A cute girl behind a counter,
A boy on an adventure,
He's nervous and she's blushing.

He grabs a rose and buys it from her,
For her.

She smiles and is excited,
His heart's beating hard.
They share a gaze,
A breath,
A smile.

And then he leaves,
Back on down the road.

But then he rushes back in,
Having forgotten the most important thing.
He asks for her number because,
A rose without a number,
Is just a dying flower.

I can feel the roar deep in my chest.
the men and women around me all sharing my expression of fear and excitement.
our time is coming soon, they're looking out the doors to the eternity that is the earth below.
"10 minutes!" He shouts and we echo. It doesn't feel all that long before I'm standing and checking my gear;
"Helmet, chinstrap, chest strap, left and right leg strap!"
Here it comes, the light is red, my heart is pounding, I'm moving forward at the slow shuffle pace they've drilled into us the past two weeks... two weeks, is that long enough?
That's it, I'm at the door. eyes on the horizon, feet and knees together.
I count my 6 count thousands and before i know it the **** of everything holy telling me I've survived this one. that wasn't so hard. my first jump a success? But wait, I'm still falling..
200 ft... prepare to land, drifting to my left rear. pull front risers and adjust lower body accordingly. I shift my knees and tuck my chin and before it hits me... BAM perfect PLF.. or as close as can be expected..
we survived it all.. the training wasn't a ruse after all... Thank. God.

Life *****. Life really *****. All our lives we struggle to find where we belong, always hoping that it's going to be sunshine and rainbows around the next bend.. but it's not. Life isn't a **** movie. The underdog doesn't win, nice guys finish last, the hopeless romantic doesn't get the girl and the no name gun slinger doesn't ride off into the sunset unscathed. He dies and is buried in the dirt just like everybody else.

Life ***** even worse when you're alone though. For some **** reason when we find someone who shares in our weirdness and we call that love. But love ***** because it's not always returned. You can devote your everything to someone who cares about you but isn't in love with you. That's always the worst. When you're so close but not enough.

The question is; why are we, who are we, without pain and suffering. The **** makes us more human. So embrace the **** because sometimes the **** is all you have and there's nobody else to alleviate that.

I say I love you, but do you?
You stare up at me,
with your soft brown eyes.
So full of hope and life.
I've known you for so long,
You've been by my side,
Through thick and thin,
You were there when I needed a hug,
You kept me warm through the long winter
And new I'm missing you more than ever.
Your the best friend I've ever know,
And an even better dog.