Love, Devotion, and Long-Kept Secrets

When Carl Kegerreis wrote I Wish I Had Those Gasoline Pellets, he could not have anticipated that the characters of this sumptuous novel will become larger than life. If one talks about love and devotion, the tight bond exhibited by the leading characters, Haywood and Lilly Runyan is unparalleled. Lilly’s spontaneous revelation of a dark secret that she had kept hidden for years strengthened her relationship with Haywood even more, instead of eliciting cracks. The leading sentiment that love can, indeed, endure all things must have been plucked by the author from the ideals of his late wife who passed away because of Alzheimer’s disease.

A Love to Last

Haywood Runyan met his wife in the most improbable of circumstances. As an up-and-coming FBI agent, he was in a rush to attend his first court hearing and had only stopped to get coffee. When he inadvertently knocked down to the ground the plastic cup held by the woman standing in the doorway, he did not know that it was to be the start of a romantic relationship that will define his life. He and Lilly have been inseparable from the time Haywood decided to buy her a fresh cup of coffee in exchange for the one he spilled. 

Secrets and Trials

Like the author who experienced the agony of his wife’s bout with Alzheimer’s disease, Haywood and Lilly’s relationship was also tested by tribulation. Lilly, who was a college war protester so many years ago, was involved in a beating incident. Chancing upon Captain Oley Washington, Jr., the group she was with nearly beat the war hero to death. Although she made a supreme effort to stop the beating, the thought that she had not done enough to save Oley had always hounded her. When fate brought her, Haywood, and Oley together, she confessed her role in the dastardly deed to Haywood. Instead of blaming her, Haywood accepted her explanation that she had not meant the incident to happen. His love for Lilly triumphed over any other consideration. That Oley regained his memory because of Lilly’s intervention served as the icing on the cake.

With an inspiring story of love, devotion, and acceptance, the author has transcended himself in this literary work of art. 

by Carl Kegerreis