1This was actually a short story I had to write for my English class in community college. The professor had us pick out five words from a list that she came up with and we were to build a story surrounding those five words. This is how mine turned out. I believe the five words that I chose were - Canada, Barn, Cancer, Coffee, and Chevy.
Short Lived
Jolie Thineston, a twenty-three year old woman new to the Canadian area, had always been a healthy person. From a tiny tot to a bubbly teen, Jolie found pleasure in working out and eating right. And that surely worked well for her as she hardly ever got sick. Growing up, she lived on a farm in southern Tennessee with her parents and older sister, Holly. They had an old, over-sized barn where chickens were kept along with their chicks. She loved the barn as that's where she would venture offer to in her early childhood years. When she was in her teens, Jolie enjoyed using the loft in there for her song writing. Music grew to be a huge passion in her life, she bought her first guitar right after her sixteenth birthday. And she had played that guitar every night while she lay awake in the loft of the barn.
Unfortunately as Jolie grew into adulthood, she realized if she wanted to succeed in society she would have to find a better job than writing songs all day. She made the decision to move to Canada as she had gotten accepted into a college there. Her parents had given her a decent amount of money so that she could rent a nice apartment just a few miles from the university. After getting settled in and warming up to her new surroundings, Jolie started to feel lonely which led her to adopting a pet from the local animal shelter. Collies had always been her favorite breed of dog, so she adopted one and completely fell in love with the furry creature.
Soon Jolie decided a part-time job might help her out with keeping on top of all her bills and payments, so she got a job at a local coffee shop. Coffee was always a big thing in her life; she remembered waking up in the morning, back home, to the delightful smell of a pot of hot coffee. And ever since then, coffee grew to be her favorite morning beverage. She was very pleased to be working at a coffee shop, and would always make extra of whatever drink had been ordered as she would have a cup herself. After her shift, which usually lasted until late evening, she would purchase herself one of her favorite lattes and then drive her Chevy truck back home just in time to watch the sun set.
One day as Jolie was out cleaning the tables, a handsome, young man approached her. She sensed his presence and looked up at him, her heart skipping a beat when she realized how good looking of a man he was. "Oh, hello there. Can I get you something?" She softly asked, hoping the pounding of her heart-beat wasn't noticeable to him.
The man's deep brown eyes poured into hers as he smiled warmly at her, "Well I don't know. I kind of have an odd request. My friends and I just started a band, and we were wondering if we could play our music here. You know, just kind of in the background?"
Jolie couldn't help but smile herself. The thought of having a new band play at the coffee shop really intrigued her, and she figured it might attract more customers. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. But I will need to ask my boss first, to make sure you're allowed to do that. What's your name?" Her voice a lot more confident than the first time.
His smile grew deeper as he held out his hand to shake hers. "Sounds good. Oh, I'm Ryland. And what's yours?"
"Ryland," She spoke, "Unique name you've got. It's a pleasure to meet you; I'm Jolie." And for some reason after hearing what his name was, Jolie began to grow a special place in her heart for him.
Ryland's band had been playing at the coffee shop for several months, and his relationship with Jolie began to blossom. They started out as friends, and not before too long it grew into a romantic relationship. And that hadn't been the only good thing going on in her life, her boss had decided to promote her to the new store manager as she did exceptionally well in all of her many duties. She was also asked to become a part of Ryland's band, once he had realized how much she enjoyed music.
Although she had many positive things going on in her life, Jolie began to feel weak and thought she'd been coming down with a cold. So she got herself some over-the-counter medication and tried to rest up. After a week of suffering through cold symptoms, she noticed she still hadn't gotten or felt any better. She made an appointment with her doctor, who told her she only had the flu and sent her home on the condition that she take off work the next few days. Ryland loathed to see her so weak, and felt terrible for her. He decided to take her some red tulips over, as those were her favorite flowers, and watch romantic movies with her.
Eventually the two made the decision to rent an apartment together, alongside Jolie's beloved collie. Even after getting settled into that, many months after her terrible episode of being sick with the flu, she still hadn't completely gotten over it. And now it was starting to control her life, making her quite fatigued and drained; she had to call off work almost every shift she had because of how weak she felt.
Ryland couldn't stand to see her so ill, so he had taken her to see a new doctor in a clinic near the university. The doctor was very knowledgeable in his work and looked Jolie over thoroughly. He could tell right away that something serious had definitely been causing her chronic illness, and immediately made her an appointment with a specialist.
The specialist, who turned out to be an oncologist, looked down at her clipboard that held Jolie's records and blood tests. Her expression was unsettling for the two anxiously waiting adults. She turned to them, sympathy showing on her face, "I'm so sorry to say this, but I believe you have cancer. Stage four Lymphoma, to be exact."