A few weeks ago, I found an anonymous letter on a very cool bridge by my house.  I offered everyone a chance to write a synopsis speculating about this letter.  The winner will receive a first edition, signed copy of An Amish Christmas, which releases next week. 

If you haven't been following the story, I invite you to go back and read prior posts.  It's been great fun.  I never heard from the person who wrote the letter, but I'd like to keep the rest of the note private...just in case. 

The contest is closed.  Thanks so much for all the great entries!  However, I'm having trouble deciding which one is the best, so I am going to open it up for a vote.  I have narrowed it down to three finalists.  Please cast your vote for Synopsis #1, Synopsis #2, or Synopsis #3 by this Wednesday, Aug. 19.  Feel free to vote for yourself if you are a finalist!  Just post your vote as a comment on this blog.  Aside from running spell check, I've posted each entry as it was received. 

SYNOPSIS #1

Katie backed away from the letter slowly, wondering if she really had the faith to leave it. It had been eleven months since she had seen him, heard his laugh, felt his strength. Leaving this note, however mysterious and vague, was a huge leap of faith for her. Dare she hope that he find it? Could her heart handle knowing his hands touched this very letter, his eyes seeing straight into her heart? It was a risk for sure and for certain. But she was resolved. The letter was on the bridge, their bridge, the same bridge they stood on the night she lied. She had stood in this very spot and told him she could live without him. She had looked into his smoky eyes, felt his breath on her face and pushed him away. She had tried to quickly say her good byes and walk away before he could see through her lies, but he had been intent on keeping her there with him. He had begged to understand how she could walk away from their promises...their future. She had attempted to be calm and matter-of-fact with him, but his eyes bore a hole in her very heart. When she finally did leave him, she wondered if he knew she had lied, that she did love him, that she would do anything to see him happy. One final glance back and she knew that he didn't know any of those things. He was bent, wringing his fists over the side of the bridge as hot, angry tears fell.
Months had passed and Katie still didn't know how to fix the predicament they were in. If she risked telling Jakob that his father had confronted her, dangling Jakob's inheritance over her head in an attempt to remove her from his son's life it would devastate him. She would never ask her beloved Jakob to choose between his livelihood and his heart. She would never tell Jakob that the man he adored and trusted was a manipulative, spiteful old man who didn't care one iota about Jakob's happiness. Katie loved Jakob far too much to hurt him so deeply, but the hard truth is, she had.For weeks, her sleep was haunted by that night at the bridge. Her sleeping eyes always seemed to focus on his hands. She remembered how tightly they were clenched as she left, as if he was trying to hold on tight enough for the both of them. The nightmares were replaced with something far worse though. Now her dreams were invaded with memories. Wonderful memories. She dreamed about the picnic at Hannah's Pike, the way he chased her when she joked that she was faster than him on her slowest day. She could smell the wildflowers behind old Levi's cornfield, where they would walk and dream of their future as husband and wife. She could still smell the scent of the lye laundry soap from the day he snuck up behind her at the clothesline to slip a piece of fancy candy into her apron. She remembered the feel of the cool, crisp air on her face as he drove her mile after mile, commenting on every beautiful piece of God's land they passed. The memories were all she had, unless Jakob's heart found her letter in time.


SYNOPSIS #2

The young girl who works at the country diner longs to see the man who was so kind to her. He stopped in for dinner one evening and stayed until closing. They talked the whole night. He was hardworking young man. He quit school soon after his father died to help take care of his mother and younger siblings. He enjoyed spending time with the young girl. When he was with her his other troubles were far behind him. She did not know of his life but wanted to know more. How could he tell her that he was committed is such a way to take care of his family. They talked often of this bridge and how she loved to walk to it and listen to the water. Sitting on the bridge she would dream of her life. Knowing that someday she would find the man of her dreams. Each time this man left the diner he would buy a mint and share it with her.

One day while serving him she accidentally dumped the tray of food on him. She offered to wash the shirt for him. He accepted and she took the shirt home. When she got ready to wash it she picked up the shirt and several green wrappers dropped out. She picked them up and realized that these were the wrappers from the mints he had bought. As she stood there holding the shirt she realized that she loved him very much. The next day when she arrived at work he did not come in. Many days went by and he still did not return. One day while at the bridge she decided to write a note and leave it on the bridge hoping that he would remember them speaking of the bridge and stop to hopefully find her note.

Her heart was breaking. What had happened? Had she done something wrong? Was he hurt or worse?


SYNOPSIS #3

Rebecca approached the old bridge slowly, her two small children by her side. The old bridge had played a large part in Rebecca’s life, as she recalled her mother’s story about how she had first met Rebecca’s father at the bridge. Years later Rebecca had met her own husband at this same bridge. Now every time she crossed the bridge with her children, they would stop in the middle and gaze down at the waters of the creek below. Rebecca did not know what was in her children’s minds, but she thought of her husband who had died six months before, and always pictured what life would have been like had he lived, and she wondered what lie in store for her future with the children.

As they crossed the bridge today, Rebecca held tightly to the small hands of her children, as she thought of the note in her pocket. Should she leave it on the bridge? Would he find it and reply?

Rebecca thought back to the encounter at the laundromat and the kind young man who had befriended her. He seemed to sense her tiredness and her need to share her troubles. Rebecca was surprised she had spoken so openly about her husband’s death and her fears of raising the children alone. She was equally surprised when he told her about his young wife’s sudden death in a car accident, before they could have the family they had always wanted. When he spoke of the old bridge and how he often passed that way, Rebecca’s heart had skipped a beat!

Will Rebecca leave the note, and will the young man find it???


VOTING ENDS WEDNESDAY AT NOON.  Have a great week!