RICHARDSON, ethan

[ethan richardson]

ethan marc richardson

name: melinda
age: i knew the dinosaurs
gender: female
writing experience: so there's this story my mom likes to tell about me informing her and my dad about there being wild snakes in the forest. I think I started around then.
how’d you find us?: i've been here since the beginning
a favorite book: Going Bovine - Libba Bray
other character(s): Noah Davis, Ainsley Harris, Kaelynn Hawthorne


name: Ethan Marc Richardson
age: eighteen
citizen? upper? lower schooling?: upper
previous residence: corsica, france
eye color: cobalt blue
hair color: dark brown
height: 6'1
distinguishing features: a small scar on his right shoulder blade in the shape of a heart -- the result of scoring the winning goal and too much alcohol with is mate; always wears a small, circular platinum locket around his neck though it is usually not visible


four good personality traits

four bad personality traits

three quirks

important people

history

Allow me to tell you a fairy tale; one I heard countless times as a boy. It was always a favorite at bedtime. Let’s see if I can even recall it after all these years. Like all good stories, this one begins with ‘Once upon a time…’

- - - - -

Once upon a time there was a handsome prince. The entire kingdom loved both him and his family and worked so that they wanted for nothing. But the prince was sad and no one could find the source of his grief. For though the prince had everything his fortune could purchase he was missing the most important thing in the world, love. Oh, it is true that he was beloved by all he met but love comes in many forms. There is the love from family and that from friends; the love of those who pass through our lives and our love for others. But there is one love that is more potent than all others. It is powerful, altering – the love of your other half. While there were many who longed to be the one to brighten the prince, no such maiden could be found within the walls of his kingdom. And so, the prince set out on an adventure.

He traveled the world, seeing many great things and living an abundant life of adventure. As time passed the prince forgot about his sadness and entertained many beautiful maidens as he journeyed. As he laughed and dined with them he could not shake the belief that his true adventure was waiting for him and was never truly satisfied.

He found her in a land greener than all others; a place where magic whispered between the grasses in the field and sparkled golden with the morning dew. The moment the prince set foot in this land he knew that something was about to change but it was not until he saw her that he understood what that would mean for him. For the moment he looked into her eyes – a rich sapphire that always seemed alive with humor and mischief he knew that she was the one that he had been searching for since the start. True love is the greatest adventure of all because it requires your entire heart and soul. You cannot hide from the other person and must allow them to see both your strength and weakness. Though the price is high, the reward is greater. All of this frightened the young prince. He had never loved this way and was so far away from home. He had nothing to offer her having spent most of his wealth on his journey’s and having left his treasures back at home. Despite this he knew he could not lose her. And, with time, he gave the beautiful princess the only thing he ever had of any worth – his heart.

Together they were very happy. Such happiness is rare to find but even rarer to keep for it can pass through our fingers like grains of sand and be gone before we ever fully grasp its absence. This is why we must cherish each second of such a powerful gift, so its magic will remain in us forever.

The prince did not know this at the time, and though he loved the princess with all of his heart he would forever wonder if it had been enough. For you see one day tragedy struck the young pair. They were still new in their marriage and believed themselves invincible to time; neither ever fully understanding the terrible curse that had been placed on the princess when she was still a little girl. Even if they had understood what the curse would mean for them it would not have changed their fates.

They were returning from a beautiful ball when their carriage lost control. Both the prince and princess were injured terribly and many feared for their lives. Despite his own injuries, the prince would not leave his princess’ side until he knew that she would be cared for.

Doctors arrived from across the kingdom, each hoping to be the one to save the young princess but all discovering the same thing: her heart, with its great capacity to love, was too weak to survive. As each reported the same news to the prince, his heart grew heavy and hard. There was nothing to be done. Sometimes even the most powerful of magic cannot change things. And so, the beautiful princess died with her prince at her side, holding her hand until all her warmth was gone.

All was not lost with the princess. As she drew her last breath, she gave her prince a gift that could only result from their deep love for one another: a perfect son. He was the perfect combination of both with her sparkling blue eyes and father’s dark hair.

The prince, however, was too saddened to see his son for the gift he was. With the death of his princess he believed that he had also lost his heart. He had allowed himself to become so hardened and blinded that he could not see the truth gazing up at him from his cradle. For the infant was more than just a combination of their appearances, inside him he was made up of the pieces of the love the prince and princess shared. This little boy existed to tell the world of their love and one day the prince’s eyes would be open to the truth and bring his son home.

- - - - -

I used to insist that my aunt tell me that story before bed. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I was the infant at the end of the tale and that my parents were the prince and princess. For many years I desperately believed that this was more than a mere fairy tale – that somewhere far away was a magic kingdom of which I was the prince and my father would come for me. But my aunt chose to omit pieces of the story for they would not make a good bedtime tale for little, hopeful boys.

For, part of the princess’s curse was that her true love would never be able to gaze upon something that reminded him of her without experiencing her death all over. The hardening of his heart turned to bitterness and then, finally, hatred to the son he blamed for taking away the love of his life. And, like most curses, it continued should the spell not be broken. For without the strength of her prince, those pieces died within her son leaving him entirely with her heart. One just as weak and as ready to stop.

I’ve been to plenty of specialists over the years and they all say the same thing – that they do not know what caused my deformity or what it will mean. I may live a happy, productive life or I may drop in an instant of a massive heart attack. See, in typical hearts the muscle that opens and closes the valvea grows along with it. In my case, the muscle is too small for my left atria and must work harder to pump blood. I was born in the midst of death and, in many ways, have been dying ever since.

They say you learn everything from your parents, and though I never lived with mine, I can still claim this as truth for me. I’ve seen what love can do to a person, especially once it has been lost and have vowed to never inflict that pain on another. It hardly seems fair to love another when I will invariably leave them. I did love though. It was as beautiful as it was painful. In the end, and it did end, I ended up hurting her more than I ever intended to. For no mater how hard I try to forget her, I can’t.

I still, and will forever, love her even if it is too late.

if you could be anywhere, where would you be? In my fairy tale when it achieves its happy ending.

character’s play-by: Borys Staroz

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