#writerintraining

So I’m rarely new to this writing stuff but lets begin with my name, I’m Santiago Alvarado, born and raised in the Bay Area (google it to find out where that is) and currently 25 years old (my birthday was two days ago by the way happy birthday to me.) Growing up as a Mexican-American in the Bay Area was kinda strange, i’ve met so many people from different races and cultures just by living here, I guess most people who were looking for a place to live in California found the Bay Area (yay.) It’s relatively small compared to the SF or Sacramento but I loved it, it’s my home, here’s where literally everything happened to me (cause I haven’t been anywhere else) . So I come from a small family of 4 one older brother, obviously two parents one male and female (it wasn’t like these times where gay couples existed yet) BUT going on, from my mom side of her family she had 20 brothers and 1 sister (yes, okay overpopulation BITE ME) and my dad had 7 brothers and 5 sisters (Mexicans what can I say) most of them lived in Mexico so I can’t say I know them pretty well but I did have a few that moved to the Bay Area with my parents, my dad’s brother and sister (one each) and the only ladies from my mom side of the family. Growing up I had this cousin named Maria (typical) she was my rock, my best friends, she was practically my sister since the first day I arrived home from the hospital (she bite me on my finger since then, she claimed me.) My older brother, Jaime (typical again) he was always a bully to me but I guess he always protected me too like he use to say all the time “I’m the only one who can pick on my brother” (man times do change.) Then there was my other cousin Carlos and my best friend Carlos (yes yes yes I get it typical Mexicans.) So moving forward, growing up with parents who were still kinda growing up themselves was sorta difficult, kids had to fend for themselves sometimes cause everything was just always a whirlwind; family fighting family, kids fighting kids, murders, kidnappings, car crashes, psychopaths, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, gang violence, suicides, poverty, immigration (the works, perfect for those award winning Oscar movies) I guess you can say we’ve had to grow up quick but don’t get me wrong, despite all the craziness and the traumatic situations we were faced with we managed to stay close as a family, we made the best of any situation, we survived a lot and we fought through some hardships. It was an eye opener to realize that the world I saw in the movies or fairytales were fake, I believed that not even Superman or Batman would want to come save us from this explosive hurricane we were forced to face (just my luck.) Going on, while dealing with all this drama we had to focus on how we were going to survive, so I would pick up some babysitting shifts, free food, money and something that’ll keep me from being home all the time but me being the “golden child” born in the United States had to focus on my studies and work to help provide for my family while my mother was working 3 jobs and my dad being an alcoholic at home. He got in some trouble with the law so he was gone for the most part (but hey one less mouth to feed right?)  It wasn't an easy ride but we managed, I did what I could with what I had (me being 10 years old I didn’t have much.) We lived in a two bedroom apartment which was in the same apartment complex of where Maria and my best friend Carlos (not cousin okay) lived. Most night’s we would sneak out of our houses and stay out late, go out to our friends houses, or even stay in the park down the street from our house till 2-3am (magic word here is sneak out.) I guess you can say we were crazy kids (seriously) throwing parties while our parents were gone, drinking and smoking (starting from the age of 11.) Those apartment complex held so much memories, good and bad but things were soon going to start changing.

YOU'RE LEARNING

When writing a description for your short story is taking "too long" or longer than it "should" remember: creating a reader attracting description is a skill and this is your 1st time.

Let’s start at the beginning . . .

I was driving to Las Vegas with a man who I barely knew. The sun had set hours ago and we had been up for days.  He was the owner of a company I had been doing business with for a few months. I was his vendor and his name was Jeremy. The sky was dark, maybe there were stars out maybe even a moon somewhere out there but I had no idea. 

He was not the type of guy I normally went out with but I found him attractive nonetheless. He had broad shoulders, strong arms and he stared at me with intensity in his eyes. I had been trying to put this feeling into words but the words eluded me. I suppose he made me feel warm. Such a simplistic way to describe it but the feeling wasn’t simple. The warmth I felt wasn’t romantic or comforting warm like a soft blanket on a rainy day or coffee in front of a fireplace on a cold morning . . . It was different than anything I had felt before. He made me feel like some kind of nuclear energy was emanating from my core. It was a physical feeling that I couldn’t deny. The energy surrounded my spine and warmed my soul. It was something I had never dreamed of let alone felt before.He was mine, I was his and I was whole.