Jack Steiner

Ten thousand years ago in the time that was and the place that no longer exists some guy told a girl he would be willing to be close with her for a long time, maybe longer.

She said something like forever and a day and they developed a series of responses, comments and jokes ranging from MLBF, to YLC and a dozen others.

Earthquakes, fires and floods destroyed the castle and secret garden and for a long while they wandered alone and apart.

Some said they both met with moments of sincere heartache and unrest because of it and some said that neither really did.

Occasionally they’d come across each other and exchanged a series of moments in which they swore to never let each other go and to never speak again.

In short, it was a typical push/pull of people who couldn’t quite figure out what they were supposed to do and so they fumbled along.

A time came when he sent out a silent question asking her to answer who she really trusted.

“Who are you really close with and do you seriously not miss us.”

He knew what his answer was and sometimes he fought it. Sometimes he focused on all of the negatives and reasons not to let her in but she always found a way back to his heart.

Eventually he decided he wouldn’t try to control his thoughts or feelings about her and would see where it led.

So he looked at the moon and whispered his secret at it, “I miss her being my rock, even if she can be a pain-in-my-ass. What should I do about it?”

The man-in-the-moon just smiled and told him it would work out.

He shook his fist at him and said that is the kind of response I hate. It is a non-answer. “She won’t like it either.”

But the man didn’t respond.

Time Together

He walked under the dark night for a while longer and remembered how she told him she just wanted to spend time with him and smiled.

“That is what I want too. To get real-time for a while and to just be. Can’t know what I know without knowing more. Can’t test my hypothesis, can only hypothesize.

Even she would understand that, but I don’t know if she would admit it.”

He walked a while longer, looked at the sky and said he was certain under the right circumstances she would kiss him.

“I don’t know if that makes a difference or not. The right moment and the right combination of words. Especially because they wouldn’t be a line and she would know they were genuine.”

The moon remained silent but he swore he saw it wink at him. Not in a “taunting” kind of way but one that offered support.

And then he heard Hallelujah start playing and tried to discern if it was with romantic intent or something other than that.

For a moment he swore he could feel her hand grab his bicep and the other intertwine her fingers in his.

Was that a phoenix in the sky or just a comet streaking across the sky?

Probably didn’t matter as both were good and with that he smiled and kept walking.