Real Life Drama

As much as I love to read fiction, I'm finding more stories lately that are real life dramas. Open the newspaper, turn on the TV or listen to your car radio as you drive. One story after another is reported. We get the specifics but not the little human details that finish a story.

All those suspense novels appear more like truth than fiction when our news is filled with kidnappings, abuse of children or the elderly, robberies, fraud, and even murder. The more I read about these crimes, the more concerned I become for our world.

Add to the above the personal real life dramas we all deal with amongst our families and friends. Any one of you reading this today could list several real life dramas amongst your inner circle. Right now, I have a dear friend lying in a hospital in great pain waiting to have a hip replacement tomorrow. Add to that her Rheumatoid Arthritis and living with only one arm for many years while she runs a small ranch. Drama!

Another writer friend went out to dinner with his wife last Sunday. Before they left the restaurant, she complained of a severe pain in her head. Today, she lies near death in a hospital, and her husband says he wants her back if it's even a part of the person she was. Drama!

Still another friend has landed a great job, but she's terrified that she won't be able to perform the tasks as well as someone with far more experience. She's stressed out. Drama!

The three examples above may be real life dramas, but they are also people I care about. I can't close the book after reading the last page and feel satisfied. I need to keep following these stories and help out in any way I can, even if it's only moral support.

Look around you. There are more real life dramas than you can imagine. If only they might all have happy endings. That would be the same satisfying feeling after finishing a novel.