The Love That Could Have Been

AFTERWORD

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If you're reading this, that probably means you have just finished reading my first-ever completed short novel, The Love That Could Have Been. I hope you enjoyed it.

Writing this novel has indeed been a fun journey. I read somewhere that writers tend to leave pieces of themselves in the story that they wrote and now, after writing this, I think I couldn't even agree more. I feel like the story does reflect some facts about myself and I do believe that it tells a lot about my character and ideologies in life. And I wouldn't deny that I indeed draw certain inspirations from people, things, events, interests, and a lot more about my life. To be honest, at first, I wasn't really expecting that I'd be able to fully commit myself to writing a complete novel since I am a lazy and unproductive person. I just made a joke to my friend that I am going to write my own novel and I have just found myself one day so hooked on what I'm writing that I am already in the epilogue part.

There are a lot of things that have been changed, revised, and improved from the supposed initial plot. But I believe that the final result, which is what you just read, is what works out for me and what I think is the best version of the story. At first, I did not really intend for this book to come out as a combination of mystery, gay romance, supernatural, and empowerment. I just really wanted to write a romance novel that delves into memories and how important it is for us to cherish the moments we have with the people we love before it is already too late for us. But apparently, while writing the novel, there are a lot of new ideas that would just suddenly emerge and when I think they are good, I find ways to integrate them into the story. Like for example, the character of Omer Rochester. Initially, Omer doesn't really exist in the original plot of the story. And I don't want my novel to end up as a murder story. But the thing is, it has already been written in the initial plot that the original main character, which is Sky, is already dead as early as the first chapter. Therefore I have to think of ways that would lead my poor baby Sky to his demise without being directly killed. The best thing that I could think of is to integrate one of the prevalent issues in our society which is sexual abuse and harassment which happens not just to women but to everyone. Which is why Omer Rochester happened.

Another example is Dawn and Sky being cousins. That does not exist in the original plot too and have only just thought of that while I am already writing the first chapter of the second part. But when I thought that it was a good idea and I thought that it was feasible, I tried to make it happen and I was glad with the results. I also never intended for Caelum to be the boy being helped by Sky in the eighth chapter of the novel, I just thought of that too while I was already writing the epilogue, and since I thought that it was good and I could make it happen, I did. Another is the younger sister of Caelum, Caeli Jayden Araceli, who was initially and supposedly a younger brother and named unknown but I had a sudden change of mind because I thought that a younger sister would be much better and I could use her character too if ever I decided to write another novel. Who knows, right?

I wrote the novel because I wanted you, the readers, to learn important lessons in life which I think you can get from reading each of the points of view of the three important characters—Dawn, Sky, and Caelum. But specifically, I wanted you to learn these three things: Firstly, to seize every moment with the people you love. Time will not wait for us and it is certainly not always on our side. So we should treasure every second we have with them. Say the things you need to say and make them feel what you want them to feel before it is already too late. Secondly, to transcend the boundaries of love. Love has no gender, no boundaries, and no barriers. We are all just humans who are capable of loving and worthy of being loved. This leads me to my third and last point which is to basically just be compassionate and empathetic with how you treat people, and I mean everyone. We may never know what a person is going through so always be a little kinder. And with all these, I hope that you'll carry in your hearts the lessons that Dawn, Sky, and Caelum had taught you.