Decisions, Decisions

Let me give you a scenario.

A teenage boy didn't show up at school one day. He's known for skipping and wandering the streets of a big city. His sister goes in search for him. She's concerned and wants to bring him home. She loves her brother but understands his need to do what he does, but as any big sis would do, she wants to make sure he's okay.

Now it's almost midnight and she comes across a wounded man in front of an apartment building. Someone has beaten him up. She doesn't own a cell phone and no one is around. What should she do?

Let's see...leave him bleeding in the rain to find her brother? NO! Of course not.

So she checks the wounded guy (she's had some medical training) to make sure he's breathing. Does she leave him now? Goodness no!

So she thinks of ways to help him. Maybe she can knock on the doors inside the apartment building and hopefully someone will call 911 or help. Right? Right. Before she can, the wounded guy's younger brother comes out and tries to bring his bigger brother out of the rain and into their apartment. The younger brother is too little. By the way, they don't have a phone. I know it's hard to believe that some people are too poor to own a phone. (It's times like these I wish there was a sarcastic font.)

Okay. She helps the little brother bring in the big brother. I guess she could dump him in the apartment and say, "Sorry. But I've got to go and look for my brother though you have a little brother and sister worried about rather or not you'll live." Of course, you wouldn't leave. Sure she's still worried about her brother, but didn't I aready mention this wasn't the first time her brother went out wandering around?

Then the wounded guy (a few cuts and bruises along with a big knot on his head) offers to help find her brother because, lo and behold! his teenage sister is with her brother. But he tells her it will be safer to wait until daylight. You have to remember, she's not a cop, superhero or an alien with a ray gun. Those streets are as dangerous for her as they are for her brother and the guy's sister.

Now. Tell me. Would you say, "Sorry but I can't worry about you and I've got to go back out into the big city streets AFTER midnight and look for my brother because I'm WORRIED about him"? Talk about too stupid to live!

As you probably guessed. I received back comments from a judge on my manuscript SHADOW HEALER and the judge couldn't believe the heroine didn't leave right then and look for her brother. It bothered her. Geez! I would like to see her wandering Atlanta streets around midnight. Actually, I have with one other woman and the whole time I kept thinking how stupid we were.

All the points I made were in the manuscript, why can't they read the words I've written? What am I doing wrong? No need to answer. I'm just ranting. This is good therapy.