boys, boys, boys

I like boys. I like stories about boys. Or maybe I should say stories about the relationships between boys (and men). Stories about brothers, either by blood or by choice. Frodo and Sam, Joseph and Hyrum, Morgan and Duncan, Hal and Alan, Jonathan and David, Mike and Fisk, Starsky and Hutch, Holmes and Watson. I just finished reading Clockwork Angel and found two more: Will and Jem. The best stories are about guys who got each other's back.

There is a story my mother told me more than twenty years ago. I was not living at home at the time, so I wasn't around to witness this firsthand, but I promise I'm not making this up. I love this story. The only problem is, I asked my mom about it a few years ago, and she had no idea what I was talking about. She didn't remember it at all, and neither did any of my siblings that I asked about it. But I promise I'm not making it up. I am just related to people with sieves for brains.

One of my brothers did a thing called the 50/20. He had to go fifty miles in twenty hours. One part of me thinks twenty hours sounds like an awfully long time to go only fifty miles. The entire rest of me can't figure out why anyone would walk/run fifty miles in the first place. Whichever brother it was (I have four, but the youngest wasn't even a teenager yet, so I'm taking him out of the running for the moment) was getting close to the end of the fifty miles and was really struggling. He wanted to finish, but he had blisters on his feet, he was beyond exhausted, and was staggering along. One of my other brothers came and went the last few miles with him, literally supporting him to the finish line. I don't even know which two brothers I'm talking about (though I have my suspicions) and I have tears in my eyes. That is one of my favorite stories. It's what Sam did for Frodo, and I cry every time I read that passage. There is something about guys doing things like that for each other that is more touching than any romance.

Seeing as how that is my favorite kind of story, you would think that would be the kind of stories I write. You'd be wrong. I think it's like saying your favorite painting is the Mona Lisa so there's no way you would insult her by making a cheap imitation. However, my understanding is that when you really truly admire something, you can't just let it go (I live next door to an artist who has countless--amazing--renditions of Starry Night all over her home). So, I have a story about two brothers, Tristan and Grey, that I guess I'm going to have to write. I'm working on something else right now (romance, because that isn't a bad thing) but I can't let these boys go. I'm terrified I'll mess it up and won't have another Frodo and Sam at all, but I'm going to do my darnedest to get it right. In the mean time, if you know of any good guys stories, send them my way.