Nothing Gold Can Stay

I do believe I've fallen in love. 

I do believe I've fallen in love. Not with Jarod.

 I mean I do love Jarod, but I've been in love with him, so there's no need to announce I've fallen in love with him. 

No, I'm meaning in a fictional sort of way. 

Have any of you ever read The Outsiders? 

I hadn't. Seriously. 

Then one day I got a wild hair to watch it, because I've owned the movie the better part of my life and never once watched it. 

But Jarod said I can't watch it till I read the book. 

Which is the best thing he's ever done in the last 48 hours. 

So, because I wanted to watch the movie I scurried to the library and tracked it down. 

For some reason I was surprised by how little it was. 

So, I finished it in less than eight hours. Starting at eight in the morning, whenever Henry ate or napped, I read. Finished it at four. 

And I didn't cry. But I wanted to.

That is a glorious book. I've never been a fan of younger narrators, but Ponyboy was perfect. Perfect! 

I was one chapter into the book when I told Jarod that I felt like it was one of those where you love everyone and there's a nice atomic bomb in the last chapter that kills everyone. 

And he AGREED with me. 

I scolded him thoroughly and told him to never agree in a situation like that. Leave me alone to hope I'm wrong. Postpone the agony. 

In a sense, I was wrong. No bombs went off and not everyone died.

I fell in love with all the characters. But mostly Dallas (Dally) Winston. 

It certainly helped when I was able to see his face in the movie, but the movie fell flat for me. 
(Only problem being the knowledge that these guys are like my dad's age now...)
The characters lacked the soul they had on the page. Timing was too rushed, they just recited their lines, sort of thing. 

But in the book....perfection. Pure gold. They were so real. 

And of course I had to fall for the baddest boy of the bunch. 

It's not at all unusual. 

I've come to expect it by now, as well as the results of loving the most dangerous one. Tragic.

(If you knew what happens to all the characters I loved you would understand why I keep such a close watch on Jarod. Joking, joking) 

Then I read up a little on S.E. Hinton. I don't know why, but whenever I see initials like that I automatically assume man. So I was surprised to find out she is in fact a woman. 

But you know what blew my brain?

She was SIXTEEN when she wrote the book. What?!?!

I was absolutely floored that a sixteen year old could create something so deep, and meaningful, and lasting. That book was published ages ago! 

When I look at the crap I wrote when I was sixteen I want to ceremoniously burn it. I don't, because I keep telling myself a rewrite and some editing can work magic, but....

I have been inspired though. To get out my Out of Darkness story. The one about Cannon. It's similar to The Outsiders just in the fact that it deals with boys on the streets. And Jarod fueled the fire by suggesting I uproot the setting from Detroit and move it to Tucson. He spent a good chunk of his life there, and he knows quite a bit about the gangs, police, location, etc. He's very kindly volunteered myself as my research partner. 

Have you read the book? If not, get thee hence and acquire a copy immediately. 

If yes, read it again, for old time sake. 

And stay gold