Crossroads

Her headlights burned bright in my rear view mirror. She followed behind me as we left everything. We hugged the turns together in the descending twilight. Tall oaks rose up next to a worn wooden fence along the road. The sky was always gorgeous with her. She had a sixth sense for predicting beautiful sunsets. Each one trumped the last. Tonight the western sun had just enough paint to sweep a ring of fire across the horizon blocking in the soft dark blue clouds. Our spot was at the center of it all.

I went right. She echoed each movement. We headed towards the main road one last time. Our cars sped across the narrow two lane dam. I remembered every laugh, kiss, and tear as we past the forest trails on either side. The night we heard the scary bird mimicking a screaming woman, the time we watched the dusk turn to night on a park bench, the talk about how much you craved tacos on the gravel banks, the evening we saw that lonely duck brave it’s way against the current, the hours we’d spent holding each other on the banks, watching the water all came streaming back. Each memory ran together into the end we just wrote.

I stared at a blurred face with red puffy eyes and held your hand tighter than ever. On top of that hill, with another amazing sunset above, we said goodbye. We made a decision we had to follow, but neither of us wanted to. Our hearts flowed together in shared pain. Embracing, we confessed everything. “I love you” ‘s left unsaid were spoken, intentions revealed. Two scared lovers came clean without fear. It was over. We had nothing to lose. The walk back to the car we held hands and the sunset blurred into the dark blue sky.

One more hug, three more kisses. The finale of a love so quiet deafened my senses. My key went into the ignition. I pulled out. Her comforting headlights burned bright in my rear view mirror for one last time. I turned right. She turned left.