Leave out All the Rest
I dreamed I was missing, you were so scared
But no one would listen, 'cause no one else cared
After my dreaming, I woke with this fear
What am I leaving when I'm done here?
So if you're asking me, I want you to know
When my time comes, forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed
Don't resent me, and when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory, leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest, don't be afraid
I've taken my beating, I've shared what I made
I'm strong on the surface, not all the way through
I've never been perfect, but neither have you
Riley Brand was your average 22 year-old young woman living in London, England fresh out of school. Art school. Riley has been in love with the arts ever since she was 9.
It started out as a harmless hobby she enjoyed in her spare time when she wasn't doing homework, playing rugby, or playing games with Erika McKoss, her newly found friend, in their dorm room at their all-girls boarding school in Glasgow, Scotland.
Her first art for a few years were simple drawings of little girl things like rainbows, flowers, and horses.
The summer before Riley turned 12, the Brand family went on vacation to the southern coast of Italy. They had rented a little condo on a fairly secluded little beach for three weeks.
For one straight week, every morning at 4:45, Riley would wake up on her own, get a banana nut muffin that her mother had made a few days before, grab her canvas and go outside. She would pull up a plastic chair, hold the canvas up angled on her legs, squirt some paint onto her tablet, and begin painting the beautiful sunrise before her eyes.
The next week the setting changed drastically. A family of three, the Daniels, had arrived. Their condo was maybe a quarter mile away. Riley's parents, looking for more socialization, instantly starting hanging out with the Daniels. The Daniels had a son, Matthew, age 13, only a mere year older than Riley.
After meeting Matt the first day, Riley went to her room at the condo, opened her drawing notebook to the next clean page, and drew Matthew's name, with hearts. Riley had her first crush.
For a week and a half, Riley and Matthew were inseparable. While the Daniel parents along with Riley's parents were together all the time; from having coffee and danishes in the morning, to having roast beef in the evenings.
After spending only a week with Matthew, Riley decided that for her 12th birthday, she would ask for a camera. Instead of trying to make mental photographs of things she wanted to draw and paint, she would simply have an actual visual of what she wished to create on paper or canvas.
It was the Daniels final day at the condo, everything was packed and ready to be taken away, back to their home in Fort William, Scotland.
Riley had hoped and prayed with all of her heart that at the last moment before she and Matt said their final goodbyes, Matthew would ask to be his girlfriend and they'd find ways to keep in contact.
But alas, that was far from the case.
After that day, for several months, Riley's art had turned to black and grey. Every picture she drew was of sorrow and depression. She would draw small girls with white, unshaded faces, long, sheer black hair, and black clothing. The girls had thick black lines around their eyelids, and they were crying large black tears.
Riley had gone into a severe state of depression for a girl of the age of almost twelve, and in both good and bad ways, turned to her art. It was good that she was not causing any physical pain to herself. But dreadful in the fact that she had completely ruined her beautiful love of art. Everything she drew or painted at this point made you wonder why she wasn't in some sort of mental asylum.
Finally, on October 24th, 2000, Riley Brand awoke from her twin bed at 6:30 in the morning, ready for breakfast. She opened her door tiredly and was surprised to find a small, brown package on the ground in front of her door.
She looked around suspiciously before bending down and picking up the small package. She looked at the tag.
To Riley it read. She carefully unwrapped the package, to find a small white box and a card.
She first opened the card.
'Happy Birthday 12 Year Old!
We love you so much. Hopefully this present will bring up your spirits.
Love,
Mom and Dad'
Riley found a pair of scissors and sliced the tape holding down the flaps to the box.
She carefully opened the flaps and found one of the only two things she had wished for this year.
And what she got was not what she wanted most.
The very first picture Riley ever took, was of her best friend and roommate, Erika McKoss, sleeping soundly in her bed.
Time: Tuesday, October 24th, 2010
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Robert Pattinson. I do however own Riley and all other characters. Title Credit and Lyrics At Top to Linkin Park.
But no one would listen, 'cause no one else cared
After my dreaming, I woke with this fear
What am I leaving when I'm done here?
So if you're asking me, I want you to know
When my time comes, forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed
Don't resent me, and when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory, leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest, don't be afraid
I've taken my beating, I've shared what I made
I'm strong on the surface, not all the way through
I've never been perfect, but neither have you
Riley Brand was your average 22 year-old young woman living in London, England fresh out of school. Art school. Riley has been in love with the arts ever since she was 9.
It started out as a harmless hobby she enjoyed in her spare time when she wasn't doing homework, playing rugby, or playing games with Erika McKoss, her newly found friend, in their dorm room at their all-girls boarding school in Glasgow, Scotland.
Her first art for a few years were simple drawings of little girl things like rainbows, flowers, and horses.
The summer before Riley turned 12, the Brand family went on vacation to the southern coast of Italy. They had rented a little condo on a fairly secluded little beach for three weeks.
For one straight week, every morning at 4:45, Riley would wake up on her own, get a banana nut muffin that her mother had made a few days before, grab her canvas and go outside. She would pull up a plastic chair, hold the canvas up angled on her legs, squirt some paint onto her tablet, and begin painting the beautiful sunrise before her eyes.
The next week the setting changed drastically. A family of three, the Daniels, had arrived. Their condo was maybe a quarter mile away. Riley's parents, looking for more socialization, instantly starting hanging out with the Daniels. The Daniels had a son, Matthew, age 13, only a mere year older than Riley.
After meeting Matt the first day, Riley went to her room at the condo, opened her drawing notebook to the next clean page, and drew Matthew's name, with hearts. Riley had her first crush.
For a week and a half, Riley and Matthew were inseparable. While the Daniel parents along with Riley's parents were together all the time; from having coffee and danishes in the morning, to having roast beef in the evenings.
After spending only a week with Matthew, Riley decided that for her 12th birthday, she would ask for a camera. Instead of trying to make mental photographs of things she wanted to draw and paint, she would simply have an actual visual of what she wished to create on paper or canvas.
It was the Daniels final day at the condo, everything was packed and ready to be taken away, back to their home in Fort William, Scotland.
Riley had hoped and prayed with all of her heart that at the last moment before she and Matt said their final goodbyes, Matthew would ask to be his girlfriend and they'd find ways to keep in contact.
But alas, that was far from the case.
After that day, for several months, Riley's art had turned to black and grey. Every picture she drew was of sorrow and depression. She would draw small girls with white, unshaded faces, long, sheer black hair, and black clothing. The girls had thick black lines around their eyelids, and they were crying large black tears.
Riley had gone into a severe state of depression for a girl of the age of almost twelve, and in both good and bad ways, turned to her art. It was good that she was not causing any physical pain to herself. But dreadful in the fact that she had completely ruined her beautiful love of art. Everything she drew or painted at this point made you wonder why she wasn't in some sort of mental asylum.
Finally, on October 24th, 2000, Riley Brand awoke from her twin bed at 6:30 in the morning, ready for breakfast. She opened her door tiredly and was surprised to find a small, brown package on the ground in front of her door.
She looked around suspiciously before bending down and picking up the small package. She looked at the tag.
To Riley it read. She carefully unwrapped the package, to find a small white box and a card.
She first opened the card.
'Happy Birthday 12 Year Old!
We love you so much. Hopefully this present will bring up your spirits.
Love,
Mom and Dad'
Riley found a pair of scissors and sliced the tape holding down the flaps to the box.
She carefully opened the flaps and found one of the only two things she had wished for this year.
And what she got was not what she wanted most.
The very first picture Riley ever took, was of her best friend and roommate, Erika McKoss, sleeping soundly in her bed.
Time: Tuesday, October 24th, 2010
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Robert Pattinson. I do however own Riley and all other characters. Title Credit and Lyrics At Top to Linkin Park.