“Gina, I freaking love you. Happy?” He tilted his head and grinned as she rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hold back the huge smile now plastered on her face.
“Darn it, Logan. We haven’t even talked about a relationship or anything like that. You’re just going to spring that on me?” She sputtered, a strong blush creeping up her face.
“Tell me you don’t love me then.” Logan cocked his eyebrows up and stared at her defiantly, daring her to lie to him. She stood there biting her lip with one hand on her hip, glancing at him and then glancing away.
“Tell me you don’t love me.” Logan said more slowly and definitively as he stepped forward, closing the gap between them. She glanced up at him again, her breath caught in her throat.
“Darn it.” She stomped her foot and groaned then flung herself right at Logan, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him hard as he caught her and left her feet dangling above the ground. His grip tightened on her as he kissed her back, relishing in the smile on her face that she couldn’t hide.
“Don’t you know by now that I never do what I’m told?” She whispered into his ear, kissing him again. He let out a loud laugh and squeezed her tighter. He then kissed her lips, the tip of her nose, both of her cheeks, and finally her forehead before he put her back down on the ground.
PERSONAL ANECDOTE
Being newly married, my husband and I are always looking to older couples for advice on how they kept their love alive for so long. We are still in our honeymoon phase, but we know that it might not always be that way.
Every once in a while, we meet a couple that proves to us love can stand the test of time. Last night, we had the privilege of meeting our new neighbors. They are an awesome older couple who had been high school sweethearts. Now they are happily married, still in love, and also grandparents.
Seems like a sweet story, right? It gets much better.
They’ve only been married 3 years. Maybe they are still in the honeymoon phase themselves. In fact, these two spent their entire lives waiting to find each other again. After almost 40 years apart, they reunited through Facebook—yes Facebook! My husband and I met online, so we found this particularly humorous over the age gap.
Less than a month after they found one another on Facebook, they were married and he moved across the entire country to be with her. They were both divorced with tons of kids and grandkids, but they had finally found the one that they were always waiting for.
I guess when you let The One slip through your fingers, you just have to remember that there is always hope.
FINDING YOU, FINDING ME
I climbed dirt steps cut into the side of a hill
threatened by a single rainfall to slide away
and I carved your name into an apple tree until
I wandered every path that led me astray.
I heard the first cry of a newborn baby girl
and the last breath of a dying old man,
picked through shells but never found a pearl,
stored bits of rocks and you in a coffee can.
I saw the ruins where the lonely and tired
before me took their last rest,
I laid my head on the moon inspired
and asked for her sleep in a twilight nest
while I went dreaming of you.
I sang aloud hoping for a smile on your face,
squinted my eyes to see through the dust for a clue
But saw my spirit held in the hollows of your embrace.
I felt the scrapes on my knees, kissed the scars on my side,
the bruises patterned on my cheek sweetened
and I spoke to the Sun but He never even tried
and there was no light as I crawled through the bones of the beaten,
I walked the path leading to all you became,
took a bus all the way to your home on your fears,
A taxicab to that tree in the valley with your name,
rode a train to the beach and swam through your tears.
I laid down just to look up as your stars wept
but the hole that you left in my heart was blind,
I saw your Bible and the drawers where your secrets slept
but you were the only one I have ever wanted to find.
And now I know I’ve lost you forever,
because I looked everywhere and never
except for the mirror where you still hide
or at all the times that you still tried.
EXCERPT FROM TAINTED PICTURES
(THE PHOTOGRAPHER TRILOGY #2)
She hurried down the stairs and towards the apartment lobby, excitedly pushing through the front doors and standing out on the front steps. She stopped in her tracks as she realized what she was looking at. There was Derrick standing on the sidewalk holding open the door of a very long, black limousine and grinning at her with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. She smiled at him and sauntered slowly down the steps towards him.
“What’s all this?” She asked him coyly.
“Every princess deserves a royal carriage.” He teased her and made a slight attempt at a bow. She laughed and leaned in to kiss him which he more than happily obliged.
“Well then, Prince Charming, let’s go to the ball.” She giggled and slipped into the back seat of the limousine. She had never ridden in one before and was feeling quite privileged to be doing so now. Derrick climbed in after her and made a motion to the driver to go. The driver just nodded and then pressed a button that raised the divider between them, leaving the two of them in total privacy.
“Care for a drink, my princess?” Derrick pulled open what looked like a wall panel at first but turned out to be a mini fridge instead. He lifted out a beautiful bottle of fine champagne and opened another panel for some glasses. He handed her a glass and expertly opened the bottle without even a popping sound. The movies always make it seem like you are supposed to shoot the champagne cork across the room and take out someone’s eye in the process but the truth is that a real sommelier who works with wines and champagnes daily will tell you the exact opposite.
“Thank you! Champagne means we have to toast, you know.” She told him in a matter of fact way, daring him to be put on the spot. He wasn’t easily intimidated and just smiled, raising his glass in the air.
“To a beauty that never tarnishes, no matter the hardships she faces and to a love that never ends, no matter the mistakes he has made.” He said softly, gently touching the edge of his glass to hers. Kate’s eyes swelled up slightly as she felt her heart almost throbbing with emotion at how beautiful and sincere his sentiment was. She knew that trying to talk would only lead to choking up so she gulped down her champagne instead.
Derrick gently touched her cheek, brushing aside a piece of hair and then grazed his finger down her jaw line, grabbing her chin delicately between his thumb and index finger. He pulled her towards him and met her for a kiss, their lips soft and tender as they reminisced with one another. He then kissed her cheeks, her forehead, and the tip of her nose with such loving affection that she felt herself feeling like a school girl falling head over heels insanely quickly.
Of course she already loved this man but he had this way of making her fall in love with him again and again. Time with him was never boring or stale, but rather exciting and continually fresh. She loved kissing him and feeling him against her and most of all she loved how much he loved her. He would do anything for her and she knew that now. Derrick was no longer the boyish guy she first fell in love with, he was a man and growing more so each passing day.
She took another sip of champagne a bit too quickly as she felt the butterflies in her stomach when she looked at him. She didn’t know where they were going or how long of a drive it was but there was nothing more she wanted to do than yank his suit and tie off right then and there. Derrick leaned in to kiss her again, eagerly looking at her lips and wanting to taste them again.
Kate suddenly felt something in her chest
and just as Derrick was moving in to kiss her, she belched right in his face. A loud, unladylike burp less than two inches from him. She couldn’t even believe it. Kate was mortified, her face turning bright red. Derrick jerked his head back in surprise at the sudden noise and movement and then burst out laughing when he realized what had just happened.
“Oh my god, I can’t even believe I just did that!” Kate groaned and put her hand over her face, feeling mortified.
Derrick was still laughing, almost bellowing at this point, especially when he saw how embarrassed she was. He nearly fell off his seat as his body convulsed and tears sprung to his eyes.
“Okay, it’s not that funny. Seriously, Derrick! You don’t have to make fun of me!” Kate said, trying to sound angry but in truth she was trying not to laugh as well. She grinned at him, still blushing as he leaned in and planted a firm kiss smack on her lips, and then continued laughing.
“God, I love you, Kate. You never stop surprising me.” He winked at her and poured them both another glass of champagne. He raised his glass in the air for a second toast.
“To a lifetime of surprises and laughter.” He said, still smiling and then clinked glasses with hers. She returned his smile and then sipped her champagne, much more slowly this time.
YOU MAKE ME DANCE IN INTERSECTIONS AT 2AM
It’s a bright 2am and the radio is strumming
a sappy, upbeat tune as I drive home,
swaying to the giddy lyrics.
My hands tap the steering wheel
as I relive the excitement I felt when you
looked at me with that mischievous grin.
I stop at an intersection but the red light
crawls like your hand on my knee,
and there is no one for miles.
I slam up the stereo’s volume and
bounce out of my car.
The intersection is my dance floor
as I celebrate the night
by the red, green, and yellow hues
and the stars sparkling just for me.
IN HER HEAD
It was love at first kiss,
two souls twisting around one existence;
That first date,
their first “I-love-you.”
A whirlwind romance,
her heart stops under his piercing gaze.
His proposal,
her ecstasy.
A fairytale story,
found only in the swelling soundtrack of a movie.
A small white wedding,
barefoot on a sandy shore.
The wedding night,
filling her in a way only a soul mate could.
He taps her shoulder:
“May I have a refill of coffee, please?”
She smiles shyly and pours his drink,
hoping one day he sees past her apron.
DANIEL WALLOCK
Born with seven congenital heart conditions, including a right-sided heart, Daniel Wallock dreams of sharing his life story and inspiring others to love their own lives. He is the author of Right Hearted: Finding What’s Right With a Wrong-Sided Heart and his work has appeared in Burningword, Wild Quarterly, Paragraph Planet, ExFic, The Vending Machine Press, and The Bolt Magazine.
SNOW LIT
snow lit kisses
lost across
oceans
—we sail
suspending in
centers
and revolving currents
—snow lit gratitude meets throughout these many months
LOVE
love— tinfoil leaves floating, ink sweeping,
passing clouds cradling lightning. gold ink
resting between my arms— love
LIGHTLESS
Tonight
tonight, tonight
the cracks in the floor
are singing your name
and the cobwebs
in the hall
are holding my words—
as I read this poem
you’re breaking glass
and throwing old
film in the pool
as my ink runs
your hand shivers
in the darkness
and you ask yourself
questions
questions preanswered
and questions
still wondered—
Tonight,
tonight, tonight
it is you this ink
drips for,
and tonight
it is you who
shades the moon—
Tonight,
your questions
fall through the ice
and you sit
again and again, alone
until morning comes
and you reach your own lightless sunrise.
MISS ME
Miss me, please—
why should I be the one
who hears your name
in the ring of my alarm
and in the drip of the blue rain
that coats one of my
two windows—
Miss me,
for I am still calling your name.
MELT
these hours
melt
and the sky cries
a thousand tears
for all these
sun struck oceans
and
all these footprints
I wish were yours
DIFFERENT
for time and passing seasons
for brief smiles
and for the thousand headlights
still in traffic
for the broken diving board
at the bottom of the pool
for all of it.
for all of it,
I am still blinking
scolding the mirror
and telling
the clouds
life will be different.
OUR STORY
Dance
in shaking rains
of
frozen
photographs.
Embrace
in still breezes
of
moonlit swims.
Smile
in dwindling warmth
of
goodbye kisses.
Wonder
in created words
of
our story.
INNOCENT
In essence
the sun was bright
and the water was cold.
Days like that one
made all the suffering
worth a singular image.
Not an image, but a frame—
wind, water, and our smiles.
A frame of us all in motion—
moving.
We were all
for one frame
alive.
I dream of a day—a moment
when I can have yet another frame.
Not a picture, more memories that invoke feelings
more moving feelings
a frame.
TURNING PAGES
Pages turn
their gems shine
in winter.
Candles burn
and darkness
wraps around us.
Nights like these
my mind sleeps
and I see
through blurry
stained-glass
lens.
BEGINNINGS
Your voice creaks through the phone—
all is temporary.
Closing my eyes—
I pause
silence surrounds
as my thoughts shiver
and I wonder.
For now
I’ll ask you more questions,
and long for your stories.
JAMIE LAKE
Jamie Lake is the author of Bad Boy and other gay romance novels.
LETTER #1
Dear Jack,
It was
great seeing you after all these years. That was a trip to run into you at the grocery store in Beaverton of all places. I thought I’d never see you again. I know it’s weird that I’m writing you this instead of just calling you. I’ve never been much of a reader and I think you’d agree you’d never been much of a reader but the truth is I couldn’t do this over the phone and the truth is I couldn’t do this in person.
I have to tell you something that I’ve been meaning to tell you all these years. What I’ve been meaning to tell you ever since I laid eyes on you in junior high in Mr. Call’s class, ever since we were both on the JV basketball team in Glencoe (Go Crimson Tide, right?) and something I’ve been carrying with me to this day.
The truth is, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. We were like best friends growing up and it crushed me that we were drifting apart as we got older cause I knew long ago, I was feeling things for you. And when I say feeling things, what I mean is, I love you. I’m in love with you.
You were the only one that understood me, who got my jokes, who saw the world like I did. You were the only one that was there for me after my dad died. You were the only one I thought about when I went to bed and the first person I thought about when I woke up. I still think of you that way.
Look, I’m sure this is a shock to you. I’m sure you think I’m a big weirdo. You’re married and have a son and I’ve got a girlfriend and well, you’ll probably never see me or talk to me ever again, so I figured, what the heck.
But if anything I said in this letter means anything to you and you feel even a little bit the same, write me back. My address is on the envelope.
One Page Love Story- Share the Love Page 18