One of the greatest aspects of writing fiction is the ability to revisit real life events and rewrite them. Through science fiction, fantasy, and other forms of speculative fiction, authors are able to revise, recreate, or even redo history.
Growing up, I had difficult, to say the least, relationships with my grandfathers. With one of my grandfathers, I desperately desired a relationship. However, he was an alcoholic and always distant.
Later in life, as i dealt with my own alcoholic demons, I wondered if we might have more in common a quarter century after his death.
The last memories I have of that grandfather aren’t pleasant. However, through the medium of writing, I was able to revisit his last moments and rewrite them to produce closure in my own life. I wrote what I HOPE his last moments were and produce reconciliation between him and my grandmother, who died several years after him.
The exercise might not be reality, but it allowed my mind to imagine a reality in which evils are atoned for and broken relationships are mended. “The Last Dance” is an homage to family and, ultimately, the grace of God to reconcile the irreconcilable.
fiction by a stump 