- 2 days ago
In Chapter 5 of The Walk Change Everything, Landon’s world takes another unexpected turn when Jamie asks him for a heartfelt favor—to play the lead in the town’s Christmas play. What begins as an obligation soon becomes a moment that will reshape his heart and test his pride. This chapter unfolds the quiet start of compassion, conflict, and a bond that neither of them saw coming.
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00:00Welcome to Fiction Saga, The Walk Change Everything Chapter 4 in the two weeks following the homecoming dance.
00:11My life pretty much returned to normal. My father was back in Washington, D.C., which made things a lot more fun around my house,
00:23primarily because I could sneak out the window again and head to the graveyard for my late-night forays.
00:31I don't know what it was about the graveyard that attracted us so much.
00:37Maybe it had something to do with the tombstones themselves, because as far as tombstones went, they were actually fairly comfortable to sit on.
00:49We usually sat in a small plot where the Preston family had been buried about a hundred years ago.
00:58There were eight tombstones there, all arranged in a circle, making it easy to pass the boiled peanuts back and forth between us.
01:08One time, my friends and I decided to learn what we could about the Preston family, and we went to the library to find out if anything had been written about them.
01:22I mean, if you're going to sit on someone's tombstone, you might as well know something about them, right?
01:31It turns out that there wasn't much about the family in the historical records, though we did find out one interesting tidbit of information.
01:42Henry Preston
01:44Henry Preston, the father, was a one-armed lumberjack, believe it or not.
01:50Supposedly, he could cut down a tree as fast as any two-armed man.
01:56Now, the vision of a one-armed lumberjack is pretty vivid right off the bat, so we talked about him a lot.
02:04But we used to wonder what else he could do with only one arm, and we'd spend long hours discussing how fast he could pitch a baseball or weather.
02:17Or not he'd be able to swim across the intracoastal waterway.
02:22Our conversations weren't exactly highbrow, I admit, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
02:30Well, Eric and me were out there one Saturday night with a couple of other friends, eating boiled peanuts and talking about Henry Preston when Eric asked me how my date went with Jamie Sullivan.
02:46He and I had unseen much of each other since the homecoming dance, because the football season was already in the playoffs, and Eric had been out of town the past few weekends with the team.
03:03It was okay, I said, shrugging, doing my best to play it cool.
03:09Eric playfully elbowed me in the ribs, and I grunted.
03:13He outweighed me by at least thirty pounds.
03:19Did you kiss her goodnight?
03:21No.
03:22He took a long drink from his can of Budweiser as I answered.
03:28I don't know how he did it, but Eric never had trouble buying beer, which was strange, being that everyone in town knew how old he was.
03:39He wiped his lips with the back of his hand, tossing me a sidelong glance.
03:46I would have thought that after she helped you clean the bathroom, you would have at least kissed her goodnight.
03:54Well, I didn't.
03:56Did you even try?
03:58No.
03:58Why not?
03:59She's not that kind of girl, I said, and even though we all knew it was true, it still sounded like I was defending her.
04:10Eric latched on to that like a leech.
04:14I think you like her, he said.
04:17You're full of crap, I answered, and he slapped my back hard enough to force the breath right out of me.
04:27Hanging out with Eric usually meant that I'd have a few bruises the following day.
04:33Yeah, I might be full of crap, he said, winking at me, but you're the one who's smitten with Jamie Sullivan.
04:43I knew we were treading on dangerous ground.
04:46I was just using her to impress Margaret, I said, and with all the love notes she's been sending me lately, I reckon it must have worked.
04:57Eric laughed aloud, slapping me on the back again.
05:02You and Margaret now, that's funny.
05:06I knew I'd just dodged a major bullet.
05:10And I breathed a sigh of relief as the conversation spun off in a new direction.
05:17I joined in now and then, but I wasn't really listening to what they were saying.
05:22Instead, I kept hearing this little voice inside me that made me wonder about what Eric had said.
05:32The thing was, Jamie was probably the best date I could have had that night, especially considering how the evening turned out.
05:42Not many dates, heck.
05:45Not many people, period, would have done what she did.
05:49At the same time, her being a good date didn't mean I liked her.
05:56I hadn't talked to her at all since the dance, except when I saw her in drama class, and even then it was only a few words here and there.
06:09If I liked her at all, I told myself I would have wanted to talk to her.
06:15If I liked her, I would have offered to walk her home.
06:19If I liked her, I would have wanted to bring her to Cecil S. Diner for a basket of hushpuppies and some RC Cola.
06:28But I didn't want to do any of those things.
06:32I really didn't.
06:34In my mind, I'd already served my penance.
06:38The next day, Sunday, I was in my room, working on my application to UNC.
06:45In addition to the transcripts from my high school and other personal information, they required five essays of the usual type.
06:55If you could meet one person in history, who would that person be and why?
07:03Name the most significant influence in your life and why you feel that way.
07:09What do you look for in a role model and why?
07:12The essay questions were fairly predictably.
07:17Our English teacher had told us what to expect him.
07:21I. D. Reddy worked on a couple of variations in class as homework.
07:27English was probably my best subject.
07:31I'd never received anything lower than an A since I first started school,
07:36and I was glad the impetus for the application process was on writing.
07:42But if it had been on math, I might have been in trouble,
07:47especially if it included those algebra questions that talked about the two trains leaving an hour apart,
07:56travelling in opposite directions at 40 miles an hour, etc.
08:02It was unt that I was bad in math, usually pulled at least a seabut.
08:09It did unt come naturally to me, if you know what I mean.
08:14Anyway, I was writing one of my essays when the phone rang.
08:19The only phone we had was located in the kitchen,
08:23and I had to run downstairs to grab the receiver.
08:27I was breathing so loudly that I couldn't make out the voice too well,
08:34though it sounded like Angela.
08:37I immediately smiled to myself.
08:40Even though she'd been sick all over the place and I'd had to clean it up,
08:46she was actually pretty fun to be around most of the time,
08:50and her dress really had been something, at least for the first hour.
08:56I figured she was probably calling to thank me
09:00or even to get together for a barbecue sandwich and hushpuppies or something.
09:06Landon, oh hey, I said, playing it cool, what's going on?
09:12There was a short pause on the other end.
09:16How are you?
09:18It was then that I suddenly realised I wasn't speaking to Angela.
09:23Instead, it was Jamie, and I almost dropped the phone.
09:28I can't say that I was happy about hearing from her,
09:33and for a second I wondered who had given her my phone number
09:37before I realised it was probably in the church records.
09:42Landon.
09:43I'm fine.
09:44I finally blurted out, still in shock.
09:48Are you busy?
09:49She asked.
09:50Sort of.
09:51Oh, I see, she said, trailing off.
09:55She paused again.
09:57Why are you calling me?
09:59I asked.
10:01It took her a few seconds to get the words out.
10:05Well, I just wanted to know if you wouldn't mind coming by a little later this afternoon.
10:12Coming by, yes, to my house.
10:15Your house.
10:15I didn't even try to disguise the growing surprise in my voice.
10:22Jamie ignored it and went on.
10:25There's something I want to talk to you about.
10:28I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important.
10:32Can't you just tell me over the phone?
10:34I'd rather not.
10:36Well, I'm working on my college application essays all afternoon, I said,
10:42trying to get out of it.
10:44Toa.
10:44Like I said, it's important, but I suppose I can talk to you Monday at school.
10:51With that, I suddenly realised that she was unt going to let me off the hook
10:57and that we de-end up talking one way or the other.
11:01My brain suddenly clicked through the scenarios as I tried to figure out which one I should do talk to her where my friends would.
11:11See us or talk at her house.
11:14Though neither option was particularly good, there was something in the back of my mind reminding me that she'd helped me out when I'd really needed it.
11:25And the least I could do was to listen to what she had to say.
11:31I may be irresponsible, but I'm a nice irresponsible if I do say so myself.
11:39Of course, that didn't mean everyone else had to know about it.
11:44No, I said, today is fine.
11:48We arranged to meet at five o'clock and the rest of the afternoon ticked by slowly, like the drips from Chinese water torture.
11:59I left my house twenty minutes early, so I'd have plenty of time to get there.
12:08My house was located near the waterfront in the historic part of town,
12:14just a few doors down from where Blackbeard used to live, overlooking the intracoastal waterway.
12:21Jamie lived on the other side of town, across the railroad tracks, so it would take me about that long to get there.
12:32It was November, and the temperature was finally cooling down.
12:37One thing I really liked about Beaufort was the fact that the springs and falls lasted practically forever.
12:46It might get hot in the summer or snow once every six years,
12:52and there might be a cold spell that lasted a week or so in January,
12:58but for the most part all you needed was a light jacket to make it through the winter.
13:04Today was one of those perfect days mid-seventies without a cloud in the sky.
13:10I made it to Jamie's house right on time and knocked on her door.
13:17Jamie answered it, and a quick peek inside revealed that Hegbert wasn't around.
13:24It wasn't quite warm enough for sweet tea or lemonade,
13:28and we sat in the chairs on the porch again without anything to drink.
13:34The sun was beginning to lower itself in the sky,
13:37and there wasn't anyone on the street.
13:40This time I didn't have to move my chair.
13:44It hadn't been moved since the last time I'd been there.
13:48Thank you for coming, Landon, she said.
13:52I know you're busy, but I appreciate your taking the time to do this.
13:58So what's so important?
14:01I said, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible.
14:06Jamie, for the first time since I'd known her, actually looked nervous as she sat with me.
14:14She kept bringing her hands together and pulling them apart.
14:19I wanted to ask you a favour, she said seriously.
14:24A favour, she nodded.
14:27At first I thought she was going to ask me to help her decorate the church,
14:33like she'd mentioned at homecoming,
14:36or maybe she needed me to use my mother's car to bring some stuff to the orphans.
14:42Jamie didn't have her licence, and Hegbert needed their car anyway.
14:49Being that there was always a funeral or something he had to go to,
14:54but it still took a few seconds for her to get the words out.
14:59She sighed, her hands coming together again.
15:04I'd do like to ask you if you would on't mind playing Tom Thornton in the school play, she said.
15:12Tom Thornton, like I said before, was the man in search of the music box for his daughter,
15:20the one who meets the angel.
15:23Except for the angel, it was far and away the most important role.
15:28Well, dot dot dot, I don't know, I said, confused.
15:34I thought Eddie Jones was going to be Tom.
15:38That's what Miss Garber told us.
15:41Eddie Jones was a lot like Carrie Denison, by the way.
15:46He was really skinny, with pimples all over his face,
15:51and he usually talked to you with his eyes all squinched up.
15:55He had a nervous tick, and he couldn't help but squinch his eyes whenever he got nervous,
16:02which was practically all the time.
16:06He'd probably end up spouting his lines like a psychotic blind man if you put him in front of a crowd.
16:13To make things worse, he had a stutter, too, and it took him a long time to say anything at all.
16:23Miss Garber had given him the role because he'd been the only one who offered to do it,
16:29but even then it was obvious she didn't want him either.
16:34Teachers were human too, but she didn't have much of an option,
16:39since no one else had come forward.
16:42Miss Garber didn't say that exactly.
16:46What she said was that Eddie could have the role if no one else tried out for it.
16:53Can't someone else do it instead?
16:56But there really wasn't anyone else, and I knew it.
17:01Because of Hegbert's requirement that only seniors perform, the play was in a bind that year.
17:09There were about 50 senior boys at the high school,
17:1322 of whom were on the football team and with the team still in the running.
17:20For the state title, none of them would have the time to go to the rehearsals.
17:25Of the 30 or so who were left, more than half were in the band and they had after-school practice as well.
17:34A quick calculation showed that there were maybe a dozen other people who could possibly do it.
17:43Now, I didn't want to do the play at all,
17:46and not only because I did come to realise that drama was just about the most boring class ever invented.
17:56The thing was, I'd already taken Jamie to homecoming,
18:01and with her as the angel,
18:04I just could unbear the thought that I did have to spend every afternoon with her for the next month or so.
18:12Being seen with her once was bad enough,
18:15but being seen with her every day,
18:18what would my friends say?
18:20But I could tell this was really important to her.
18:24The simple fact that she'd asked made that clear.
18:29Jamie never asked anyone for a favour.
18:34I think deep down she suspected that
18:37no one would ever do her a favour because of who she was.
18:43The very realisation made me sad.
18:47What about Jeff Bengert?
18:50He might do it, I offered.
18:53Jamie shook her head.
18:55He can't, his father's sick,
18:58and he has to work in the store after school
19:01until his father gets back on his feet.
19:04What about Darren Woods?
19:06He broke his arm last week when he slipped on the boat.
19:12His arm is in a sling.
19:15Really?
19:16I didn't know that, I said,
19:18stalling, but Jamie knew what I was doing.
19:23I've been praying about it, Landon,
19:26she said simply,
19:27and sighed for the second time.
19:30I'd really like this play to be special this year,
19:33not for me,
19:34but because of my father,
19:37I want it to be the best production ever.
19:41I know how much it will mean to him
19:43to see me be the angel,
19:45because this play reminds him of my mother.
19:49She paused, collecting her thoughts.
19:53It would be terrible if the play was a failure this year,
19:58especially since I'm involved.
20:00She stopped again before going on,
20:04her voice becoming more emotional as she went on.
20:08I know Eddie would do the best he could.
20:11I really do.
20:13And I'm not embarrassed to do the play with him.
20:17I'm really not.
20:19Actually, he's a very nice person,
20:22but he told me that he's having second thoughts about doing it.
20:27Sometimes people at school can be so cruel,
20:32and I don't want Eddie to be hurt.
20:34But she took a deep breath,
20:37but the real reason I'm asking is because of my father.
20:42He's such a good man, Landon.
20:46If people make fun of his memory of my mother
20:49while I'm playing the part,
20:52well, that would break my heart.
20:55And with Eddie and me,
20:57you know what people would say,
20:59I nodded,
21:00my lips pressed together,
21:02knowing that I would have been
21:04one of those people she was talking about.
21:08In fact, I already was.
21:12Jamie and Eddie,
21:14the dynamic duo we called them
21:16after Miss Garber had announced
21:18that they'd be the ones doing the roles.
21:22The very fact that it was I who had started it up
21:25made me feel terrible,
21:28almost sick to my stomach.
21:29She straightened up a little in her seat
21:33and looked at me sadly,
21:35as if she already knew I was going to say no.
21:40I guess she didn't know how I was feeling.
21:44She went on,
21:45I know that challenges are always part of the Lord's plan,
21:51but I don't want to believe that the Lord is cruel,
21:55especially to someone like my father.
21:59He devotes his life to God,
22:01he gives to the community,
22:04and he's already lost his wife
22:06and has had to raise me on his own,
22:09and I love him so much for it.
22:13Jamie turned away,
22:15but I could see the tears in her eyes.
22:18It was the first time I'd ever seen her cry.
22:22I think part of me wanted to cry too.
22:27I'm not asking you to do it for me,
22:30she said softly.
22:31I'm really not,
22:33and if you say no,
22:34I'll still pray for you.
22:36I promise.
22:38But if you dee like to do something kind
22:41for a wonderful man who means so much to me,
22:45will you just think about it?
22:47Her eyes looked like those of a cocker spaniel
22:52that had just messed on the rug.
22:55I looked down at my feet.
22:57I don't have to think about it,
22:59I finally said.
23:01I'll do it.
23:03I really didn't have a choice,
23:05did I?
23:05Thanks for watching this story on Fiction Saga.
23:10Every ending is just the start of another journey.
23:15If you felt something today,
23:17don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.
23:22More tales are waiting only on Fiction Saga.
23:26More tales are waiting only on Fiction Saga.
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