I met someone last night. She was a friend of my sister’s, one I’d not met before, and we really hit it off quickly. She was skeptical of me; I mean her only opinion of me was my sister’s opinion who can, bless her heart, make me sound much worse than I actually am. The reality of me was a pleasant surprise for the young lady and with my winning smile I won the right to talk to her. We spoke of music, how we both enjoyed many of the same bands; we spoke of dancing, how neither of us got to dance nearly enough; we spoke of love, how we’d both been hurt before. I told her she was beautiful and she laughed. When I carefully repeated my statement, looking her straight in the eye, she blushed and looked away. Then she looked back into my eyes and told me I wasn’t so bad either. I kissed her then, and she kissed me back. I hadn’t known her for very long, but she was already soothing my pain, replacing sorrow and loneliness with hope and joy.

And then I opened my eyes, awoke from my dream, and wept as I lost her.