Read Scott Thompson's Short Story Memories from the Future.

            Most of my blogs are planned out ahead of time with a framework in my head before typing. Occasionally, I am struck by something which moves me to react instantly. Welcome to today’s blog. This one is by the seat of my pants without any thought out construction so bear with me.

          

  This is my friend and YHC fraternity brother, Scott Thompson. To be upfront, I do not know Scott as well as I would like to. He was a few years behind me and the bedrock of our friendship is based on way too much drinking out in the North Georgia Mountains along w/ the occasional toga party. (Hey, we were in a frat, what do you expect?)

            Scott was always a classy guy and one I thought of nicely but other than drinking beer and talking about Upsilon Sigma Delta, we didn’t have all that much to say. Through the magic of Facebook, I go to know Scott a little bit better and found that my first impressions were dead on. Scott is a classy guy, a great Dad, good husband, quite witty, and one heck of a writer. Don’t ask me. Check out his Amazon page.

            Scott wrote his first book last year. I wish I could say it is the best thing I’ve ever read but truthfully, I haven’t read it yet. It’s on the pile to get to but I have been playing catch up with reading for fun since that was put on hold for my masters. By the time I graduated in 2009, a huge pile had grown which I’ve been slowly whittling down ever since. Take into account, I dropped everything when I discovered George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones and you can see why Young Men Shall See is on the stack.

            Anyway, yesterday I got a notice via Facebook that a short story was available for the kindle by Scott. I jumped on it immediately. I didn’t get a chance to read Memories from the Future until I stopped to get a bite to eat today while shopping.

            What did I think?

           

At least it was not as bad as this guy, Sheesh....

Damn you, Scott Thompson. You made me cry in the middle of Panera over my chicken w/ wild rice soup. To add insult to injury, it was those big streaming tears that a guy can’t blame in congestion or dust in the air.

            Scott, your short story was beautiful. I read a lot and I read a bit over everything so it’s not uncommon for me to read some sort of love story. Rarely have I read a love story clearly written from a regular guy’s point of view. Notice I said guy and not man. Plenty of stories are out there written by men though I can’t name one off the bat right now.  Hemingway, Shakespeare, and Conroy have all written good love scenes yet I’ve can’t remember the last time I read something about a guy falling on love with the girl of his dreams that spoke to me in such a modern voice.

            It was supposed to be an enjoyable diversion as I ate my lunch but I became so enthralled with Julian’s point of view of working up the courage to speak to this beautiful woman that lunch was forgotten until I read the last page.

            Few stories have ever gotten me to ignore food so obviously I loved Memories from the Future.  I’m trying to be careful how I phrase everything else so as not to spoil anything.

            I mentioned regular guy’s point of view because Scott nails it so well. As the story unfurls, we read about how our protagonist, Julian, is fighting up the courage to speak to the lady who catches his eye. I think we’ve all been there.

Quite honestly, Memories took me back to a chilly winter day a little over two years ago when I was sifting through the latest profiles on my E-harmony account. I came across this picture and was too afraid to click the message button.

 

“She’s out of my league.” “I don’t do the kids thing.” “She’ll never go for a guy like me.” These were the sentences running through my brain as I stared at my future wife’s profile. Whenever I think about that anxiety, it takes me back to being seven at the Milledgeville Rec. department and standing on the high dive board twelve feet in the air.

Do I jump? Do I walk away?  Love is a lot like that and Scott Thompson nails it in his story. Thanks, Scott. It may have been four pages but it was the best four pages, I’ve read in some time.  

Does Julian talk to the girl? Does it work out? Check it out and see for yourself. It will be the best 99 cents you spend today.