I remember when I met Vanessa, it all happened in 2001, we met for the first time in a cafeteria in a shopping mall, in the city of Cumaná. Everything happened in the afternoon, I arrived at the mall and proceeded to go to the cafeteria to buy an espresso, and then go to the back of the mall to smoke a cigarette, while they were preparing my coffee, I noticed a girl who was looking at me and when I looked at her for a short time our gazes were crossed and she smiled charmingly, when suddenly the one who was serving me spoke to me to deliver the order, which by the way I had already paid moments before.
A minute later, I grabbed the espresso coffee I had ordered to go, when I was leaving, I decide to pass by her side and when I was about to do it, she looks up, she stares at me and I at her. I say goodbye and the beautiful girl responds in the same way, but with a charming and captivating smile, I continue walking and while I was walking I remember that I felt the need to turn to see her one more time, but I thought "Pablo, don't turn around! But imagine how a young man of 18 years, can resist not to turn to see a beautiful girl with cinnamon skin, honey-colored eyes, straight black hair, beautiful figure and hypnotizing look, that even a man of steel would melt at the sight of her.
It's been a week since I saw her for the first time and to be honest I feel the need to look at her again, I don't know if it was love at first sight.
The following week I managed to go again to the cafeteria to see if I could see her, but I could not see her, and when the week was about to end, it was Thursday when I went back to the cafeteria and decided to have coffee at one of the tables, then she arrived and not only that, but she approached my table asking me: "Can I sit here with you? I inwardly, dead nervous, answered "Sure, you can; by the way, my name is Pablo". She with a charming smile sits down and says: "Thank you, my name is Vanessa! We talked for about 2 or 3 hours and at the end we exchanged numbers.
Then we talked on the phone for several days, we went out several times and little by little we began to feel mutual attraction, at all times we wrote and called each other, until in an outing we had I asked her to be my girlfriend, Vanessa accepted.
Vanessa and I would travel to other cities whenever we had the opportunity, we would usually travel to other towns, we would only spend 2 days, but just to enjoy new experiences together and that's what I loved about her, that we could have new experiences together. And to summarize the story a little, in 2008 I do not know what happened to me, the truth is that I became more intense and that was killing Vanessa's love for me and in 2009 in the middle of September, we ended the relationship.
After we broke up I spent a whole year, under a state of depression and even attempted suicide and a friend was who helped me out of that situation in which I found myself, it was not the first time I fell in love and that was the second time, but with the difference that Vanessa was the person who helped me change many aspects of my life and although we had finished in 2009 and have had other partners more, I stopped loving her just in 2019 and today I thank God and life for having allowed me to have that experience and now I know that I should not be intense, thanks to Vanessa I learned that women are given love, respect, understanding, support in all aspects, loyalty among other things, I support feminism and I am currently single, because I have in mind to improve myself even more as a person, now I can say with peace of mind that I am freer in the way of thinking.
That is why I had said it is from a person who is important to me, as Vanessa made me a better person than I already was.
I think there are times when we need to feel a little push from someone to improve some personal and social aspect of our life and I had my push, although I need to improve even more, I always want to have an improvement in my life and when I write a story I feel that part of me is written in each of the lines I draw with the pencil and with my computer, I know I am not a professional and that my writing is free, but I want to continue improving my stories, until I become a professional writer.
I thank you, @agmoore because this little story and I had not had the opportunity to talk about it with someone and actually after having written part of what happened, I feel stronger mentally, and I firmly believe that it helped me a lot, accept the non-fiction challenge. I am totally grateful to you @agmoore and The ink well community for this kind of challenge or experiment as you want to call it, I appreciate it.
Hello @pjpavan,
This is a very good example of creative nonfiction. You have selected a memorable event in your life. You have explained why it was memorable and why the event has significance for you. Your descriptions of Vanessa, the coffeehouse where you meet her and other settings are vivid.
Then you explain your emotional growth, the painful process you went through. There is a universal element to this description. Just about everyone has had a love, and lost it. This is almost part of growing up, of maturing.
Very good job on your first try out. The most valuable part of your essay is its authenticity. There is no affectation in your narrative. You are honest. Your feelings are raw.These are qualities that draw a reader in, and also that make the essay meaningful to us.
Thank you for joining in the nonfiction 'trial' @pjpavan.
Thank you very much for your comment and for this new topic of non-fiction experiment, it is a good opportunity for all of us who write history and I am grateful to you, for me it is a pleasure to participate here in the community the ink well.
I'm very glad you decided to write this essay, @pjpavan. You do a very good job. You share something personal about yourself. That takes courage. It is exactly this kind of courage and honesty that is valuable to readers. When we read something, we can tell if an author is holding back, not being entirely forthcoming. In that case, writing has less meaning for us. But your writing cuts right to the heart of your experience. It is a heart most of us recognize, because we have loved and lost. We have learned from that loss.
Thank you very much for taking up the nonfiction challenge. You make me proud to have encouraged you to write.
@agmoore, Thank you for encouraging me to write nonfiction, for me it is a real pleasure to take on the challenge that you put me and I try to do the best I can, I'm not saying that this essay is the best but it is something that may help others, to encourage them to write nonfiction, Thanks to @agmoore and the ink well.
Such an amazing story Pablo, it spoke about regrets and how you came out of it with lessons learned. Thanks for sharing this 🤗🤗
@balikis95, Thank you for your comment and it is a pleasure for me to share my stories and essays here at the ink well, I hope others will be encouraged to write non-fiction as it is a valuable opportunity offered by the ink well.
You are welcome, everybody does have their story, some to share, others to be kept and it is a lovely thought the community brought in.
Do enjoy your evening 😊😊
You sure do know how to write one hell of a story and the best part is it's personal. I see authenticity and I really love reading things like it, it gives an insight to the kind of person the writer is, a job well done