I’m back for the third installment of Writer Wednesday. Here is this month’s prompt:
When I was a kid, summer vacations were usually spent camping or visiting family in Ohio or Texas. Texas was fun, because we stayed with my aunt at a resort, where there was tons of stuff to do, and Ohio was fun, because I had literally dozens of cousins to play with.
When I hit 13, I started taking vacations with my best friend Donna and her family. We traveled to several states in her parents’ motorhome and did lots of camping, but they also had a cabin in Ocala National Forest where we would often stay. Donna would bring her mini-bike (larger than a moped, but smaller than a motorcycle), and we would ride all over the dirt roads in the area. Wherever we went, we were usually on the lookout for cute guys to hang out with. In fact, how many cute guys we found determined the success or failure of a vacation.
On one of those trips, we were out on the bike and ran out of gas, and a guy named Eddie stopped to help us. He was really nice, but he didn’t count as one of our “cute guys,” because he was OLD. (He was 25.) We ended up seeing him several more times, and when we were ready to head home, he wanted to stay in touch, so we gave him Donna’s address.
The next weekend, I was staying at her house, and an envelope from Eddie arrived. Inside were two pieces of paper folded in thirds. On one he had written, “For Donna’s eyes only,” and on the other, “For Carol’s eyes only.” I unfolded mine and read it. He had filled the page confessing his undying love for me in rather flowery prose. He ended with, “Please don’t let Donna read this. I don’t want her to know how I feel about you.” We both finished reading, looked at each other, and did what any other 15-year-old best friends would do–we traded letters. Of course, hers said exactly the same thing as mine, with the same caution at the end. Eddie may have been OLD, but if he really thought we would keep our letters secret, he didn’t know diddly squat about teenage girls!
What fun stuff did you do during summer vacation? To check out what some of my friends posted, click the following links. (For future Writer Wednesday topics, see the calendar below.)
Kay Hudson – Jamie Wesley – KD Fleming – Kat Cantrell – Kathleen Bittner Roth – Kristen Ethridge –
Natalie Meg Evans – Priscilla Kissinger – Sharon Wray – Wendy LaCapra
What a great story, Carol!!! I wonder what happened to Eddie? Did he ever send you any more letters? I think Eddie deserves to be a character in one of your books. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Sharon! I’m not sure what happened to Eddie. We did each send him a letter back saying that while we thought he was really nice and liked him a lot, we weren’t interested in that kind of a relationship. Of course, both of our letters said exactly the same thing, so I think he got the picture!
Carol,
That Eddie definitely sounds like an Eddie Haskell! 🙂 I agree with Sharon, he’s deserving of being a character in your book.
Loved hearing that story! Especially like how you and Donna responded. Awesome!!
Pris
Thanks, Priscilla. Yep, I might put him in a book someday.
Hi Carol
I bet Eddie knew exactly what he was doing. At 25, he should have, and he shouldn’t have been writing to two young girls! I’m glad you were sufficiently worldly wise to know how to handle him. Riding around on a dirt bike sounds like heaven.Two girls, a bike and Eddie. I can see the opening longshot of a movie.
Thanks, Natalie. LOL on the movie image! I’m thinking Eddie knew exactly what he was doing, too, but he still came across as pretty harmless. I would have been scared to death to let my daughters have the freedom I enjoyed as a young teen. Times have changed.
What fun times you two had! And what a bad boy Eddie was! Too bad we’ll never know how Eddie turned out, but do you still keep in touch with Donna?
No, Donna and I ended up losing contact after high school. We tried connecting up one more time, but ended up going separate ways. Maybe we’ll find each other again someday on Facebook or something.
That’s a great story, Carol. I agree, Eddie definitely belongs in a book. I’ll bet he thought he was brightening up your days–at least I think I’d write him as one of the good guys.
Thanks, Kay. I think you might have the right take on it. He didn’t have that creepy air at all, just a little clueless!
I love that you wrote him the exact same letter in return!!! Those summertime adventures sound like fun (absent the creepy guy!)
Thanks, Lauren! Yeah, we had lots of fun adventures.
Thanks, Wendy! He definitely knew we were onto him!
Oh my gosh, that Eddie story is great! (Of COURSE that’s what 15-year-old girlfriends would do!) Too funny! Spending summertime fun with girlfriends is such a great memory.