#dpflounder

Trish read the note before taking a good look at the trophy Flounder had presented her with. When the storm hit, she really just did the best she could with the little knowledge she had surrounding the situation. She ushered the students to safety, she tried to keep everyone as calm as possible – even though her own nerves tried to get the best of her. In the end, she pulled through without faltering more than slightly. They were rescued by a group of students and from that moment she’d been doing her best to squash those couple of days. The rubble was nothing but a nightmare, the storm a brief memory that didn’t need to be called back to. But looking at the small award, she smiled. It wasn’t something that was voted upon or achieved by impressing a group of judges. It was the genuine grateful response of someone she’d helped. She doubted her ability all through the event, but maybe she wasn’t as far off as initially thought.

Guess who misses talking to you? That's right, me!

I must be off cuz school and shit in the morning.

This is probably really silly, and scatter-brained, (I'm writing this really late, the day before we leave for break) but bear with me.

When I was a little kid, I'd used to pretend I was a damsel in distress, waiting for my knight in shining armor to come and save me. Everyday I would imagine this knight was still coming for me. He'd come rescue me, whisking me away into the sunset, and we'd go off and live happily ever after. I probably watched too many Disney movies, and read too many fairy tales at that age, but over time I snapped out of fantasy, and back to reality. Where there are no prince charmings or happy endings. I still managed to keep a little bit of that hope, and innocent with me, since I'm still a kid.

Are you getting this so far? Good. Now, I have something else to tell you. Something that I thought for a very long time. I feel good to have accepted the fact, at an early age, that this is who I am: The flamboyant, bouncy, fun-loving, clumsy, easily distracted, gayer than the fourth of July Tigger that you know and love. Still, for a little while I felt like I needed to be straight to have someone love me. Maybe if I liked girls the way I like boys, people would like me. And the talk of our small town finally reached me.

"You know, some colleges don't let gay kids in."

"Does he want to have a family some day? I heard it's a tough process, adopting."

"What if he wants to get married? It's surely not legal for gays to marry."

"I would never let my son be gay. My poor baby would never take it out there. What Tigger needs is to live a normal life. Be normal, like all the other boys."

After all of this I snapped out of wanting to be straight so I'd be accepted. Either way, I wouldn't be. And I'm happy with myself. It doesn't matter that it will be hard. Life's hard anyway. But, I just wanted to share this with you. Kind of show you what my life has been. And according to a website I found called Dear Amy: "Both partners in a relationship need to have a mutual respect, and understanding. If you tell each other what your life has been like, you've got that. You just have to trust that the other will stay there with you, and accept it." So here I am, taking a chance. Writing this.

And I also wanted to say that all those days, weeks, even years of imagining this knight in shining armor, I figured out who it was. You. You're my prince charming. You're the one I've been waiting for. Now, I know nothing won't be a perfect fairytale ending, but don't judge me when I say that I want it to be. But, if you won't leave me, I won't leave you. Oh, and by the way, thanks for saving me.

He hadn't seen his parents since they had set him off, and he felt a bit anxious to see them. But he was still excited, since he was bringing his boyfriend along with him. Tigger hoped more than anything that his parents would accept Flounder, and he had a feeling that they would.

Tigger bounced out of bed that morning, having a little more energy than he should for it being that early. He couldn't help it, he was excited to go back home and see his family again, and be able to show Flounder off to everyone. See, Tigger can get a boyfriend if he really wanted to! He'd tell them. His parent's scoffed at the idea of him getting one. They'd always use the same excuses of his being too young for a relationship, or he wasn't ready. When he got back, he could finally prove them wrong.