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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: FIZZLE (06/09/16)
Dear Diary,

My Mom is so unfair. I finally got a guy to ask me to the Spring Dance and she won’t let me go. It’s just because he doesn’t go to church. Is that fair? Mom tells me I should only date Christian boys. What about all those sinners Jesus hung out with? She says that’s different.

All I know is how Jacob makes me feel. We both play trombone in the school band, but he also plays the guitar. I saw him playing in the park a few weeks ago. He just looked so wrapped up in the music. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does, he talks about all the sad things in the world and how he wishes they could get better. I just want to hug him and make those bad things go away.

When I’m with Jacob I get this amazing feeling: like my emotions are strapped to some fireworks and they are coloring the sky. It's like I'm an emotional astronaut.

I don’t know why Mom only wants me to date Christian boys. All the boys who go to my Youth Group are about as exciting as week-old leftovers. Jacob is …. Well, he sure isn’t leftovers.


I hate my life.
Jeanne

************************************

Dear Diary,
Oh, happy day! I’ve talked to Mom and she finally agreed to meet Jacob. If she meets him, she’ll surely see how wonderful he is and understand why it will be OK for us to go to the dance.

There are more important things about a person than whether they go to church. Right?

This is gonna be awesome!
Jeannie

**************************************

Dear Diary,
I don’t believe it! It happened just like I planned!

Mom met Jacob and she said she is still not crazy about him, but it’s OK for us to go to the dance! Jacob was really polite to Mom and tried hard to be nice. And…it must have been enough because Mom said OK.

I can’t describe my feelings as I watched him talking to my mother. Forget emotions strapped to a rocket; my emotions were somewhere in outer space!

I’m the luckiest girl in the world!

Although … I sure hope Jacob wears something other than black to the dance. And that he doesn’t talk about sad stuff through the whole night.


Jeannie

**********************************

Dear Diary,
What a disaster.

I don’t understand how it could have gone so wrong.

Jacob wore black, just as I feared. OK: it was a black sport jacket, and he wore a bolo with it so I guess he was trying, but doesn’t he know ANYTHING about the way everyone is supposed to dress for these things?

The gym was so pretty, and the band was pretty lame, but did Jacob HAVE to criticize their guitar playing and make fun of the decorations?

But the worst thing is he didn’t stop talking about all that sad stuff, even at the dance. I mean: we were there to have fun and be romantic, right? I don’t need to hear about the Rain Forest in the middle of dancing, for Pete’s sake.

Maybe I should have expected it. I don’t know. I just know all that stuff that made Jacob seem alluring did absolutely nothing for me tonight. I guess Jacob isn’t any different than he ever was, but tonight, my feelings for him are about as airborne as a broken balloon.

I don’t get it.
Jeannie

****************************

Dear Diary

I figured Mom would really bug me about the date when I got home, and I wasn’t looking forward to that. But she kind of knew it had gone wrong just by looking at my face. But she didn’t say “I told you so,” or even preach to me about how now I’d be sure to only date guys from the Youth group. She just gave me a big, warm hug and got out some ice cream. She made us banana splits without even asking me what I wanted, which is OK because once I saw them; that was what I wanted.

Will I ever figure out what I want in a boy? And if I do, will he be the kind of boy my Mom will let me date? Tonight, I don’t know… but I do know it feels pretty good to know my Mom is there for me no matter what.

So maybe I don’t hate my life.
Jeannie
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This article has been read 332 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Noel Mitaxa 
06/17/16
Aaahh, a step back into an increasingly-distant past. Love how you have captured that mindset of dreaded mix of hope and uncertainty - and how you bridge the generation gap at the end.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
06/19/16
This is a great way to show how teens think they know everything, but gradually find out they only know almost everything. I think the diary was a fun way to cover the topic. The ending was great. I tell my kids all the time if you just listen... Actually, I've been rewarded several times with "Mom, why didn't you make me (insert whatever life lesson I tried to teach them,) which made me realize they might listen more than I thought; they still didn't always do, but at least they listened. You did a nice job of covering teen angst, and I enjoyed the read.
C D Swanson 
06/23/16
Nicely done!

Congrats!

God BLess~
Trudy Newell
06/23/16
You did a great job.

I love the phrase - my feelings ...are about as airborne as a broken balloon.

Congratulations!
Bonnie Bowden 
06/23/16
Congratulations, Donna, on winning 5th place this week in the EC awards. I'm glad the MC learned early on that mom is usually right.
Noel Mitaxa 
06/23/16
Congrats on your EC. Great work.
Catrina Bradley 
06/23/16
I think you nailed a teenager's laments to her diary. I was hoping for the ending you wrote! Congrats on you EC!!!
Lea Austin
06/25/16
Congratulations on 5th Place.
Bea Edwards 
06/27/16
A darling read and reminder that I'm long overdue for a banana split!