LOVE STORY WRITING CONTEST

It’s time again for The Vindicator’s annual Love Story Writing Contest. It’s the perfect opportunity to have a little fun by finishing the following fictitious love story while trying to win a special prize to help make your Valentine’s Day a little sweeter:

THE BLIND DATE

“See you in a while, guys. Be good for Uncle Jerry and Aunt Becky.”

Dave Richards waved and tooted his horn as he drove away from his two sons, Steve, 10, and Josh, 9, as they stood at the end of the driveway at his sister and brother-in-law’s house. He hadn’t told his boys where he was going. Thankfully, they hadn’t asked, either.

He wasn’t sure how he would have told them he was leaving for an evening out ... on a blind date.

Well, he didn’t exactly consider it “blind” since he knew who Kelly Lewis was. After all, they had grown up in the same town, had gone to the same high school. He knew who her brothers were. And her dad, Greg Davis, had been Dave’s Little League coach. Years ago.

As for Kelly, though, he couldn’t quite place a face to the name. It was amazing how only five years’ difference in age could mean a world of difference in acquaintance. But he knew who she was, he kept finding himself rationalizing. So, no, it wasn’t a blind date.

“It doesn’t even have to be a date,” his mother, Elaine, had reasoned. “She’s no more ready to date than you are. Yes, the circumstances are different, but the bottom line is, you’ve both lost your spouses. You could use each other just to lean on, to keep each other company. You know her family, after all. Go ahead, call her.”

And so he did.

But now that the day had arrived, an uncertainty lingered. He finally realized it had little to do with how such an evening would affect him — someone who’d likely never trust again. Rather, it had more to do with how this informal meeting — this “non-date” — would affect his two boys.

Both Steve and Josh seemed to have weathered their parents’ divorce as well as could be expected. Of course, Dave and Beth had agreed — probably the only thing they agreed on when it came to their divorce — that they’d keep things as amicable as humanly possible “for the boys’ sake.” Beth may have shattered his world, but she was still the boys’ mother.

And Kelly Lewis wasn’t ......

As she readied herself for a dinner out — with the guy her mother had assured her was “a nice guy who’s been through a lot, too” — Kelly Lewis had mixed emotions.

Yes, the purpose was simply to “get out of the house and get her mind off things.” It wasn’t a date, per se.

“After all, you practically know him,” Mary Jo Davis had pointed out to her daughter. “Well, you at least know the family,” she coaxed. “I go to the same church as his mother,” she reasoned. “But it’s your choice, of course,” she conceded.

But it had been only two years since Kelly’s husband’s death. In her mind, this was too soon for her to even think of dating, let alone consider a relationship with another man.

Ever since Gary’s death, Kelly’s main concern — and, yes, worry — had been their son, little Larry. He was only 6 at the time. And, as cancer can do, it had been a long ordeal for the three of them before it finally took Gary’s life.

Yes, Gary’s suffering was over, but two years wasn’t nearly enough time for Kelly and Larry to have healed.

As much as she knew that to be true, she couldn’t help wondering if maybe her mother had made a good point. This didn’t have to mean she was “moving on.” Maybe it really wouldn’t hurt her to do something for herself, something other than devoting all of her time and energy to Larry, as she knew she had been doing.

But, had she explained tonight well enough to Larry? How could an 8-year-old possibly understand that this dinner wasn’t anything more than that? Did he understand that the fact she and this man had grown up just miles from each other and had gone to the same high school was reason enough to simply “reconnect” after all these years?

If she could just remember ever meeting Dave in the first place ... that would make it so much easier for her to accept this as the “non-date” she had described to Larry.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the knock at the door. As they stood face-to-face, each searched the other’s for something familiar, something they recognized. Something that would make this more of a simple reunion.

But there was nothing. This was definitely a blind date.

HOW DOES THIS LOVE STORY END?

You decide. Finish this love story in no more than 500 words for a chance to win one of the following prizes:

FIRST PLACE:

A $100 gift certificate to Julia's Bed and Breakfast, West Liberty Street, Hubbard.

SECOND PLACE:

A $50 gift certificate to Full Circle Florist, Elm Street, Youngstown.

THIRD PLACE:

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

You have until 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, to e-mail your entry to Society Editor Barb Shaffer at shaffer@vindy.com.

Don’t forget to include your name and phone number at the end of your story. The winners will be notified by phone, so they will have time to pick up their prizes before Valentine’s Day.

The three winners and their entries will be published on Sunday, Feb. 13.