~May Your Light Shine :D~

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

I'm writing this post not too long after I woke up... yea... Take a look at the time and u will probably be chiding me for sleeping in... I'm an owl remember?

Anyway I slept around 3 am last night after I have finished reading this book, River's End by Nora Roberts. I practically cried throughout the whole book. I'm not sure if anyone of you who reads it will have the same reaction as I do but let me tell you what was it that sent my tear ducts working overdrive.

The story is about a girl named Olivia, whose parents were among Hollywood's most glittering couples... until the night the monster came... the monster who killed her mum... the monster with the face of her father. At the age of four, Olivia was separated from her dad because of his cocaine problem and one night she saw her dad with a bloody scissors in his hand and her mum lying in a pool of blood. She then ran and hid in her closet among her soft toys, until a policeman came and found her. She was then sent to live with her grandparents in Washington as the press became a problem if she stayed in L.A. Her father initially denied the charge, saying he found his wife that way but was eventually convicted to 20 years of jail, 15 without the possibility of parole.

Years past, and Olivia grew to forget what happened but now a book is about to be written about what happened. A book written by the son of the policeman who found her, Noah. Her father is found to be suffering from terminal brain cancer and wants to give his side of the story despite years of rejecting interviews. He gives the author 2 versions of that night, one which found him guilty, another in which he was innocent. Due to his drug problem, he too had a problem remembering what exactly happened and he hopes through the book he can find the answer.

Her father is let out of prison early, due to good behavior and his illness, but not after serving at least 20 years of jail. Olivia's dreams are once again hunted by that fateful night. She knows her father is watching her as he leaves a white rose every time he came and even returned her musical box that he broke in anger many years ago. When she sees him in the woods, Noah, who was with her goes to confront him, thinking he was out to hurt Olivia. But lo and behold! During the confrontation, both men are hurt in a struggle with another man who happened to be Olivia's mum's twin sister's husband, David. David runs away just as Noah gets hold of a gun. Olivia runs into the woods after alerting her family and sees her father who tells her to run, that the man who hurt her mum is near but it is too late. On seeing David, her father, who was already badly injured, summons his will to try and shield Olivia and it was then when the truth was revealed. David loved her mum, but her mum only loved her dad whom David felt did not deserved it. On that night, her mum let David in, David started professing his love for her. But her mum said that he was out of her mind, and if he left that minute, she would forget everything that had just happened. However, the next thing David knew was that he had the scissors in his hands and her mum was dead.

To save his daughter, Olivia's dad flung himself at David but to no avail as David quickly took her hostage, holding a knife at her throat, when he heard Noah coming. However, Olivia stabbed him in the thigh and Noah shot him dead. A tearful but short reunion followed...

She pulled away and stumbled to the ground beside her father."Oh no, no, no. Don't. Please. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Daddy."
"Don't cry, Livvy." He reached up to touch her face. "This is the best way for me. My time's running out, anyway. I needed to see you again. It was the last thing I had to do...When I was looking for you, when you saw me, I wasn't going to hurt you."
"I know that. I know. Don't leave me now that I've gotten you back."
"I'm sorry,Livvy. I wanted you to look at me once, just once, and know who I was. In the end I kept you safe. Maybe that makes up for all the years I didn't..."
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Ok, I cried in the beginning for the little girl whose perfect world was turned upside down and for what she had seen. It must have been horrible seeing your mum and dad with blood all over. And suddenly everything she had ever known was snatched away. The last part particularly touched me for the misunderstanding all those years. If only the truth was revealed earlier, then it would have spared a lot of pain on both Olivia and her father.

I always hated misunderstandings cuz it brought unnecessary pain to all parties involved. And I would not want to live a life and look back with tons of regret. i guess the reason why im so affected by the book is because firstly for the child and secondly it contains the elements of my greatest fears - misunderstandings and regret (actually these 2 go hand in hand right?)

Lydea blogged at 1:04 PM

May your light shine...
in the darkness...