As I pulled up to the bar and got out of my car,
I realized it was him standing out front.
A kaleidoscope of butterflies took flight in my stomach as he turned and we locked eyes.
*mental snapshot*
His smile took me back 23 years...
It was the same boyish grin I remembered.
In the 50 feet it took me to reach him,
memories flooded my brain - a combination of polaroid snaps and little reels of tape.
Suddenly we were 15 - awkward teens again.
We brought the sun up that night -
Everything felt so right.
As we drifted to sleep, I envisioned the life that could’ve been had we expressed any of our feelings during our youth.
But the bright midday sun woke me up,
reminding me that time had passed and even now, it just wasn’t our time -
and as I wistfully watched him sleep across the bed, I knew it never would be.
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©️VMLM13 Whiskey + Empathy 2019