finally done with my book!” Dyan yelled happily to the whole van.
“Can I read it!?”” Royal asked from across the table.
Something about Royal reading Dyan’s book made Dyan imagine Royal taking a peak at Dyan’s inner thoughts. “No!” Dyan slid her book closer to her.
Royal’s forehead wrinkled sadly. “Why not?” she whined.
“Because… because it isn’t published yet!” Dyan said, hiding her face behind the notebook.
“Well then what is it about?” asked Royal.
“It’s about this orphan girl who was afraid of aliens, but then the aliens abduct her and take her on adventures exploring the universe.” Dyan explained. “I’m naming the book, ‘Spirit and the Aliens’.”
“Ooh, that sounds thrilling!” said True, and others voiced their happiness as well.
What Dyan left out was the fact that the stars of the book were the Blue family.
“So now you’re gonna publish it and get millions of fans!?” asked Maya.
This is when Dyan came to a halt. “You mean publish it… now?”
“Well you can’t right now, duh, we’re in the car. But I mean, when you get home, you’re gonna work on publishing your book right?” Maya gripped the seat in front of her and leaned over Navy to talk to Dyan.
Dyan imagined being on a stage, in front of her, a completely black room filled with a million people. In her hand she clutched her book, and everyone in front of her was supposed to have read it. The thought made her stomach twist. Now she felt embarrassed of her book, and hardly wanted anyone to read it, at least not in front of her.
“I mean…I’m just a kid. I should probably wait until I’m older and really need money to publish the book.”
“No time like the present,” said Mrs. Blue. “Why wait to publish a book at age 20 for a book you wrote at age 10?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t even publish it. Who’s gonna read a ten-year-old’s book anyway?” Dyan said looking down at her notebook, the story within it not feeling so amazing of an accomplishment anymore.
Maya slammed both her hands on the small table. “You worked really hard on that book, Dyan. I know it because I saw you every night writing in that notebook. Whether it be at home, or on vacation!” Then she asked, with creased eyebrows. “Why don’t you want to publish the story you worked so hard on?”
Dyan’s vision became blurry with water. She clutched her notebook as she shakily said, “I don’t know how to publish a book and what if it’s not as good as I thought it is? What if nobody likes it or even buys it?”
“I like it!” said True from her carseat. “At least how it sounds.”
A tear still rolled down from Dyans cheek. She sniffled.
“Is that Dyan?” Mrs. Blue turned to see Dyan’s puffy face holding back tears. She quickally ruffled through her purse and said, “Here, give her this.”
The children passed a napkin around until it reached Dyan’s seat, and she wiped her eyes. Dyan hated being the center of attention, and even more when she was crying.
“Doubts are normal to have for everything Dyan.” Mr. Blue said. He kept his eyes on the road. Just ask Royal when she was the main character in her school play.”
“The day before, she wanted to quit the whole thing! She should’ve quit, so we didn’t have to sit through that whole musical.” said Navy.
“Shut up!” was Royal’s reply.
“The point is,” Mrs. Blue talked over all her children. “You can’t give up on your dream, even when doubt tries to beat it out of you.”
Then Mr. Blue said, “People out there will hate your book, and others will like your book, maybe even love it. The thing is you can’t focus on the haters, you have to focus on the lovers. And if you want, once we get home, I’ll help you publish your book.”
“Really?” Dyan mouth dropped open.
“Really.”
Dyan thought she didn’t deserve the Blue family. She didn’t deserve how nice they were to her, how they cheered her on even when she was in doubt, or how they let her stay with them for probably way too long.
The last fact was all her fault of course. Who knows how long they had looked trying to find out who Dyan’s caregiver was, when they had already found her. Dyan told them it wasn’t the right person. Nothing lasts forever, and after going with them on a family trip, any time she spent further with them might be stretching her stay. After all, she wasn’t sure how long Maya’s parents would keep trying to look for a caregiver before they gave up, and she really didn’t want to find out.
But then again, if they were her book characters, maybe they were just giving her the push she needed to fully make their story a reality. Mr. Blue even offered to help her with her book! She just needed to have the guts to go through with this.
If she couldn’t stay with the Blue family forever, or even for much longer, then the least she would do is finish her book with their help.
“I’ll publish it. This will be another fear I face in my life! I’m gonna publish my book!” Dyan said, lifting a fist in the air.
And with that the Blue family cheered.
Mr. Blue’s cheeks rose, telling all that his smile was present. “Great! Just wait ‘till we get home!”
Find out what happens next in the next part!
New to Shook? You can find the chapter archive in this post.
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