The Chapter Before the First

I borrowed this phase from Maria von Trapp. She used it to begin her book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. She really wanted her readers to read about how she came to write her book. She thought if she used foreword, introduction or prologue no one would read it. I'm going a step further, I posting this first before I post the first chapter of the story.

If you're reading this, it means you found my story. I'm well aware this movie is over thirty years old. It may be older than some of you reading this. For me it's a classic. You may wonder why I am writing a fan fiction story about an old movie.

The first movie I wrote about was the Sound of Music; it too was already an old movie when fanfics became popular. And yet there are over 700 fanfics written and more each week. My last fanfic was about the movie, The Americanization of Emily. It is actually a year older than the Sound of Music.

I had readers of that story but few reviews. I'm sure my fanfic for Murphy's Romance will be the same. I write for personal enjoyment. I share them in hopes others may enjoy them too.

I really am surprised no one has ever written a fan fiction story about it. As my summary states, the end is perfect for one.

James Garner was at his best portraying Murphy Jones, a pharmacist and a widower in the small town of Eunice, Arizona.

Sally Field portrays, Emma Moriarty; a divorcee with a twelve year old son. His name is Jake. He's portrayed by the child actor, Corey Haim.

Emma has rented a dilapidated farm outside the city limits. The first scenes of the movie show Emma working to fix up the property to be used for boarding and training horses.

The two main characters meet the day Emma is placing flyers, advertising her business, on cars all over this small town. They spare in the beginning; especially after Murphy refuses to lend her some money.

Murphy has another idea; he buys a horse solely for the purpose of boarding it with Emma. He often comes and watches her train his horse and then he comes almost every day to go for a ride.

An encounter with a teenage driver, who runs Emma into a ditch, lands her in the hospital with a concussion. Murphy visits her there. She's released from the hospital and the third main character is introduced.

He's Bobby Jack Moriarty. He's portrayed by Brian Kerwin. Brian is a seasoned actor who portrays the role of Emma's ne'er-do-well ex-husband.

The plot thickens; a cliché which is perfect for this movie.

Although my story will have a lot of flashbacks, told as the couple reminisces, I encourage you to watch this movie. It's available on You Tube. It's also available on DVD. Your local library may have a copy.

The music was written by Carole King. She sings both the opening and closing songs. The words to the first perfectly fit the beginning of the movie. It's titled, Running Lonely.

Likewise the ending song, Love For the Last Time, is just as perfect.

These are also found on You Tube.