Midnight Sun Challenge Chapter 1.7 "The Last Straw"

In ever your life 

were you so mad 

that you actually saw 

the colour red? 

That blinding raw feeling of emotion that completely takes you over, and the need for pure violence just emanates from every pore in your body. Ian had finally reached his boiling point. He had been robbed five more times in two weeks, losing two more toilets, a kitchen light, his art easel, his microwave and a sink. Total despair took him over, and the loneliness was admittedly and finally getting to him. How was he supposed to get ahead when life kept beating him down?


He had just been thinking about taking a trip so he could buy some much needed supplies. Supplies themselves, that were going to cost him a pretty penny indeed. He thought he was one work day away from booking his trip when he was robbed once more.



Sleep became fitful, and all he could think about was everything he had lost. He knew he had to take action, so he tried to come up with a plan to foil the robber. His first plan was to put away anything valuable into his back pack before he went to bed. This helped to keep the items he needed for work safe, but not those toilets and sinks. Who in his right mind would steal toilets and sinks?


His second plan was to block the bottom of the stairs by two walls, creating a room with a locked door. But the robber just walked through the locked door as if it was never locked. That night he lost his art easel. He had decided to leave it out, for he felt sure his plan was fool proof. Look in the mirror, see Ian the fool.



His final plan was to remove all the doors to his boat at night while he slept. But could you believe it-the robber walked right through the basement walls. Under the boat and in the water, right into his basement, like magic. That was the last straw.

When he got up to stop the robber, he disappeared, like he had been transported to another location. Ian wondered if he was going mad from the solitude, to start believing in things like transporting. Perhaps he had watched too much Star Trek as a child. But even still, his shower was now gone, so he couldn't have imagined it.



To make matters worse, everything starting breaking. First it was his brand new toilet, and then the sink. Never having fixed a sink or toilet before, it took some time but he tackled the repair nicely, saving him from having to spend even more money on brand new items-again.

One morning while standing on the island contemplating his lot in life, he turned around and saw an injured falcon on the ground. He befriended the falcon quickly and it was at that very moment the extent of his loneliness completely washed over him. He held the bird to him tightly, and let the anguish flow from him. The bird stood still as Ian cried out his sorrows and when he was done, the bird squawked at him and flew away.

Ian was a little embarrased for crying like a child, but he did feel a little better. He wasn't a quitter and so it was time to once again make some real changes in his life. He started to wonder if living in the basement of the boat was having any impact on his emotional state. So he decided to take what little money he had and build a up so he would be living in bright and open rooms like a normal person would do.


Secondly, he knew he needed to do something about the loneliness factor. Being on his own was an over rated thought and he knew now that he was not meant to be without some form of company. In his life, he had gone from one extreme to another; from the big city to total isolation. Grief was driving his decisions and it was time he made better choices. So he scrolled through the catalogue, until he found exactly what he was looking for.

Her name was Tameka, but seeing her colour, he changed it to Violet. Violet was such a breath of fresh air, so lively and quick to laugh. She just made his day and he was so glad he had made the decision to make her part of his life.




Phase two of the plan, was to start the sculpting part of his creative career and he quickly found he had the skill for it; producing sculpture after sculpture in clay wood and ice. His bank account grew and he was finally able to build the first floor of his boathouse and put in a kitchen. Even if that meant he had to live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a while, he didn't care. He was finally once again making headway into his new life. But he lived in dread of the next time he would be robbed.

His dreams were filled with images of robbers and alarms and police officers that would never come to his aid. But in the end his hope was...

the robber would be caught and he would finally see some justice!