Life’S Uncertain Journeys: A Lgbtq Short Story Collection

By Ashton Shaw Melvin

This collection of stories follows four young adults as they try to find themselves. They are trying to overcome the inner battles of coming to terms with their sexuality or gender identity. In each story, you are able to follow along with the main characters as they realize who they truly are and become more comfortable in their own skin. The characters are surrounded by role models and friends that help ease the pain and confusion along the way and help shine some light on their path to self-discovery. Each story presents a unique situation that allows the reader to gain insight into different real-life scenarios.

Battle has a character that comes from a strong military family, and he himself will be enlisting. Things get complicated for him when a new guy moves in from out of town. In Girl by the Lake, you follow a girl who comes from a broken home and her attempt to escape it by going to a summer camp. Little did she know that she would meet someone there who would change everything. In the story Stacey, you follow a young individual preparing to go to college but whose life is turned upside down upon seeing a peculiar woman in a movie theater. This woman would bring light to something that was not expected. Having Faith is a story about a young man struggling with his faith and his inner feelings. He develops a strong attraction for another person in the youth group, which would prove to be challenging, but he finds comfort in the arms of his friends.

All four stories are bound together by the truth that even in the most confusing of times, there is a way out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524620202

Ashton Shaw Melvin

Ashton Shaw Melvin is a native of southern Indiana. He attended Indiana University, studying sociology and minors in psychology and human sexuality. While there, he was part of several organizations relating to issues of sexuality and gender. One of these organizations was the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Speaker’s Bureau. This organization went into classrooms and residence halls to provide panel discussions on issues of sexual diversity. One group that was also close to Ashton’s heart was Raising Awareness of Interactions in Sexual Encounters (RAISE), which went into classrooms, fraternities, sororities, and residence halls to provide education on what consent was and how to use it for healthy and safe sexual encounters. Ashton has had different jobs ranging from being an employment consultant for a local organization assisting those with developmental disabilities to an accountant for a credit union. Currently, he is a home health caregiver and a volunteer at a local hospital. Ashton grew up in a small conservative town. He was raised in a Christian family and enjoyed attending church all through his school years. Growing up in a small town and predominantly Christian area has influenced Ashton and was an inspiration for his desire to write stories for young adults to see that though things may seem rough and confusing, they can get better and more clear over time. Ashton has always wanted to find a way to be able to help the youth and their families come to terms with and accept their sexuality or gender identity. He is hoping that through these stories, people will be able to have a better understanding of the struggles that some people face.

Book preview

© 2016 Ashton Shaw Melvin. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/22/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2021-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2022-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2020-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016911812

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Battle

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Final Chapter

Girl By The Lake

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Final Chapter

Stacey

Intro

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Final Chapter

Having Faith

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Final Chapter

Thanks to Sara for giving me encouragement all along the way and being my own personal cheerleader, to Eden for helping me finish up putting this book together, and for Amber for keeping me grounded so that I could make this book a reality.

I am

dedicating this book to those who have inspired these stories along the way and for those who are still facing these battles every day. May these stories give you a voice.

Battle

Introduction

G oing into the military always seemed like it was going to be the hardest thing to face after leaving high school. It was certainly not going to be easy, but there was something else he had not suspected. Henry knew that joining the military and staying in it would now mean he had to keep a secret from even his best friend. He wanted to be able to talk to people about this new person he was developing feelings for, but by doing so he could jeopardize everything him and his family had been working towards since he was born.

Chapter 1

H enry’s family was a very traditional family. The men in the family were expected to go and get good jobs to support the family financially while the women were to take care of the home and help see that the children were raised properly. Henry’s grandfather was the patriarch of the family. Any major decisions for the entire family went through him. Henry knew that one day this would be his dad’s responsibility and ultimately this would be Henry’s responsibility once he was older and had kids and grandkids. Growing up Henry didn’t think a lot about this family dynamic. It wasn’t until he was older that he started resenting it. He wanted to be able to do things without wondering what his father and grandfather would say about it or if they would allow him to do it.

The respect for the men in Henry’s family came from the fact that both Henry’s grandfather and his father had both served in the military. Henry’s grandfather served in World War II and nearly lost his life. This affected Henry’s grandmother still to this day. She was very protective over the family, always keeping a close eye on everyone. Henry’s dad served in the military as well. He joined right after high school and served on active duty for 15 years. Henry had a lot of respect for his dad and grandfather. Though he sometimes questioned how the decisions were made in the family, he looked up to them more than anyone.

Early on in Henry’s high school career his grandfather and father had approached him and talked to him about enlisting in the military once he graduated high school. Henry barely gave it a second thought. Of course he was going to he thought to himself. He assumed that this was always something he was going to do. He didn’t realize that his grandfather and father were really going to give him much of a choice. Henry’s grandmother supported his decision to join. Henry’s mother on the other hand was more apprehensive. She didn’t want Henry to feel obligated to join just because his dad and grandpa were veterans. She wanted Henry to have the opportunity to make decisions on his own. Henry was not the only one who sometimes resented the hierarchy of decision making, his mother did too. He knew how much she worried while Henry’s father was overseas. He knew that she didn’t want to have to worry about her son the way she did about her husband. Henry felt guilty for making the decision to join because of this, but joining was something he wanted to do. Even if it did scare him.

One thing that comforted Henry about joining was that he wouldn’t be alone, at least not through the entire process. Henry’s friend Robert was going to be enlisting with him after they graduated. They had been friends since they were in elementary school. Robert too came from a military family. Robert’s story was slightly different than Henry’s however. Robert’s father had been killed on border control in South Korea by a mine explosion when Robert was twelve years old. It had affected Robert quite a bit. He had hate inside him that Henry could see at times. Henry was the only one that could get Robert to ease himself down and control his anger. They both knew that if they stuck together they could do anything.

Senior year was going smoothly and all Henry could do was think about the end of the year. He wanted nothing more than to hurry up and get through this school year so he could start on his new journey. He was an average student. He didn’t get bad grades, but he wasn’t at the top of the list either. He did what he needed to do to get by. He had friends other than Robert but was not all that interested in social gatherings. There were a few girls at school who had crushes on Henry, but he did not seem all too interested in dating. He didn’t want to get involved in a relationship because he knew what it did to his mom when his dad went overseas and he didn’t want to have to leave someone behind worrying about him when he left. It was almost like Henry was a horse with blinders over his eyes with only the military as the road ahead. Until one day when a new student showed up in class named Michael.

Henry couldn’t tell what to make of Michael. Henry could tell that he had probably moved from a larger city because he was dressed much different than the rest of the students. Henry could tell that Michael felt uncomfortable as he walked in and handed the teacher a note and sat down in class. As class went on, Henry realized that he was staring when Michael looked at him and kind of gave a half smile. Henry gave him a smile back. Kind of like a welcome to school smile. Henry generally was not the welcoming committee type of person, but after class he went up to Michael and introduced himself. It turned out that they had a lot of the same classes together and shared the same lunch period. Henry told Michael that he could sit with him and his friend Robert at lunch if he wanted to.

At lunch time Henry asked Michael a hundred questions. He had come from a fairly large city out east because his dad had accepted a job at the university in town. Michael had played soccer back home and was hoping that he could play here at the new school. Michael’s mom was trying to get a job as a lawyer at a local law firm. Henry could tell that Michael came from a much different family than his own. He was almost in awe of how different Michael was from him. Michael had traveled all over the world with his parents because of his dad’s work and was hoping to study overseas for college at some point. He wasn’t sure for what yet. Henry got so caught up in talking with Michael that he hadn’t realized how quiet Robert was and that he had not said hardly anything. Robert was a little shy so Henry didn’t think too much about it. The rest of the day Henry couldn’t help thinking about what it would have been like to grow up in a family like Michael’s.

After school that day when Robert was taking Henry home, Henry could tell that Robert was being very quiet. Is something bothering you? Robert didn’t answer right away, but then he started to tell Henry that he didn’t understand what his fascination was with Michael. He was just a new kid at school. Henry could tell that Robert was jealous. Robert had a hard time making friends and Henry was his best friend so Henry knew that the thought of losing him was probably scary. Henry thought that Robert was acting kind of silly though. It was just one day. It wasn’t like he had ditched Robert or not spoken to him for weeks. Henry just told Robert that he was trying to make Michael feel welcome because he could tell how uncomfortable he was coming into class that day. Robert dropped the conversation and that was the end of it.

Over the next few weeks Henry started to become closer friends with Michael. This was surprising even to him. They were much different people who came from different worlds, but there was something about Michael that Henry found comforting. They only really talked at school. Henry knew that Robert would be upset if Michael and him started hanging out outside of school. One day though Michael asked Henry if he would want to come over to his house for supper after school. Henry was very intrigued by the idea. He thought about it through a few classes. There wasn’t much to think about except hoping that it wouldn’t hurt Robert. At lunch he told Michael that he would like to go.

That Friday night after school Henry went home and got washed up to go to Michael’s house. He was very nervous about going. Just from the stories Michael had told him he felt like he was going to be very out of place. He put on his nicest blue jeans and button up shirt. When he came downstairs to leave his mom complemented him on his looks and his dad looked at him kind of funny. His dad asked if he had a date. Henry told him where he was going and Henry could see that his dad was trying to figure out why he was so dressed for just going to a friend’s house for dinner. Henry was running a little behind so he didn’t have time to explain the difference between his family and theirs. Plus, he was sure his father would not exactly approve of this friend’s family’s lifestyle.

As Henry was walking up to this beautiful two story modern house he became more nervous than he had anticipated. He knocked on the door and Michael came and greeted him. As Henry walked in Michael gave Henry a hug. This kind of startled Henry a little bit. What was this supposed to mean? Maybe this is just what sophisticated people do. Michael took Henry into the living room and introduced him to his mom and dad. They were very kind and welcoming people. They were very different than what he had expected. He was expecting a family who remained very quiet through the meal and didn’t seem loving. Michael’s family was quite the opposite. They were very interested in Henry and getting to know him and they seemed very much like a caring family. Eventually, Henry became comfortable enough to ask them questions and they were more than willing to answer them. Over all the night was a success. Throughout the meal though one thing kept on the back of Henry’s mind. He couldn’t help think about Michael hugging him at the door.

First thing at school Monday morning Robert came up to Henry looking rather frazzled. Henry could tell that Robert was angry. Henry had known Robert long enough to know when things