Grape's Story

I suppose it’s time, isn’t it? Some characters, I haven’t really developed a backstory and the truth is, Grape was one of those for quite some time but I really do like her.

The concept for Grape came about when I was thinking of who might be one of Tiaco’s surfing friends. Since Tiaco is very athletic and loves surfing and Terra, his wife, is rather unathletic and not all that interested in being outside, it would make sense that he would have friends that Terra never met. Moreover, I thought it would be that much more juicy if this particular friend was a girl who had very strong feelings for Tiaco. Though Tiaco and Terra had been dating since High School, Grape has had a longer infatuation with Tiaco than her. Grape had a fairly ordinary childhood but her older brother was a big surfer. Grape adored her older brother and when she was just a young teen, she began accompanying her brother to the beach. At first, she would just play in the sand or talk with the other kids at the beach, most of them a number of years older than her. But that was before she saw the mysterious bird boy. He rarely spoke, he was built like a young Adonis and he was a surfing prodigy. She had to ask around for a while before she discovered his name was Tiaco.

She couldn’t help it, she had a crush and she wanted to grab his attention. Unfortunately, normal conversation didn’t really capture his attention and he would rarely spare more than a word or two in return. She realized that the only way she could get him to notice her was to pick up surfing. Fast forward several years and now Grape has become fully immersed in the beach culture. She’s well known on the waves and very talented on a board but she still couldn’t keep up with Tiaco who has become a local legend. When she finally worked herself up to meet with Tiaco, she began to realize that he didn’t communicate with words. He had an intuition about him, an unspoken connection and he could pick up more from a simple glance than from an entire conversation. With that in mind, Grape quickly cozied herself up to Tiaco. He knew she had an infatuation with him but he just didn’t feel that way about her. Sadly, he never could tell her in a way she would understand so he just continued with her as a friend.

Grape had a hard time when Tiaco married a woman she had never met and they had a bit of a falling out. For the next couple years, she avoided that beach and things changed quite a bit in her own life. Her brother moved far away and she graduated from High School. She moved out to the city and got a job at a local coffee shop. Unfortunately, this life-style didn’t afford her a lot of cash and if she wanted to go surfing, she needed to go to the nearest beach- the same beach she used to go to as a child. She wasn’t going to let old feelings keep her from the sport she loved so she returned to the beach. Sure enough, Tiaco was there once again. She was afraid he would be angry or resentful for how things ended between him but he showed nothing but kindness and sincerity. Furthermore, he had even opened up a beach-side cafe which was quickly becoming the premier hot-spot for all the surfers and beach goers. Though she still had feelings for Tiaco, she was able to set her feelings aside and they quickly returned to being good friends. It’s been years now and their friendship is stronger than it ever was before- but she can always dream.

-TB