"The Moon and the Stars"

You wake up--- labored breathing, droplets of sweat make you dewy; you look around to see if it were all a dream. Was it all just a dream? 

* * * * * * * *

Her face is beautiful. The light’s rays dance across her pale skin, her lips thin into a smile, you watch her as she watches you watch her and the only sound for miles is her soft, almost uttered laughter. Then she throws her head back in laughter and looks at you with eyes of defiance, kisses your nose, and falls into the feathered fields and disappears. You panic, searching for her, and when she arises from the tawny grasses, floating like an apparition; her lips meet yours and you melt like ice cream on a sunny day. 

As the sun begins to set and your stomachs slightly rumble in hunger, you stand up and walk back to the car. 

“Where do you want to go?” she asks you in the driver’s seat. 

“Anywhere you are.” She laughs that same, faint giggle.

“I love you, but I am ravenous!” she exclaims, letting her head fall back onto her seat, her piercing eyes gazing at you.

“I love you, too. How about that cute diner down the road?”

“Sounds like a plan!” She perks up and pulls out onto the road. You enter the diner and find a booth by the window. You eat and laugh as the stars come out to dance. The jukebox begins playing a melody and you stand up and she takes your hand and you dance together. You watch as her dress twirls and spins, her blonde and curly hair bounces, and she gets close to you again, running her one hand through your Chesnut, wavy hair, and her other hand feeling the curves of your waist. She spins you, your skirt making circles as you caper. 

You sit down and pay for the meal. As you leave the diner, the two of you continue to dance among the stars-- you’ve never been happier since you met her and neither has she. 

When you get home and lay in bed, she turns to you and whispers, 

“Happy Anniversary! Eight years go by just like that, don’t they?”

“Just like that! Really, it’s been longer. We’ve loved each other all our life.”

“We wasted time being foolish and scared.”

“But if we hadn’t, we might not still be together.”

“I couldn’t imagine how awful life would be without you,” she whispers.

“The world would cease to exist.” And she curls up into your arms and you fall asleep.

The sun wakes you up in the morning. You squint your eyes and rub away the sleep and you see her there- just as beautiful and young as always. She somehow looks so perfect when she wakes up, you don’t know how that happens. You figure the gods and angels must love her, too. She stirs and looks at you- a smile immediately blossoms across her rosy cheeks. And she kisses you and life could not be better. She falls back down on her pillow and her eyes succumb to sleep. You crawl out of bed and tiptoe downstairs to make breakfast. You plan to surprise her with it in bed, but, just as an angel, she floats down from above in a silky, milky nightgown and rushes to you as she holds you from behind, so tenderly. 

“I was going to bring you breakfast in bed, honey,” you tell her.

“I was going to stay in bed, but I couldn’t stand being so far apart!” she quietly exclaims.

“You really do love me!”

“I really do! But do you love me?”

“What a question! I love you more than the moon and the stars love the sky. I love you more than life itself.” And you spin around to kiss her. 

You bring up breakfast and you spend hours in bed together, just talking and gazing into one another’s soul, fighting over who loves who more. Your love is everlasting. Your love is true. 

After lunch, you drive back to the fields and continue from yesterday, mapping out your house together. 

“The living room will go here…”

“And the kitchen here!”

“We’ll have a long table for us to sit at and for the kids and parties…”

“Our bedroom will go here…”

“The kids’ bedroom here…”

“And your study will be here…”

“And you will work in here…” On and on your ideas meld together, building up from the foundation to the colors on the wall. 

“How wonderful!” she says after it all.

“How beautiful!” 

And you drive home again. She cooks dinner and you assist her. 

“When do you want to start trying?” you ask.

“We said next month, right?” 

“Yes, I wanted to make sure. And you want to carry it?”

“If I can, I would love to.”

“I’ll take care of you. I’ll read up on all the books, do all the cooking and cleaning, I’ll massage you every night.”

“Now, remember, I need you alive when the baby comes.”

“Or babies,” you add. And she smiles again. 

“Exactly.” And you both look at her thin belly and place your hands over it as if she were already pregnant. You brush your teeth, she changes into her nightgown, you do the same, and you slide into the warm bed. 

“I love you.”

“I love you.” And you kiss her like it is your first kiss and you kiss her like it is her last and you fall asleep in each other’s arms. 

You wake up--- labored breathing, droplets of sweat make you dewy; you look around to see if it were all a dream. Was it all just a dream? Was it all just a memory? 

You look around. There she sits, awake like you, in bed as you stand there in front of her. And then you remember. You remember all that happened the following morning. You remember driving to the store to pick up her favorite pancake recipe- it was an eight-day celebration for your anniversary; one day for each year.  And you picked up the ingredients and were driving home when you decided to stop at the plot of land you were both saving up for. When you got out of the car, you saw a worm on the empty road and bent down to put it in the grass so it wouldn’t get run over. And then the car came out of nowhere and you were gone. 

That was four months ago. 

You look at her-- her eyes are red and puffy, her face is wan and drained, her hair is tattered, she’s been sleeping in your shirt ever since that day; she hasn’t left the house. She looks around frantically for you and cries. So you walk over to her and hold her.

“Beauty!” she exclaims as she touches your face. “I love you!”

“I know. I love you, too. But, honey, you remember what you’re doing today, don’t you?”

“I can’t!”

“You must!”

“Will you go with me?”

“You know I can’t. You know I can’t leave.”

“Then why must I go?”

“You need to begin anew. You need a fresh start away from here. There’s nothing left here.”

“There’s you!”

“But there’s not.”

“Please!”

“You’ve already packed. Come on, you don’t want to be late.”

“I won’t ever find anyone else. I promise.”

“Don’t promise me that. Promise me you will begin anew with someone else. But make sure she loves you and you love her as much as we loved each other.”

“I’ll never forget you.”

“I know.” She gets up and puts on pants, still refusing to remove your shirt. You accompany her on the drive to the station. Suitcase in hand, she walks and waits for the train. You wait with her. The train arrives on time and she hugs you and kisses you once more. 

“I’ll name her after you.”

“Who? 

“The baby.”

“My love…” you whisper.

“My beauty…I’ll never forget you.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more than the moon and the stars love the sky.”