A Vindicator Writing Contest

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, The Vindicator is giving you a fun opportunity to win a special prize for the love of your life. You’ll notice that the following fictitious love story needs an ending. That’s where you come in. Tell us how you think this story should end.

LEIGH ROBERTS stood staring at the flight board at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The “Delayed” posted beside USAirways Flight 924 from Phoenix would have reduced her to tears had it happened any one of the many times over the past five years when she had eagerly awaited Jeffrey Webster’s arrival.

But today was different. He would no longer be flying in for just a long weekend. Today, he’d be staying for good. What’s two more hours when they would have the rest of their lives to spend together?

Settling into the corner seat in the waiting area, Leigh smiled as her thoughts wandered to the many airport reunions for the two former neighbors. She and Jeffrey had been inseparable for as long as they could remember. Their parents had told them the story of how 18-month-old Jeffrey toddled over to the couch where Leigh was cradled in her mother’s arms. He struggled but finally managed to crawl up beside them, leaned over and kissed the newborn on the top of her head. “It was love at first sight,” their parents had teased.

Those were the same parents who years later warned their teenagers that, at 15 and 13, they were too young to tie themselves down to each other when the relocation of the Webster family, caused by the closing of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co., would put 2,000-plus miles between the two families.

But Leigh and Jeffrey had agreed that what they felt for each other was more than the “puppy love” their parents had diagnosed. What they shared — those skipped heartbeats when each laid eyes on the other at the airport and those tears of joy upon arrival that turned to tears of sadness when that inevitable departure came way too soon — was a love worth hanging on to, worth “tying themselves down” for, despite their parents’ concern.

Checking the clock on the wall, Leigh thought about how the past five years of keeping the phone companies and airlines as busy as their modest part-time incomes would allow would soon be over. The timing of their three- and four-day weekends would no longer determine which concerts they could attend at the Chevy Centre or which seasons they could enjoy the beauty of Mill Creek Park together. Soon, the only thing that would affect their time together would be their classes at Youngstown State University.

Just as Leigh started to wonder about the path their lives would soon take, her thoughts were interrupted. A steel door opened behind the ticket counter and, as he had done every other time, Jeffrey was the first to appear, bearing that gorgeous toothy grin of his and a bouquet of red roses. .....

What path do their lives take, now that Leigh and Jeffrey are together for good? Finish this story with a happily-ever-after ending — in 500 or so words — for a chance to win one of the following prizes:

1st place:

A $100 gift certificate for dinner at Alberini’s Restaurant in Niles.

2nd place:

A $50 gift certificate for flowers at Full Circle Florist, located in Youngstown and Hubbard.

3rd place:

A two-pound box of assorted chocolates from Philadelphia Candies, provided by The Vindicator.

You have until noon Friday, Feb. 6, to e-mail your entry to Society Editor Barb Shaffer at shaffer@vindy.com.

The winners will be notified by phone in time to claim their prizes before Valentine’s Day, so include your name and phone number at the end of your story.

Their names will be announced Saturday, Feb. 14, and their winning entries will be published Sunday, Feb. 15.

So, get busy, you romantics, and good luck!