Chasing hat Might be

A story about a boy from rural Kentucky. Who found love before he knew what love was.

• Short story

								
Wes was a boy who grew up on a farm in western Kentucky, a boy who found true love before he even knew what love was. He spent his childhood with Daisy Florcrow, the daughter of a family friend. They couldn’t remember a time without one another in each others lives. Wes loved Daisy, but he was too young to fully understand how much. They spent summers together, went to the same school, and because their parents were friends, they were almost inseparable. Daisy was his favorite person in the world.

From an early age, Wes became acquainted with death. He lost his great aunt when he was very young. A few years later, his great-grandmother passed away. Although these losses pained him, he was still young enough to push through. But when he was ten and eleven years old, he lost his best friend, another great aunt, a second great aunt, and his favorite uncle—all within a year and a half. Because his family was close-knit, his great aunts were like extra grandmothers. These deaths weighed on him as he grew older, and he started to see that the world wasn’t as bright as he had once believed. The love and light he saw in movies and stories as a kid didn’t seem to exist in reality.

Wes tried to hold onto his faith in God, but it wavered for a time as he wandered down his own path. Eventually, he entered a relationship with a girl named Lisa, his first "love", love as he understood it then. To him, she was the most beautiful girl in the world, but deep down, he knew she could never compare to Daisy. He poured his heart into Lisa, loving her more than himself, and that proved to be his greatest mistake. When Lisa cheated on him, Wes spiraled into depression, cutting himself off from society for a full year before he slowly began to heal. He rebuilt his relationship with God, carrying the scars from his past but healing from most of the wounds.

Through all the heartbreak, loss, and weak moments of faith, one thing remained constant: his bond with Daisy. Their friendship endured, unshaken by time or circumstance. Eventually, Wes realized that Daisy was the only girl for him, but he could never bring himself to tell her. He didn’t want to risk losing their deep connection, so he stayed silent. Years passed, and though Wes tried to move on, he found it impossible to be happy in other relationships. He knew none of them could ever be "the one" because that spot in his heart belonged to Daisy.

But Daisy began dating someone else from their hometown, and it crushed him. Still, whenever they were together, it felt as if the rest of the world faded away—at least to Wes. It was just the two of them, as if nothing else mattered. Faced with a choice, Wes could either confess his feelings or let her be happy with someone else. He chose the latter. He cared too much for Daisy to disrupt her happiness, even if it meant hiding his true feelings.

Wes's life continued on. He wasn’t particularly passionate about anything, but had always dreamed about what he might do for work. As he got older, an opportunity arose for him to move west, eight hundred and fifty miles away from everything he had ever known. He took the chance, believing that if he could learn and grow, he could eventually return to Kentucky and start his own business. He moved to the sooner state but still kept in touch with Daisy, though not as much as before. She was still with her boyfriend, and while Wes was happy that she was happy, he wished she could find that happiness with him.

Waiting for something that may never happen is hard, but giving up on something you’ve wanted your whole life is even harder. So, Wes said nothing. His days were spent working toward his dream of returning to Kentucky, building his business, and—hopefully—his life with Daisy. To others, it might seem like a hopeless pursuit, chasing after someone who didn’t appear to want to be with him. Some would call him foolish for building his dreams around her. But Wes couldn't forget his younger self, lying in bed at night, praying that Daisy would one day be his wife. He never prayed for an unknown future; he prayed for Daisy. He prayed for their children, their home, and the life he had always dreamed of with her. And he refused to let that go.

And that’s where this story ends—because I am Wes. I’m living this story, writing it down as it unfolds. Daisy is still my favorite person on this earth. I don’t know if we’ll end up together, and I don’t know what I’ll do if we don’t. But I believe, with everything I am, that we are, always have been, and always will be meant to be together.
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