The Plot Thickens – Mystery and Suspense

Facebook expresses the timeline of your daily life. It’s an expression of you and your family to your friends or friends of friends, sometimes extending out to the public. On the surface you want to present the very best of your life, a showcase of happiness and prosperity.

BUT – in reality, ones life is NOT what it seems to be.

Life could easily be compared to the layers of an onion, with each layer exposing an underlining truth. In a social network, human beings always put their first foot forward, broadcasting a fine crafted individual, similar to a superstar or successful aristocrat. It’s similar to your resume, where you want to only reveal the creme-of-the-creme. Some even goes as far as exaggerating the real YOU. 

BUT – Underneath the prefect picture lies the truth.

We all know the quote,” Never judge a book by its cover.” In the biography of life, although the book is supposed to be the author’s autobiography, it lacks verisimilitude and may come across as disingenuous. 

As you open the book of life we may find a deeper meaning and sometimes, a more sinister plot closer to the truth. In fact, each of us could easily be compared to a character in our own book, telling a story . Each character is defined by our own unique life experiences plagued by loneliness, despair, grief or sadness. For example, the storyline I wrote, “The Underlying Truth” could possibly be a real life scenario and would make an excellent movie (mystery and suspenseful) outlined in my synopsis.  

It goes like this, ” An older man’s younger life as an International Intelligence Spy for M16, comes back to haunt him, as he’s hunted down by an extremist.”  

As you read the beginning chapter, you find the protagonist as your typical family man, struggling to make-ends-meet within a small Canadian city. His mundane career as a draftsman takes him across the world to various contracts, underlining as an architectural specialist for a prestigious firm. Everything in his life seems normal, without any suspicion from colleagues or family members. But underneath lies a exhilarating secret life as an intelligence officer for the British SIS ( Secret Intelligence Service) providing the British, Canadian and American government with foreign intelligence. He isn’t your typical James Bond character you would expect, but again not your average man either. With an high IQ score of over 160, his intelligence far exceeded the norm. In reality, his ability is far from amateurish. With a license to kill, he’s referred to as the illusive WAR CRUSHER with rumours of superhuman heroic feats. His missions are so top secret, even SIS leaves no trace. As far as anyone is concerned, WAR CRUSHER is nothing more then a myth. 

But then your reach the “Inciting Incident”, where an event changes the course of the protagonist’s life. The illusive WAR CRUSHER falls in love with the most beautiful woman who was suppose to be his next mark. Originally, his mission was to dispose of her, as she had strong ties to the IRA (Irish Republican Army) during this time in history. 

The protagonist’s (alias Jonathan White ) made a pit stop at an Irish pub called O’Donoghue’s on Merrion Row, in Dublin,Ireland. At the time, he inadvertently met the same girl he was told to silence the next morning, during his top secret briefing. Earlier that evening Jonathan was smitten by the girl across the bar, unaware of what lied ahead. She was alone, drinking tea. Her long reddish-gold hair was pinned back in a ponytail. The striking green eyes were evident, even across the hazy smoked filled room.

It was as if destiny finally met.

The young woman in her early 20’s introduced herself as Sarah McCarthy. Suddenly (just like that) sparks were flying. They both knew from that moment on, they were soul mates. Love was in the air, until the shocking news the next morning. It was only suppose to be a routine briefing for this experienced killer, until he was handed the envelope. In horror, Jonathan quickly recognized the photos of his next mark. As a professional, he kept his cool and proceeded with the plan, knowing all too well, he could never bring himself to do it. Sarah McCarthy is everything to Jonathan. How could he possibly carry out these orders. That same day, Sarah rendezvous with Jonathan, as previously planned the night before. Sarah welcomed him into her home, unaware of what events were about to take place.  

“Would you care for a spot of tea?” Sarah asked with a seductive smile. 

He smiled back, trying not to bite his lip; a given emotional response. Her back was to Jonathan, as she poured the tea,” Are you alright? I detect nervousness in your voice.” She said. 

Jonathan clears his throat, replying,”I’m…fine.” He clears his throat again,” Ah yeah…it’s ok…everything is fine.” 

In the shadows, he slowly pulled out his handgun, commonly referred to as the “Heart Attacker.” This little piece of deadly hardware would induce a cardiac arrest without anyone being aware. The pistol was armed with a dart, filled with shellfish poisoning, causing an immediate heart attack. It seemed like an hour had past as he nervously pointed the gun at her head. Jonathan just couldn’t do it. He quickly placed the gun back into his jacket. Sarah turned around and gave Jonathan a soft kiss.  

He gently held her shoulders, looking into those beautiful big green eyes of hers and quietly said,” We have to talk…”  

Sarah looked puzzled at first, until he told her the truth. He knew right there and then, his cover-up is now in jeopardy, as he revels everything about himself to her. Literally placing all his trust to the point of no return. 

Indeed, love is blind.

Not only is the protagonist revealing his most top secret position, he must also hide his loved one far away from harms way. This is the point of commitment, where there’s no turning back. That same day, Jonathan steals a small plane in a deserted country airport, with Sarah McCarthy aboard. Averting radar, they scouted across Ireland, destination… somewhere in Canada. As far as anyone was concerned, Jonathan fulfilled his contract, with Sarah becoming part of the growing pile, filed under missing persons. They both had a love affair that lasted seamlessly throughout the ages, until one fateful day. Jonathan decided it was a good time to retire. He had reach the age of 60 without become a statistic, like most International Intelligence Officer .   Everything in Jonathan’s life was going exactly as planned until Sarah over hears a rumour. 

Her mother is dieing. 

She understood it was a risk, but she must confirm the rumours and decides to race to her mother’s bedside.   Previous commitments held Jonathan back, which he hated.  

After 30 years, what could possibly go wrong?

Jonathan was nervous to let her go, but she reassured him. Her long fingers lightly caresses his neck.  Sarah softly kissed him and said,”John…it’s ok…really.”

Jonathan nodded but was hard press to let go of her hand. She starred into his eyes and knew that look, ” Please John…there’s nothing to be worried about.  After all, its been 30’s! ”

Waiting for the Lear Jet to be prepped in a deserted field of an within the Southern Okanagan Region, the pilot peered from the aircraft, ” Excuse me madam, the plane is ready now.” 

Sarah nodded to the pilot and then faced Jonathan for the last time, ” Who could possibly be looking for me now? I mean really…” 

Jonathan grabs Sarah’s tiny frame, holding her hips tight to his.  I have a funny feeling inside…and you know me when I get that feeling…something is wrong…terribly wrong!” He said.

“Listen John! You know very well I can look after myself…right?!” 

“Yes, but…” Jonathan replies. 

“But nothing! Let me look after this…OK ?” Sarah eyes began to well up with tears.

Jonathan removed her tears lightly with the tip of his fingers. He starred at her, to ensure he would never ever forget this moment. Sarah embraces him, giving the final farewell hug and kiss. 

As the plot thickens, all is lost, when the protagonist realizes his loved one is inadvertently captured by an unknown extremist, totally unrelated to the past. It’s a new threat, a lone wolf looking for revenge? Who is it? In a precarious dilemma, Jonathan is forced out of retirement to rescue his true love, without revealing his true identity to the rest of the world. Time is of the essence as he struggles to figure out the who, what, where and why without alerting his peers. 

In the Plot Climax, it’s now the final showdown. 

The alias, WAR CRUSHER must overcome his flaw of imperfection, in order to save his girl from immediate threat. If it’s means revealing his past to the world, then so be it. He’s determined to solve the mystery and most importantly, bring Sarah McCarthy safely home. 

They say love conquers all, but will it be enough to defeat his enemies? 

In the end, the resolution has a PLOT TWIST leaving the audience in complete dismay and bewilderment. It’s sure to bring tears of emotion. 

YOU SEE – 

Reading a book or seeing a movie can enrich our lives filled with suspense, wonderment or even tears of happiness. It’s a fictional world where the real world can’t take us. 

HOWEVER – Lets Explore the Facebook Dilemma 

The reality of our lives can be so much different. Each one of us struggles to better our lives with real inciting incidents, setting us back in a unexpected turmoil, causing confusion and mayhem. On Facebook, the average person likes to only reveal the good side of ourselves, hiding the closet skeletons in fear of being ridiculed. We like to express our happiness through our events in life, from the birth of our child or grandchild to superficial fun times, such as an awesome fine dining experience or the most accelerating vacation ever. Whatever the event, we like to showcase our lives as meaningful as possible. 

Silently, there are many drowning in reality.

YOU SEE – 

In a prefect world, we would ALL be loved, carefree from any financial stress or sickness. In that world, we could live a thousand years without pain, free from death, exploring the cosmos.  

BUT THEN 

Life in the prefect world may become mundane. Fortunately for humans beings, reality plays out a different scenario. We all have our ups and downs. It’s human nature to always complain of what we don’t have. We’ll even go as far as to demand for more, not realizing we have more then enough, then most people.  Facebook allows people to voice their opinion even if it’s ludicrous. Ranting and raving on Facebook has become the norm in social media, and unfortunately it’s getting worse. 

In real life we boast how so powerful we are.

We balk at nature, thinking we can control it and ourselves. In reality, the growing population is beginning to put a strain on our fragile Earth. If we’re not careful with our environment, chaos is sure to follow quickly onto us. You say you have control, when in fact, the real power lies within the chaos of our universe, where an inevitable fate from a potential asteroid may end life as we know it, in less then 30 minutes. It’s clear we must take care of our environment before it takes care of us. 

It’s inevitable. 

As far a controlling our destiny? Well, that’s only an illusion. In a way, Facebook is also an Illusion of our real lives. We may carry out our lives in pristine quality, but in the end we’re all wishing our lives were better in some way or another. Those of us in need and too proud to announce it (in fear of rejection or weakness) are vulnerable and constantly plagued with loneliness, despair, grief, sadness or even financial ruin. Whatever may be the case, reach out if you possibly can.  It can be as simple as asking your friend out for a coffee. 

No one should go through life in pain. 

By Bari Demers 

NOTE : If you would like to enquiry about the rights to my story,” The Underlying Truth”, please contact me on LinkedIn.