For this weeks ‘miracle challenge’ I chose to complete number 3 challenge. Write a story using the words Train, Relief and Flirt.

We are truly lucky to have Jacob’s YouTube channels to view his creative talents, watching his little skits he made with family and friends. We always knew that he would have made it had he had more time of earth to carry out his dream. For this weeks challenge I’ll share one of his little quirky exploration in ‘motion comics’ called ‘Ground War’ he made a couple of years ago which is on his YouTube channel. I was featured in the movie as was Jacob and his cousin Luke, but the voices weren’t ours (except Kyle’s dream scene – he used his own voice). Jacob was Kyle, I was mum and Luke played a friend from school and his brother Ben. The following story is fiction.
Kyle liked to spend his time playing war games on a games console. He ate, drank, slept and dreamt ‘war games.’ On hearing that he missed a pretty cool party over the weekend while he locked himself away in his room playing games, he thought he’d better change his way of life. A girl called Jessica had asked about him at the party -what he was up to. Was she the motivation he needed? He needed a plan of action. He sorted out some advice from his brother Ben who had different interests and outlook in life. He taught him how to bulk up, how to train and sculpt his body, transforming him into a much more healthy and stronger version of himself.
Upstairs in the bathroom Kyle took drastic measures to improve his looks as well. Equipped with a pair of scissors he cut his hair (to my relief it was just a wig and not Jacob’s real hair, & with trick camera work it looked like he really had cut it, but he hadn’t) I’m glad he had the good sense to change his t-shirt too as the first one he had on in the first few scenes, the words did nothing to help his self esteem – ‘My Momma said I’m special’ in the words of Forest Gump.
After gaining a bit of dress sense from Ben he found his own persona and he wore it well. All his hard efforts had paid off. The caterpillar had turned into a butterfly, so to speak. And what a transformation. See how a bit of effort can change one’s outlook to life. The smile says it all. He doesn’t have to flirt all he has to do is smile 🙂
Maybe there was an important message within the story that we can all take away with us. That if you put your mind to it you can change. The fictional character in this story turned his life around for obviously the better. I too have the choice of letting the grief of losing Jacob to totally consume me, causing me to retreat from life or me choosing to see the beauty that still remains in life despite having the most unthinkable thing to happen as a parent – losing a child. I know I desperately need to lose weight but I need to find the motivation to change that too. To have money in life to do the things you’ve always wanted to do you first you have to have the means/funds to do it, start saving just small amounts, baby steps, you change the way you spend the money you have so you can put away just a little for that rainy day or for that special item you’ve been eying off or for that relaxing holiday your body so desirably craves.
I will leave you with a quote from Dr Seuss to carry on with the cartoon imagery of Jacob’s motion comic movie and the famous children’s rhyme and picture book author – ‘you have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose.’

If you’d like to view more of Jacob’s creative talent in becoming a cinematographer you can find his movies/clips on these two YouTube channels – CobbyFilms and JDScreens.