From: Kirkland@yabbs
To: oopsie@yabbs
Subject: I said I would...
Date: Wed Apr 20 12:19:27 1994

           Chapter ??:  A Third Person Perspective
The SODa Can - [ The Final Chapter or The Last Swallow ]

  "If only for a moment, hold on to the dreams that we had."
               - Winger (Miles Away)

 "She stares at the sky, wondering why the night isn't
   telling her, 'believe him'.
  If he could only read to her the pages of his heart,
      she could see they feel the same."
               - Winger (Under One Condition)

     The summer had passed quickly for these two young 
friends who where fast becoming more than friends.  She was 
eighteen and he had turned nineteen two months prior.  She 
was in the blossom of youth, he at the crossroads of 
adulthood.  They were both ready for this night, their last 
night together, for the next week brought on their 
departures for different colleges.  Emotions and 
expectations had been building for these last few months, as 
feelings were expressed and secrets were shared- bonding 
their lives through shared experiences.
     The clock chimed nine o'clock and they decided that it 
was time to leave her house.  After a short drive to town in 
which small talk was the topic of discussion, the couple 
stopped at the local quick stop, Mr. B's, for a six-pack of 
Dew and a tank of gas.
     The couple continued to cruise Bloomfield for the next 
two hours, occasionally stopping to talk with other people 
out cruising and friends that were on their way to the dance 
in Hartington.  The talk revolved around high school- the 
normal gossip of nazi teachers and current dating liaisons.  
The midnight hour approached and he suggested that they go 
to the Edge of Heaven, a drinking party location nowadays, 
but back then it was peaceful on the weekends and provided 
more than enough couples the privacy to become lovers.
     She agreed.
     The Edge of Heaven provided a stunning view of about a 
hundred square miles of Nebraska.  Hiding off from a minimum 
maintenance road that epitomized the word minimum, it also 
offered a sense of perspective.  The lights seemed so far 
off, yet the one you were with was right there next to you.  
With this in mind the couple, now standing quite close 
together, turned to one another and kissed.
     He walked to the trunk of the car and returned with a 
blanket.  Together, they laid the blanket out on the freshly 
cut hay stalks.  The tiny stalks gave way at the slightest 
push, relinquishing a padded place of rest once they had sat 
down.  They kissed once more, this time longer and more 
passionately than the last.  His hands caressed her hair as 
they stared into each other's eyes.
     "I love you,"  he whispered.
     "I love you, too," she whispered back.
     He began to massage the back of  her neck and they 
continued kissing.  She laid down on the blanket and he laid 
next to her.  He wrapped his arms around her and held her 
tight as they drifted off into sleep...

     She awoke six hours later to a sun that had already 
taken well into the sky.  He was still lying next to her, 
but was awake and had been for most of the night.
     "You didn't...," she looked down and saw that nothing 
had changed.  "We didn't...?" she said as she rolled over 
towards him.
     "Of course not," he replied.  "I didn't want to wake 
you or take advantage of you, I just wanted to wake up with 
you in my arms, knowing that you love me as much as I love 
you."
     She began to cry and threw her arms around him.  She 
had never before found someone who cared so much for her and 
her feelings.  They held each other and kissed until she 
decided that coming home at noon wouldn't go over very well 
with her parents.
     He picked the blanket up off the ground and tossed it 
back into the trunk.  They took in one last view and left 
the Edge of Heaven as they had come, as close friends.  This 
night had taught him that sometimes love is looking out for 
the other instead of yourself, and she had learned how to 
trust again.

     This was their last night together, and as that summer 
faded into memories, their paths etched out into separate 
ways.  Even though they had their chance at becoming lovers, 
they remained friends.

And it is up to you to believe that it was better that way.



7:52.53 A.M.
April 23, 1993


It's funny how one year later she still doesn't realize,
and I no longer can...
Dreams and reality, such distant cousins, it seems...
     -Kirkland, the reminiscent...