I met her downtown by the rusty blue mailboxes. The streets of my hometown were quiet and empty like it was late Sunday afternoon, when everyone has finished their shopping and gone home for a cozy dinner with their families. She wore the same frayed jean jacket she had worn on our first date, with the little bits of flair. I’d come to give her the dress that she’d left behind in my apartment, where it had hung in my closet for over a year like a petite-sized loneliness.

She looked amazing, like an idealized version of herself. Her shiny amber hair spilled down her back in lustrous waves. Her lips were red, and her placid brown eyes glimmered in the twilight. I saw her hips outlined by trim black jeans and felt the old spark of desire stirring in my chest.

“Do you want to grab a drink after this?” I asked cautiously.

“I have to tell you something,” she said. I leaned down, and she whispered softly in my ear, “I still love you.”

My eyes welled up. The words rippled like a warm wave down my spine. I looked her in the eyes. “I still love you, too. I think about you every day.” 

The next thing she said got lost in a gust of wind.

We walked to my car together and got inside. The doors closed with two soft thuds like a heartbeat, and there we sat. She in the passenger seat, I in the driver seat. Just like old times, on our way to wherever. It felt inexplicably perfect.

“Where should we go?” she said.

“Anywhere.” I slowly listed names of towns to the north, south, east and west. “Morristown, Chatham, Westfield, Summit, Stirling…I think the Stirling Tavern is closed on Sunday.”

“I don’t care,” she smiled. “You choose.”

We drove down the street and out of the quiet town, side by side in the speeding car. Our bonds magically healed, our cracks mended. The road took us around several bends, through a deep dark wood, and up a steep and winding hill. 

At the crest of the hill, a stunning autumn vista unfolded before our eyes. On our left was a granite cliff face, towering and majestic. On our right was a vast sea of rolling hills, stretching out to the horizon. The hills radiated the peak colors of fall — brilliant reds, yellows and greens under a limitless blue sky.

My heart felt ready to burst from the overwhelming beauty. And then I woke up in my bed, alone.