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Misguided Perception
by Matthew Stephen Hyder
(August 29, 2011 Monday A.D.)
Part 4 (Final)

Last night I dreamed of activating a lighthouse. For some reason, I dreamed of mythological creatures being inside it. I was some kind of sorceress, and I fought them with holy magic. The whole dream was like one of those Japanese Role-Playing games. I've never played any before but maybe I should, if their coming at me in my dreams despite having never played any. Anyways, I made it to the top and turned the lighthouse on. Peace returned and ships were able to safely make it across the darkness and fog at night... All the creatures inside the lighthouse mysteriously vanished though. It seemed they all... died... They couldn't accept the light for what it was, and they all disappeared...
When I woke up, I cried a little again... Was it telling me that some people will never accept the world for the way it is, and continue living their lives in darkness, thinking that they are close to the light? There has to be another way...
Today was finally Saturday though, and I went downstairs to eat. Then I told my parents that I already wanted to hang out with my friends if they had any plans, and they let me. They usually do... I'm glad to have such a nice family. Even though my brother David picks on me a lot, I'm sure he's not evil or anything. I've heard that many people have bad families, even now. This decade has been really wonderful so far... I really love living in these times. I would have to say that the 90's are even better than the 80's, even though their both great. I wonder what will be in store in the 21st century... Although I've heard that some people think the world will end around then. I think people are getting too nervous about supernatural things they can't possibly know about. Only God, or the Gods, if they are any, know about something like that. I don't think even that fortune teller can predict something on that high of a grand scale.
So I called my friends and they said they were going to the movies. Rachel wanted a scary movie, of course, even though it's the holidays, Jessica wanted a Christmas movie since it is of course close to Christmas, Kaitlyn wanted Drama, but I wanted Romance. It seemed no one wanted to watch a Comedy right now. I wonder why... Maybe it's because no one is really in the mood for shallow humor, which most humor seems to be about. Bad humor, like making fun of certain people in the world. I'm not really sure what it is that I find funny, but I know I have a good sense of humor, I'm sure of it.
We all decided we should watch what I wanted to watch. I'm glad I won the vote. So I started to look at the listings. The funny thing is, we actually didn't know what would be out until we got here. Movies aren't exactly our past time, like they are with some people, but we do see a few good movies now and then. I noticed there was a movie called Love is Love. I wonder if I would like it more than my book... With a name like that, I knew it had all kinds of romantic relationships. I told my friends I wanted to see that movie. They looked at the listing a little funny, but decided to agree on it after all.
The movie turned out to be wonderful, and we even ended up seeing Monica and Ashley since it was of course, about all sorts of types of love, straight, lesbian, gay and so on. Which reminds me. I wonder if those gay from a few days ago would like to be our friends too. I haven't seen them since Wednesday...
So then we went home, and I decided to read the rest of my book for comparison. Even if the movie is better than this, I wanted to finish to see which I would like more, and I already got this far, I was close to the end. It turns out that the two lesbian couples in the book found out they weren't as homosexual as they thought, and parted ways and got boyfriends but still remained friends. It was really sad, and I cried quite a bit... I know, I'm a sensitive person, but most girls are. I wonder if boys ever get emotional over this stuff... I would love to meet someone like that one day, and have them as my boyfriend. I swear, some boys are so insensitive. Not even my friends have boyfriends yet.
So then I didn't know what else to do today... I read a good book and saw a movie, and wasn't even the middle of the day yet. So I told my parents if I could go to one more place today. My dad sighed and said I was like a little adventurer. I took that teasing as a compliment. It would be lovely to be some kind of hero, or explorer that goes around the world! I told them I wanted to go to the game store. My brother always plays games. Probably nothing good though, considering the way he is. My parents looked at me and said that David owned all the systems and they weren't going to buy another one. David said it was okay, that I could have the cheapest one he owned, a portable system from now on, since most of the games were too childish for him. He said the games cost less than the ones for home systems that you plug into the wall to connect to your TV.
So we went to the game store and I got a new game, a RPG of course. At least I thought it was one. I went home and played it for hours and hours, not knowing what else to do. Oh, did I tell you we got flu shots? I just didn't want to bring it up... Even so, I still don't feel like going outside much... I don't got much to do, you see.
The game turned out to be fantastic. I'm starting to get hooked on games too now! I just hope I don't become a couch potato now... Then again, my brother only plays a handful of games and he's still in shape. Maybe I'll only play a few myself, if I can find the right ones I like.
So then I went to sleep and it was Sunday. I didn't seem to have another strange dream, just a normal dream. I wonder if they'll finally stop coming now... We went to the church like always, and for the first time I heard the preacher talk about everything that I've experienced lately, how thieves and murderers aren't just sinners, but non-believers as well, and all sorts of people. It made me really sad... I just wanted him to talk about the good in people, the heroes of the world, although I guess we've already heard them all from school, but the news doesn't talk about much either except for what's going on if we're at war, the weather and if it's really dangerous, and so on. Where's the good news? Maybe some people don't think there is much good in the world... That would be really sad...
I tried my best to hide my feelings from my family. I didn't want them to think that I was having mixed feelings about my own religion. They would ridicule me for sure, even if they are my family. Now I'm starting to think if religion is really that important. Does God really want us to believe in him that much? What if we didn't even know of his existence somehow? I mean, he's kind of like Santa in a way. Some people don't even believe in him, or are even scared of him although he's a wonderful person, they think he's too far-fetched to be real. Surely not believing in Santa or God would put us on the "naughty" list would it? If God was so loving, he would forgive us more than this... wouldn't he? I've never been so unsure and scared in my life... I just want Monica and Ashley to go to heaven. Their good people, I know it.
So then I still didn't have much to do when I got home but the usual routine and I went to sleep, and had another ordinary dream like before. I then took all of my finals, which seemed to go on forever... It's too bad I'll have to wait for weeks to get back to school to see how I did.
It was now finally Christmas and Winter Break. I couldn't wait to see what my presents were! I guess I shouldn't have spoiled myself so much by getting a book, game, and seeing a movie but no one seemed to mind. My friends all went to see that movie already too.
We all got some new clothes as well as things we would get into, like even more books and stuff for me. What I got seemed to be rather average though... David got some kind of shooting game, or maybe it was a survival horror. I'm not sure. The title of the game looked weird... I wonder if David would like it. I just got another kid's game for my system that David lent me. My dad got a survival book for some strange reason. I guess he just wants to know how to protect his family if anything bad happened... Maybe he's worried that the end of the world might really come. Oh, dad, something as bad as that can't be stopped once it happens... A book wouldn't help at least. I wonder if he thinks we could just live underground... I don't know if I would want to do that... My mom got a music box that was really beautiful... The music was wonderful too. That wasn't the end of the presents though. Our grandparents gave us some stuff too! But it was just some food and stuff for our Christmas Dinner, since we couldn't meet them today because the weather has been even worse than the other winters we've had. I wonder why...
So later that day we had an amazing Christmas dinner. Some of the stuff was from a bunch of brands I never heard of, probably all old that only people like our grandparents would know. They were all very delicious, like the cookies we got. It was so wonderful that our grandparents helped us that I wanted to send them a thank you letter, so I did. I wonder what their response would be...
And so now I was off to bed... Wondering what New Year's Eve would be like...
When that fateful day finally came, I thought to myself if things would finally get better... If the world will ever change in the new millennium. We saw the news that they were having a big count down for the new year at midnight. This was happening in the town square, which we lived close to so we even went outside to see it in person while most people in the country would have to see it on TV. At least they got to live during this wonderful time...
I don't know what the future will bring, but I know what I finally want to do when I grow up... I want to spread awareness for the people who are discriminated against, even if the whole is against me. Even if God himself is against me. I will follow my heart, even if the world thinks I'm wrong. Because what's the point in living if you're not yourself? I don't want to be like everybody else... I'll follow my own path no matter how difficult it is. That's what I believe in... I will still by my friends' sides, even Monica and Ashley's forever...
The count down was beginning and my heart was beating fast in excitement... And then the timer reached 0. The year was now 2000! Everyone cheered and jumped up for joy! Fireworks shot off in the distance. It was so beautiful... My mother cried because she was so happy... Yes, you can cry when you're happy. It's a little hard to explain at my age, but maybe one day you'll understand... Whoever it is that's reading this, my private journal. I do not wish to take all my secrets with me to the grave, and I hoped you enjoyed my story...
Maybe one day, you could be my friend, even if you're Gay, Lesbian, Black, Asian, Mexican, Communist, Jewish, a Lefty, and many more. I don't care, as long as you have a good heart and you'll treat me, my family and my friends nicely. Until then, farewell and have a wonderful life.

~ Rose

The End