I probably make a big deal out of some things. My friend says, “But you wouldn’t be Kezang if you didn’t overact to everything.” Well, this is not one of those times. When I say that this book is an absolute thunderstorm, the word doesn’t even begin to cover it. Beautiful is an understatement for its poignant and bittersweet nature – 950 pages of raw emotions, sadness, happiness and everything in between.
I found this story on a website for gay stories. Before you jump to conclusions, no, it’s not a smut website. It’s actually a place with wonderfully written stories about love and everything that comes with being different and loving wrong (or right). I found this anonymous writer who calls himself Grasshopper, and well, fell in love with his stories.
‘Just Hit Send’ is the first book in what looks like a series, without the traditional characteristics. Meaning there are two short stories and one more book that either follow or intermingle some characters from ‘Just Hit Send’. The book is divided into four parts: The High School Years, The College Years, The Interim Years, and The Happy Years.
If I sit back and think about it, it’s a story about two guys who love each other to death. Simple as that. But it’s also so much more than that. Jordan (Jordy) and Daniel (Danny)’s love story begins when one lonely boy asks on the Internet if someone would listen, and the other equally lonely types, “I will”. Jordy and Danny’s lives are filled with tests and trials, some breaking them, others making them stronger. While Jordy yearns and mourns for the love from his father that he never got, Danny must fight to accept his inability to walk.
Their story expands over a time span of about a decade. Through the consistent heartbreaks and internal struggles from post traumatic stresses, they touch countless lives. And discover if love is enough to protect themselves from prejudices, jealousy, and scars. There were parts that were difficult to read and left me sniveling but it’s also a heart-warming story about true love.
The book references Loren Eiseley’s famous starfish story about making a difference and it touched me. I learned that story in class seven (it was in the new English textbook) and it had made such a big impact on me as a kid. Read the story here.
‘Just Hit Send’ is a free online book (with good grammar I promise you. It’s amazingly written). The author wrote for people lacking love to say that it will get better, and people taking away that love that love has no gender. I think everyone should read this book, even if you are a homophobe. Especially if you are a homophobe because I feel like if you read this book and if you have a heart, you will see. You will see, and you will know, that love really is just love. Nothing else.
If any online book should get published, this is it. Not Fifty Shades of Grey.
Extracts from ‘Just Hit Send’
You know that feeling you get when something is so beautiful, it makes you choke up? That perfect sunset, that one special song, the way the rain feels on a hot summer day, the first taste of that chocolate eclair? As Jordan undressed Danny, fingertips tingling across his skin; as he slid his own clothes off and stretched out beside the boy he loved, Jordan felt an ache in his heart so huge, so painful.
What she didn’t expect to see was her son, her baby, kissing another boy, not out of silliness, not out of playfulness, but what could only be love, passion, tenderness. Tears blinded her as her mind raced in every direction. She had never seen anything so beautiful. So beautiful……. or so wrong! She knew now what it was she was feeling every time her son and that boy were in the same room.
Jordan hung up, his heart breaking. “Marks, can your heart break over and over until the pieces don’t ever fit back together?” He sat down beside her on the sofa and she tugged his head onto her lap. Smoothing his soft blonde hair away from the tears sliding down his cheeks, she answered, “I hope not, Jordy. For your sake, I hope not.”
Don’t feel intimidated by the number of pages. It’s a highly compelling read. I felt like it ended too soon.
(The writer is a former RTC student and an avid blogger)
