Epilogue

What was your inspiration for this story?

Well, I think one day I decided that I should try to write a short story. I thought for a long time about it and suddenly my mind turned to the idea of puzzle pieces. In my head I saw a completed puzzle and I began to wonder, "What if a piece was missing?" To me, it was obvious what this missing piece would be so I went with this idea.

Which character do you most relate to?

There is no one character that I really relate to. Quite often I am like Veronica, wondering why I feel so down and empty. At other times, I am somewhat like Maria and her friends. I am always trying to share the Gospel with everyone, but of course, there are times when that just does not happen for whatever stupid reason I may have. I cannot really relate to Troy because I do not drink, party, or hang around with not very good friends. I would definitely like to say that I relate to Maria the most.

Which character would you want to be?

This question is easy, but difficult at the same time. I can narrow my choice down to a few people: Maria and her friends. I really hope to have a situation sometime where I meet a "Veronica" and I can introduce him or her to Jesus. I guess that I would like to be Maria the most since she was the person who invited Veronica to sit at her table at lunch. Each of the girls played a part in telling Veronica about Jesus so really any of them would be good.

Did Maria, Veronica, and Troy survive?

I purposely left this out of the story. I decided to leave this to my readers. The only thing that I felt was of importance in this was that Veronica had become a follower of Jesus before the car crash. The rest of the details you can make up yourself.

Were you ever a "Veronica"? And did a "Maria" ever turn your life around?

Well, I have been a Christian for my entire life. However, for thirteen years that meant going to church and then ignoring the Father the other six days of the week. In a way, I have had some "Marias" in my life. And you all know who you are. All I have to say is thank you for making me become serious about my faith. I am forever grateful.

Are any of the characters based on someone you know?

Believe it or not, the answer is no. I am sure that there are people in my school that are like some of the characters, but I do not know the people well enough to know for sure. My characters are not really based on anyone; they are completely made-up. I can, however, think of some people similar to my characters.

What was the hardest part of writing this story?

That would definitely be two things: time and ideas. With school going on, it was hard to find time to write and type this story. I had a very hard time coming up with ideas also. Sometimes I was too lazy, unfortunately, to even think about ideas too. Next time I write, I will need more motivation.

Do you plan on writing another short story or perhaps, something longer?

If I come up with an idea, then I certainly will write at least a short story. How long my writing will be depends completely on the idea. Of course, I will continue writing poems and freestyles still.

What have you learned from this about writing?

I learned a lot of things, but the most important thing is to proofread. I typed incorrect words, but since they were actual words, just not the right ones, spell check did not catch my mistakes. I posted the story like this before I reread it and fixed it and I am completely surprised that no one mentioned them because some were very obvious.

How would you explain Troy's apple dream?

The two apples represent Troy and Veronica. The apple that fell off the tree is Troy. The other apple is Veronica. When Veronica hit a low point, Maria came and told her about Jesus. Troy instead fell apart. The man picking the apple could then either symbolize Maria or Jesus.

How did you come up with the characters' names?

None of the names were chosen for a specific reason. I either chose names I like or names that popped into my head while I was writing.

Veronica seemed like she changed her mind quickly and often. Are you like that at all?

Oh yes, unfortunately I am. Ask me in the morning what my favorite song is and then ask me again at night and you will get two different answers. I probably change my mind on some things within a minute even.

How would you answer Veronica's questions, "Who is this Jesus? Why is He your friend?"

Wow, no matter how I answer this question, I will not be able to fully describe how I feel. How could I? He is truly my everything. He is my hope, my strength, my savior, my light, my love, my teacher, just my everything. He is my friend because He has never left me, nor will he ever leave me, unlike all of the "friends" I have had in the past.

Why does Veronica live at 116 Cherry Street?

I had to represent the 116 Clique on this one. Why Cherry Street? I do not know; I must have wanted cherries when I came up with that.

Veronica threw away her old secular CDs and bought new Christian rap CDs. Who did you listen to in the past and who do you listen to now?

I would say that I have been through four different stages of listening to music. As a little kid, I listened to oldies and classic rock since my dad did. Then, when I was in elementary school, I listened to NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, ATeens, etc. After a while, against my dad's wishes, I got into rap and R&B. I liked Tupac, Kanye West, Nas, Chris Brown, Boyz II Men, Trey Songz, Elliott Yamin, etc. I also liked a little bit of country (Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts), rock (Live and Creed), soul (Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Sam Cooke), and Gospel (Kirk Franklin). Now I only listen to Christian music. Christian rap is my favorite, but I will listen to any genre. My favorite artists are Lecrae, Trip Lee, Da' T.R.U.T.H., The Cross Movement, Phanatik, Flame, Ambassador, Kirk Franklin, Papa San, Antwaun Stanley, and Michael W. Smith.

How would you explain Veronica's dream about Troy?

Troy was running from sin, from alcohol, from partying, from pressure, from himself, etc. Troy crashing into the wall foreshadows his car crash.

Why did you decide to write a short story since you consider yourself a poet?

The answer is simple: I felt like I could be multi-talented so I decided to try to expand my talents into other areas of writing. Am I succeeding? I do not have a clue; that is all up to you, my readers, to decide.

Maria wants to be a missionary and Veronica wants to be a journalist when they grow up. What do you want to be when you grow up?

I am three years away from college and I do not know yet. I have many interests and talents, but I do not know what to do with them. I like writing, graphic design, photography, sports, and travel, among other things. My favorite school subjects are global studies, history, and Spanish, while my best are those three, plus math. And of course, I want to do some Kingdom work and make sure my plans fit the Lord's will. So what meets most or all of these things? I have no idea.