The Accidental Encounter
Celine Tsang
Written by students of E4A Composition 1 Instructor: Mr. Kenneth M. Smith Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages Kaohsiung, Taiwan June, 2012
Number of Words = 1887 Words in Oxford 3000 = 92%
About the author‌‌
Have you ever wondered what life is all about? Do you ever feel lost or confused about your future? Celine, a 19 year old student now studying at the Wenzao Ursline College of Languages, was inspired by the hardship of life and decided to write a book helping teens to get through the pain of growing up.
Table of content Chapter one A new beginning…………..p1-3 Chapter two The old times………………p4-6 Chapter three Eighteen……………………p7-9 Chapter four Enlightened………………..p10-12 Chapter five A new start………………...p13-17 Chapter six The little difference………..p18
Chapter one – A new beginning Magalie had this habit of looking at her palm lines whenever she felt lost. It was not a superstition but a belief. Fate . That was a magic word for her. A word that she believed somehow explains the rule of the universe.
With a deep breath and her head held high, she walked inside the room with a strong confidence that only she knew was fake. She felt incredibly uneasy with everyone’s eyes on her as she made her way through to the very end of the classroom and sat on the last row. This is a new start, she thought. No one would ever have the ability to know about her past, and she as well could pretend they never happened. After all, she was 1
still a naïve 17 year old girl with a nice heart who tried to believe in the good side of life.
“Hey, my name is Sarah! Nice to have you with us” the girl who sat next to her said. Sarah was a cheerful blonde girl who had freckles on her cheek, the kind of girl that brings happiness to people and lights up their lives. Magalie , feeling surprised that someone was already talking to her at the first period of her first day of school, answered her with a shy smile. “I’m Magalie , nice to meet you too.” “ Just being curious , why did you transfer to our school ?” Sarah asked with a friendly and innocent smile that clearly showed her interest in
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this new girl.
Magalie thought hard for the answer, she thought after so many practices she would have the ability to lie naturally and say “oh! My parents have always wanted to live in New York, so my existence here at this school is just a realization of their dream.� But instead, she found herself speechless.
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Chapter Two- The old times In the memory of Magalie’s late childhood, her parents often fought. They disputed so constantly that whenever they do, she would always lock herself in her room and turn on her favorite song to the loudest volume. She envied her friends at school who came from a peaceful and loving family. The relationship between her parents influenced her a lot and somehow planted an invisible cause for her depression later in her life.
Magalie’s dad, Richard, was a senator of California, USA. He wouldn’t be considered as a good dad as he spent most of his time on work and had little time for Magalie. Nevertheless, like other little girls, Magalie looked up to her dad. 4
She longed for extra time with her dad during the weekend ,which seldom happened. At first, she thought that daddy was just busy with work and busy being a successful politician. Until one day she found her mom crying alone in the living room.
Lisa was a literature professor at a community college in California. She loved Magalie and Richard more than anything in the world but never knew how to show her love properly. Because, she, herself grew up from a family that love wasn’t often expressed.
Amazed at the sight of her mother crying, she sat down by her side not knowing what to say.
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“Your father has another woman.” This sentence came out so suddenly that for a moment she wasn’t sure if it meant what it meant. “What do you mean, mom?” Hoping to get a different answer she asked again. “Dad doesn’t love me anymore, he loves another woman.” Mom was still crying. “Is that why he never spends time with me during the weekends? Is that why he never wants to finish building that wood house with me?” “Yeah , sweetie. I’m sorry.” And just like that, they sat still the on the sofa hugging each other tightly while they wept.
At age ten, she started to question about love.
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Chapter Three- Eighteen It was amazing how quickly time passed. Today was Magalie’s 18th birthday; she had been at this Kelvin High for almost a year. This year was probably the best year she had ever had. A year surrounded by beautiful friends, friends who didn’t judge her and accepted her for who she was. This missing confidence from her childhood was finally coming around.
Today, she woke up with excitement and couldn’t wait to embrace this fantastic day. Life is beautiful, although the last eighteen years weren’t completely prefect, but she was sure that the years to come would be good as long as she believes in fate. Everything happens for a reason 7
and has somehow been planned the moment we were born. This concept gives her courage towards whatever challenges it has to come in the future. At least today she felt brave, happy and full of hope.
It was ten at night when Sarah called. “Hey Magalie , lets go out to a bar and celebrate your 18th birthday. Other people are there already waiting for you, we wanted to give you a surprise.” Sarah spoke excitedly through the phone. “Oh my god, really? I don’t know how to thank you guys ! I’ll dress up and meet you guys there around eleven? “ Magalie answered almost as excited as Sarah.
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“Sure! We’ll see you there! Love you babe.”
She rushed to her wardrobe as soon as she hung up the phone and wore the amazing black dress that shown out her figure and her great body perfectly. Then with a bit of make up , she was ready to rock this night.
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Chapter Four – A new start “Look, that cute guy was checking you for like the whole time ever since you walked in.” Sarah whispered to Magalie. “Yeah, I’ve noticed. I think he’s really cute.” Magalie said. “Magalie , for god’s sake , its your 18th birthday , at least do something to have THAT for a while.” Sarah suggested. After several cups of wine, Magalie started to feel a bit tipsy. She finally had the courage to smile at the guy who had been looking at her direction for the whole night. It is unbelievable what her smile could do. It was as if it was a magnet, as soon as he saw her smile, he smiled back with his charming face and walked towards 10
her. Magalie felt her heart beat fast as he made his way through the crowd to her side. Everything felt like a dream. She never had guessed that on her 18th birthday night, she would meet such a handsome boy and began to fantasy about him being the prince charming she had always been waiting for. They chatted the night away. Apart from his attractive appearance, he seemed like an extremely nice guy. Magalie found herself attracted to him. “You a special girl but yet I can sense that you are confused about life. Come with me, and if you trust me, I will try to solve your confusion.� Josh said with a sincere smile
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“Umm , yeah that sounds good”. Magalie accepted doubtfully. . “Get in the car , Let’s set out for some adventure.”
Honestly, Magalie didn’t now why she accepted him. Her instincts somehow told her that was the right thing to do. So without giving a second thought , she got into this stranger’s car.
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Chapter Five- Enlightened “Here, have a seat. You will be able to see more clearly from here.” Josh said. Magalie found herself in a big auditorium room with a big screen in the very front. This place was so immense that it almost looked like a cinema. She had no idea why Josh bought her to this place. When she was just about to ask, Josh said. “Trust me just seat down and relax. I am going to put on a movie. “ “Alright.” Magalie did as he asked. After a few minutes, the movie started to play. For a moment she thought she had gone crazy as the girl in the movie wasn’t anyone else but her. Did people make a movie of me without me knowing ? No certainly not , she thought , I am 13
not that famous. The scene began with Lisa and Richard smiling happily; together they were holding baby Magalie in their arms. Anyone could see that they were a happy family and that Magalie was the most fortunate child as she was surrounded by so much love. “ Yes , Magalie . Your parents were once madly in love with each other and together with this powerful and sacred love, they had you. First of all, remember that you came from love. Therefore , there is no reason why you shouldn’t love yourself or even doubt about love.” Josh told her seriously and gave her time to think. Ever since Magalie’s parents divorced, she had never felt so loved. She thought she had been a burden to his dad and that she was the cause of
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their divorce. “I .. well.. why did they divorce if they were in love? I thought my dad loved my mom?” Tears began rolling down her face. “Sweetie, there are things in life that we have no control over, like your parents’ divorce. One saddest reality about life is that nothing guarantees an eternity. The most important thing is that they married for love once and no matter what , their love for you would never ever change.”Josh said , touching through her hair gently. “ Okay…” she said feeling touched. “ Great , now let’s move on.” Josh said. The next scene was showing Magalie alone crying in the bathroom during middle school. She
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could still recall that day vividly. It was the day when her classmates bullied her for not having a dad. “ Here , Magalie , you were very weak.” Josh said with a taunting tone. “ I know.” Magalie admitted. “ No , you don’t know. There are times like this when you have to stand up for yourself when no one would. You have to be your own soldier because that is how you will know what it means to be strong.” “ Peopple judged me.” Magalie complained. “ Oh yes they did. What was the worst was that you let them influenced you. Never ever let people tell you who you are.” “ I’ll keep that in mind.” Magalie answered.
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“ Magalie , I did not happen to be at your party randomly. “ Josh said. “What do you mean ? You knew me already?” Magalie asked surprisingly. “ I was sent from this higher power of the universe , that people usually called God. I am known as the life planners. My work is to check that human being never loose hope in themselves and life. I saw that you were in need of some help.” Josh said with a smile. “ I am glad you came , now I have more confidence in myself and I feel like I have the strength to face the future.” Magalie responded. “That is good to hear , Magalie. “ Josh said.
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Chapter six- The little difference After this accidental encounter, Magalie had a new perspective and attitude towards her life. Instead of doubting herself, she chose to be positive. One day she decided to set up an association to help teenagers with family issues and self- identity problems.
Years later, this foundation became internationally famous with its slogan “Love, Conviction and Dream.� It had inspired and helped millions of teenagers worldwide in the process of dealing their hardship. It had provided spiritual shelter to most of the teenagers that needed help.
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Acknowledgement
Thank you , Mr. Smith, for giving us the chance to work on our novel. Although it wasn’t an easy job, it definitely was a good experience.
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