Second Chance:

[tech]

"Shorter finish" or not, an outstanding tale! Such a work is greatly appreciated and enjoyed.

Thank you for sharing *your* gift with us.

...and I stayed up too late anyhow - LOL - but it was worth it!

[MKIDAHO]

Simply FANTASTIC! Thank you Grand

[Pop_45]

Shorter finish so some of you don't stay up too late lol

Too late. It's about 0130 hrs here. But well worth it.


I would be remiss if I didn't ask "What next?" I really enjoy your stories, and thank you for sharing your talent Grand

[WiseOwl]

Shorter finish so some of you don't stay up too late lol

Well worth it sir, Bravo

<Applause, Cheers and WooHoo's>

And again, thanks for this awesome story and the others you have posted. You sir have a talent that is All-Pro, Heisman and MVP all in one.

Keep up the great work and I look forward to whatever else you have in store for us in the future!

AHO

Wise Owl

[Grand58742]

Shorter finish so some of you don't stay up too late lol

[Grand58742]

Afterthoughts on “Second Chance” by the author



Sometimes in life we see something that sets our minds in motion to write. Just something as simple as a young girl hanging outside of a grocery store looking for a light for a cigarette. And I saw this one night. Young thing, maybe fourteen or fifteen looking for a light for her cigarette and my thoughts were “Where are your parents and do they know where you are?” My German skills are not advanced enough to be able to ask those questions, but the idea sparked in my head and stuck in my head long after I returned home and started dinner that evening. Like a song that gets trapped in your mind, I saw that scene and it became an idea. And after a while, became a story. Obviously with a few twists and turns here and there, but the idea stuck. I was neck deep in “Lucky” at the time, but put it on hold as this story stormed to the forefront of my brain and wouldn’t let go.

It’s just a simple story, but one with a message. Everyone deserves a second chance. And in our story, Cindy gets that second chance and runs with it. Charlie gets a second chance as well and doesn’t waste it either. It’s about Christian values of helping those in need and the dangers of radical Islam. And how thousands, millions of helpless young girls are treated like second class citizens in that perverted religion. And how dangerous those who believe in the so called “honor” of that religion are. And how far they will go to protect that so called “honor.”

It’s about First Amendment rights and how they apply equally across to the board to us all. And how religion can be forced on those who do not choose it. It’s a warning to be watchful for those kinds of people and especially their children who might not know better. As Lenin said, “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” And this is the danger of radical Islam. Give them four years and children will be twisted for life.

And this is the reality of the situation we face with radical Islam. Assimilate or die. Protect their “honor” by means of killing. Shari’a law (and its distorted reasoning) trumping the laws of man. And if we aren’t careful, it will happen to us. And yes, violence, death and killing are perfectly acceptable solutions to those who mock their religion. And in the long run, they care little about those who are innocent and those who are not. In the story, Charlie is a decent man, a good Christian with good principles and morals. But overall, he is a good man with a big heart to help those in need.

But for Muslims, he is a thorn in their side because he does not believe what they believe. And he should be killed for it in their way of thinking. And a father avenging his so called honor because he has been brainwashed (not unlike many Muslims in the world today) is a dangerous opponent. They see Charlie as the threat. An independent thinker that cannot be forced to believe their religion. A man whose values are different than theirs. A man who will not assimilate into their religion. And a man who threatens their power base by the simple act of helping a child in need.

I originally planned to kill Charlie off in the story, but I know many of the readers got attached to his easy going mentality and “everyman” personality. But I originally wanted to do it to prove a point. This is what happens when radical Islam is unchecked! And it’s up to us to keep that in check. More and more we hear about shari’a law on TV being used in courtrooms across the nation. Or see the news reports about honor killings within the United States. We already see how women can and will be treated as second class citizens by that perverted religion. And forced marriages are still performed to this day in other nations. How long before it comes to our shores? How long before we hear of the news reports on TV of a Cindy being forcibly wed to a pervert in our own country? We’ve already seen it several times where children were going to be taken to the Middle East to be sacrificed because of some perverted religion. And what has our government done? Nothing. How many more times will we allow our government to turn a blind eye to the actions of radical Muslims on our own soil?

WE CANNOT LET THIS CONTINUE! Or else Charlie will be your neighbor or your friend or possibly even your relative being the victim of an attempted “honor killing.” Cindy could be the girl your daughter invited over for a sleepover or a member of your child’s class in school that is a victim of rape and arranged marriages.

I personally believe radical Islam is the greatest threat to the security of our nation and its people we have ever faced. And in that threat, there are no rules, there is no mercy and above all, there is no hope of surviving and “getting along.” It is, quite simply, like the Borg from Star Trek. With the notable exception that the Borg adds in the uniqueness of the civilizations they assimilate. With radical Islam, there is no adding in what you believe. It is their way or death to their line of thinking. They will assimilate you or you will die. Things are simple in their world. As the old saying goes, “my way or the highway.” And their highway leads to death.



As always, thanks go out to:

1Admin/Lowdown3 for administering survivalandpreparednessforum.com and the outstanding work he does in keeping up the site.

Also to Spock for keeping the computer demons in their proper place and for Protus keeping the other demons in their place and Patriotic Sheepdog for super moding over at S&P.

Melbo over at Survival Monkey for allowing me a place to put up the completed works in Adobe format so folks can enjoy it at their leisure

Deena in GA at Timebomb2K for helping the “lost” writers out there find a new home. Without your assistance, we probably would still be looking at each other trying to figure out what to do. So we really appreciate the time you took to host us in a new home.

As well as Dennis Olson at Timebomb2K for assisting those new writers with the technical hurdles of transferring a lot of data onto the new forum.

All the other Moderators, Administrators, tech gurus and staff on the respective websites as they keep it clean, real and in order.

Special thanks to Dustyrebel over at Socnet and the medical pearls of wisdom he continually assists with. Any mistakes along the medical lines in the story are entirely mine and no fault of his. And I appreciate the time he always takes to explain the medical situations to me and break it down into layman’s terms I can understand. And furthermore, I appreciate what he does day in and day out in the saving of lives.

And always, a special thanks to the fans out there that continually supported me on the site and with messages of inspiration behind the scenes. I write because I like to. But I continue to post because of the support I get from all you folks. I cannot express my gratitude enough for keeping me behind the keyboard.


Grand58742

[Grand58742]

EPILOGUE


15 years later

[Grand58742]

And as promised, 11:38 here in OK so technically still "today."

[1Admin]

We have all enjoyed Grand's work. Keep in mind he's a talented author. Do you want to see more from him? I know I'd like to read more, not just this story but others.

When we post stupid stuff, does it make him want to write more, or less?


Gotta think here people. Some of you are working AGAINST the very thing you claim to love.

Enough said, I assume everything is crystal clear now and makes perfect sense.

I've made it crystal clear that currently, their is no posting requirement for the Survival Shorts stories section. No one "gets banned" for not posting here. People "get banned" for doing stupid $hit like not following the couple of easy, common sense GOOD MANNERS type rules we have laid out.

[Firestorm]

MR 1ADMIN

Thankyou for your hard work you do here. I am lacks in letting you and the others know this. I am sorry for this oversight. Your site is one of the best sites I visit when I get the chance. Thankyou again

FIRESTORM

[Firestorm]

MR GRAND58742

FYI You are on PAR with these other authors. Amateur = not paid $ / Pro = having been paid - You are a published auther! HERE and at OTHER publishing forams. And when you publish your stories in hard back form I will be one of the first to spend my $ on your stories. Thankyou for your works.

FIRESTORM

[sewbeit221]

I want to apologize to Grand and to 1Admin, I am one of the jerks that were pleading for Grand to post the epilogue. I have enjoyed this story immensely and would hate to think because of my post Grand would no longer share his talent with all of us. Even though my post was removed and probably not seen by many I wish to offer a sincere apology to all of you who read the forum. I have been so engrossed in this wonderful story and was looking for a distraction yesterday while waiting for the results of a biopsy. Again I am sorry to have aggravated anyone and will keep myself in check in the future if you will allow me to stay. I have learned a lot from this group in the short time I have been here, and hope I have something to share with you all in return.

[RunAndGun]

Grand, thank you so very much for sharing your talent! I have enjoyed everyone of your stories but this one is the crown jewel so far!

I am so sorry some jerks have made themselves known to you. You dont deserve that anymore than someone like me being remiss in telling you how much I appreciate you.

Also, that was just outstanding you taking the time to email me to let me know your stories are here!

Thank you so much sir for sharing your talent with us!

[Jellyman]

Pop, I'll gladly be wrong on this, but Grand, still being selfless says it best that they are different stories in different situations. Hawkhunter, you've got the best answer for now. So, I also made a donation in Grand's name to our local Fallen Officer's Fund (Very personal to me as a young officer and good friend in my community was one of 3 shot, 2 died during a "routine" stop last month. Chest wound, like Charlie. Missed his armor by 1/4 inch!). Thanks again, Grand!

[Jeep]

Grand,
Like I said in a previous post your writing is excellent and you should publish your stories. I live in WNC and had relatives that used to live in Erwin and your story brought back wonderful memories of visiting Unicoi county.