My hands are up in the air with confusion and heart ache. I have met another writer at my community writer’s club last month with a love story one only reads in a romance novel. It just proves that all the things you read are not fictional.

Here’s the story: All names and places are changed to protect the innocent.

Maxine and Eric were high school lovers, he a senior and she a junior. They had gone everywhere and did everything together for the past four years. He had even asked her to marry him the spring of his senior year. Maxine was walking on clouds that summer before her senior year. Eric would be going into the Marines in the fall so they wanted to spend as much time together as they could. Both of them had part time jobs in the morning so that they could spend the rest of the day with each other as well as family and friends.

Maxine had finished work a little early one Friday in July and decided to go to the ice cream parlor to have a sundae to wait out the forty-five minutes before Eric got done working. They usually met in front of the library, which was half way from each of their jobs. She ordered her sundae after she selected a booth to her self. While eating her sundae and daydreaming about her life with Eric, several other girls had arrived and sat in the booth behind her.

Gerty, whose voice she recognized immediately, was giggling with excitement about getting engaged yesterday. Maxine strained her ears to hear who in their right mind would want to marry her. Her spoon slipped from her fingers and bounced off the table top as she heard her fiancée’s name being said.

"Oh, Eric Brunmeister asked me to marry him yesterday. I’m gonna have his baby in eight months."

As fast as she could, Maxine ran towards her job. There her car was parked in the back parking lot. With tears streaming down her burning cheeks, she got in the drivers seat. Not even looking behind her, Maxine pushed the gas pedal to the car floor. The car screeched out of the parking lot. While Maxine blindly sped northbound, tears continued to flood her burnt cheeks.

Maxine did not know how long she had drove her car, nor where she was. All that she knew at the moment was she laid in tall weeds. A hissing sound was definitely heard and it was dark. She didn’t hurt any where, but she couldn’t touch her face with her hands. "Why couldn’t she feel anything?" Her thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing sound and then a bright light was shining in her face.

Eric had married Gerty then joined the Marines. Time slipped by, thirty-five years to be exact. Eric had always driven by Maxine’s parents’ home every Sunday after church. He never stopped by to say hello, nor did ever inquiry about Maxine. He felt ashamed that he had promised Maxine he would be hers forever, and then broke his promise. She is all that he thought about all those years gone by.

Maxine’s dad passed away last Tuesday, Eric sent a sympathy card to her parent’s house. He made sure he left his return address on the upper left hand corner of the envelope. A week after he sent the card, Maxine sent him a thank you note. They have been together for two years now.

©HCD 9/2006