Something I Lost
By Stevie Bovalino — May 27, 2025 Writing Workshop
By Stevie Bovalino
Written during a Speak Up writing community workshop.
Prompt: “Write about losing something”
I have always loved words, thoughts, feelings, and writing. I have accumulated stacks of journals and post- it notes all over my house filled with words, ideas, and inspirations. Throughout my adult life there have been many times where the thought crossed my mind, “maybe I should write a book?”. Probably a common thought of many of us when we reflect on our life and our experiences. After all, they say, with experience comes wisdom and the desire to share that wisdom! But...
Who would read it? Who would even care what I have to say? That has already been done! Were the thoughts that held me back. Until a few years ago...
I was deeply inspired, felt like I had changed in some way, and in the process of healing! What better time could there be, as I began to feel more open to putting it all down on the page! There were months, weeks, days, and hours of prose just pouring out! I was feeling creative and having so much fun playing with the words!
It was becoming a novel loosely based on my life experiences and evolving into a fictional story, where I could create the characters and the events. I could use my imagination and embellish the truth! I could add and subtract and shape it into any way that I wanted to. I could create the story! In many ways it felt genius and brilliant! I was feeling proud and truly excited about what I was creating! Then...
Twenty-seven chapters or so in, not even sure how many words or pages and it DISAPPEARED! Vanished! Gone! Without a trace that it ever even existed! Two weeks of tears! I was completely heartbroken, dumbfounded, and clueless as to what had even happened.
To this day I have no idea what actually happened. I tried to retrieve it, asking for technical assistance and all the things I could think of to get it back, with no resolution. Yet, after some time I learned something about lost things, especially those from the heart. They are never truly lost and the attachment to the physical piece was a lesson to me in my healing and growth! Somehow I was able to recover the first three chapters and they sit on my computer waiting for me to feel inspired again.
The story is not really lost, just the pages of where it started.
The true story is and will always be me in my heart!