The Summer of Being

That’s where it all began. “No. Wait...” and nothing more, because he didn’t even know what he wanted to say. He didn’t know then what was going to happen, he hadn’t ever heard the fable of the “summer romance,” he didn’t think at all, he just knew he didn’t want her to turn and leave. He felt his heart drop right out through the soles of his feet, taking all his breath away with it, and he knew he didn’t want her to turn and leave. There was just enough air left in him to say “No. Wait...” If he hadn’t, if he’d stayed quiet, not spoken those two simple words, his summer, and his life since then, would have taken a different path. A whole lot less pain, for starters. Well, that’s not really fair. The pain came later.