by eliyeda   COMPLETED  47 Chapters

Meet Shawn, or Noah, depending on whether you've read "Wattpad Letters" or not.  For those of you who have read that story, you are going to love this prequel.  You get to see the mystery behind Noah, or Shawn, and it makes things click into place on why he was so angry, and so ready to come to Sally's aid.

Trigger warning folks:  This story is dark.  It covers abuse of every form.  It starts at a very young age for him, with a mentally unstable mother, and a father that keeps making excuses for her.  He does take a stand finally and Noah had some years of happiness, but that eventually changes.  I believe the mother was possibly a sociopath, having the inability to understand what empathy is.

As a child, his best friend is no older than a girl when he finds out she is abused far worse than he is.  It gives him a very strong protective streak.  As a teen, his best friend is a goofball that finally gets to reclaim him in his future, thanks to his very sensitive girlfriend noting "his eyes look so sad" in one of his posters of fame.  Noah indeed was very sad, as he was thrown into a world where everyone wanted something from him, and took it, to the point that he no longer cared, not even to continue living.

Noah almost dies.  This story contains a slow descent into despair, which was actually very difficult for the author.  But she wonderfully illustrated a scene where Noah found the light again, where he is literally dreaming of a place of thousands of stars, because he was finally able to look up, and there he made peace with his late father.

I wish I could say that he was able to make amends with his mother and first love, but they were both too damaged, and brought out the worst in one another.  The one thing that the reader cannot understand, (unless they have already read Wattpad Letters,) is how special a bond and how important Sally is.  Although there are a couple of places where it hints about it.

I have asked when a sequel will come, though Miss Eliyeda has expressed she's not certain she wants to.  In a way I can't blame her, as Shawn's tale was dark as it is.  A sequel would be even darker, even if you can't help but feel your heart break a little with the first love.  But if she were to do such a thing, somehow I can't help but feel that Sally and their future daughter would be the leading cause for them to find healing, as they just give me the impression of lightworkers.  I wouldn't even be surprised if Noah's mother also endured such abuse, as some of these folks end up doing that to others, as she did to him.  It would also explain why she was so adamant that she never wanted children in the first place.

But then, when you write, the characters tend to take the writer's pen in their possession and take things under their control.  And characters, just like people, sometimes never learn and keep making the same mistakes over and over again.  The story of Shawn took a toll on Eliyeda, beautiful as it turned out to be.  So, I hope she takes her time and fills her own soul back with happy sunshine.  But I do hope she writes again eventually.  You can't help but love her characters and see where life takes them on their new adventures.  Find out for yourself on "Wattpad Letters" and "Her Wattpadder Soulmate."

Update:  the author's account has been closed, and Her Wattpadder Soulmate is no longer available.  The author, though very, very talented, expressed how difficult writing this story was for her, as "I typically like to keep happy thoughts in my head," and the abuse that he had to go through, it really got to her.  She admitted that she didn't think she had the strength or stamina to write another story, even though you want to see something better happen for his first love.  But, be as it may, I understand when you are also a mom with children that will grow up at any moment, and a writing hobby that doesn't pay, and then getting a job that requires your full attention but actually gives a check.... I'm sad, but I understand.