~Peregrine Storke~
The picture was a new one, the canvas covered in charcoal and pastels rather than paint. There was a spectacled princess, a pockmarked troll, a clumsy fairy, and a bookworm with overlarge glasses. All of them were standing on a bridge in front of a large lake. It was a mirrored lake, the surface so smooth it threw back their reflections.
In the water, the only thing they saw was their faces. They didn’t see themselves as better than what they were, and they didn’t see themselves as any worse. They were simply themselves, their lips curved in a smile.
Behind them, there rose an ivory white tower. It was a pristine tower surrounded by beautiful trees with man-sized leaves and clouds shaped like roses. There was a prince in the tower. He gazed down at them, his face full of confusion. He was, in retrospect, a sad and insecure prince. There comes a time when everyone must learn to embrace who they are. For some, it takes longer than others.
I titled the drawing Acceptance. Beneath it, I signed, Peregrine Storke. My name meant “traveler” or “pilgrim”. I’ve not traveled to many far off places, but I have made a pilgrimage.
The journey taught me something.
Perfection is seductive.
In the perfect fairytale, the minority wins. The princess snares her prince. The villain is vanquished. The victim is always beautiful, her good heart triumphing over wickedness. True goodness is always beautiful. The villain is almost always ugly. Or so we would like to believe.
In truth, it is evil beauty that is most devastating. For beauty isn’t always good and ugliness isn’t always bad. It is how we perceive ourselves that matter. True courage isn’t about being brave. True beauty isn’t about being beautiful. True courage is about being real. True beauty is about being happy.
The story of Awkward was my fairytale. In a world where no one was perfect, but everyone was happy, perfection wasn’t seductive. There was no such thing as true perfection.
I make mistakes.
Awkward taught me to embrace my awkwardness, but it was Foster who taught me that it was okay to strive for something better. To be better than what I am. There is no such thing as perfection, but there is such a thing as success. Awkwardness is about embracing what makes us unique and using that to make us different, better.
The world will always be full of obstacles. It will always be full of pain and awkwardness. But I will never forget that moment when Elspeth stood before Perfection and said, “Do what you want to us and to this world. Drown us. Burn Awkward alive. Destroy us. We’ll rise again. We can be replaced. You can’t destroy what is indestructible. Everyone belongs somewhere, even if it’s not in your perfect world. Embrace your awkward, Perfection. Embrace it. Because everyone, no matter how hidden it may seem, has something awkward about them. Our world will always outlast yours.”
And like all fairytales, mine ended with a happily ever after. It ended with confidence. It made me stronger. It even ended with a prince. Will he always be there? Maybe not. Relationships are as much a work of art as a drawing. It takes time. It takes a lot of erasing, smudging, and redoing. In the end, it’s usually worth it. Sometimes, it’s not.
In the end, my happily ever after wasn’t a carriage with “Just Married” on the back, or songbirds carrying a fairytale sign over our heads. It was embracing my awkwardness and a whisper from Foster that said, “Let’s take this where ever it goes.”
It was enough.
And we lived awkwardly ever after …
The End
Author’s Note
This book is a special book for me. I was, in many ways, Peregrine as a child, bullied incessantly. The scene in the classroom cornered by four boys really happened. The glass bottles kicked at her head, they really existed. This book may not be the perfect story (pun intended). It may not even be everyone’s cup of tea (cliché intended). But it is my fairytale. It is the fairytale I wanted to pass on to my children, the one that tells them it’s okay not to be perfect. The one that tells them it’s okay to embrace what makes them awkward. This is the Story of Awkward. It’s about a girl who created a world where she felt like she belonged. Loneliness often fools us into believing everyone is bad. This is where Foster comes in. He is a hero who has made mistakes, a hero who has seen terrible tragedy and has been damaged by it. He is, in short, awkward. Peregrine made the mistake of drawing everything in her world as perfect except her prince. When we read a book or escape into a story, we want to look like the character we’re reading about. We want to be that beautiful woman with the gorgeous man. I know I do! I enjoy writing beautiful stories about beautiful people.
And yet …
One afternoon, my daughter came home from school with tears in her eyes. She’d been bullied because she wore glasses and she wasn’t thin enough. She’d been teased because she was too smart. She is only ten years old. This, along with my own experiences growing up, were my inspiration for the Story of Awkward. Even if it isn’t your kind of fairytale, I hope you walk away from it with a smile and remember to embrace what makes you awkward.
I truly hope you enjoy Perri and Foster’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was as much a personal journey as a story, a true joy to put to paper.
Massive hugs and love,
R.K. Ryals
About the Author
R.K. Ryals is the author of emotional and gripping young adult and new adult paranormal romance, contemporary romance, and fantasy. With a strong passion for charity and literacy, she works as a full time writer encouraging people to "share the love of reading one book at a time." An avid animal lover and self-proclaimed coffee-holic, R.K. Ryals was born in Jackson, Mississippi and makes her home in the Southern U.S. with her husband, her three daughters, a rescue dog named Oscar the Grouch, A Shitzsu named Tinkerbell, an OCD cat, and a coffee pot she honestly couldn't live without. Should she ever become the owner of a fire-breathing dragon (tame of course), her life would be complete. Visit her at https://rkryals.com/ or subscribe to R.K. Ryals' Newsletter
Other works available:
The Redemption Series
Redemption
Ransom
Retribution
Revelation (coming 2014)
The Acropolis Series
The Acropolis
The Labyrinth
Deliverance (Coming 2014)
The Thorne Trilogy
Cursed
Possessed
Dancing with the Devil (2014)
The Scribes of Medeisia Series
Mark of the Mage
Fist of the Furor
City in Ruins (Coming 2014/2015)
The Singing River
Retaliation Bridge (Coming 2014)
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