Teenage Dilemmas [UNDERGOING MAJOR EDITING]

Afterword by James Kristenson

Afterword by James Kristenson

Hello dear reader,

Here we are, you and I on the last page of this story.

Although this is the story of my wife during her darkest year, I would like to say that I played a major part in it.

What an adventure it has been through the pages of the raggedy book that has travelled in the back pocket of Bridgit Newman’s dark-wash jeans, travelling through continents and over borders for so long, finally coming to a rest.

By the time you read these words on this last page of this book, Bridgit and I have grown old, this old and nostalgic memory just that. For this story seemed dramatic at the time, being over dramatic teenagers with dilemmas of their own. I look back on this time of my life as one of the darkest I have to come across in my many, many years. Even though some of these characters told throughout this novel were only metaphors and characters of Bridgit’s imagination, I must remind you that with or without these metaphors, the message remains the same.

When you feel like giving up, like you’ve fallen so far down that no matter how hard you look, there is no light, remember that there is redemption. Tell me this when I was a teenager, I would spit in your face and laugh, telling you that happiness is like a unicorn, you only see it if you’re crazy.

I have two words that hold so much weight for me in my life, the two short words that held so much meaning for Bridgit and me throughout our years. Thank you.

Just one last favour that I’d like to ask of you, dearest reader, a friend that I have come to know, I have one last favour before my time passes and I have no more time to ask for any more favours.

Now, I pass this dark story onto you to spread it and make a meaning for these words one of your own. Spread this story to anyone who is fading into darkness, tell this story as a beacon of hope whether you hide or express the identity of its origins, and please tell the miraculous story of Bridgit Newman.

Find your unicorn.

Thank you and goodbye, good friend.

James Kristenson