She quietly snuck out of the crowded room and walked across the yard.
Heading towards the top of a small hill by a tall tree where the ground underneath was hard.
When she got there, she sat down alone with thoughts racing through her mind:
of life & friends & love & tears & how they can sometimes be so unkind.
She sat there half wanting to be alone & half hoping that "he" would come.
He'd noticed after some time, that he remembered seeing her leave and realized how long she'd been gone.
And he knew she often came here - she had seen him watching her leave.
Some cold nights, when she came here to think he'd let her borrow his warm coat with long sleeves.
He'd join her there but never for long - only to look up at the stars
Then he'd smile & say: "Take your time, but remember I'm not going far"
She loved that about him - how the simplest words could invoke
feelings of love & contentment, then she thought: she loved him whenever he spoke.
And as she sat with her thoughts, she heard the footsteps and a chill rushed up her spine.
Yet, this night was not a cold one, she shivered because she knew who was behind.
And without a word he sat beside her and stared in the direction her head was turned.
and as he waited for her to speak the tears in her closed eyes burned.
She wanted HIM to be the first to speak, to confess his feelings of love.
And she sat & waited to hear those words as the silence was broken by a small bird above.
And he put his arm around her shoulder & in just one word ("sorry")
He told her how he cared for her deeply and he wished it was from him she first heard.
She said nothing in reply as she reflected on the chatter she heard among the crowd:
that "he has loved her for years & years" & how "his head was in the clouds".
He told her the party had been called in her honor - he wanted to finally reveal the facts
That he had loved her sincerely from the start & now he could never turn back.
And now as she turned to look at him her tears clashed with his own.
Hers tears of joy & his of regret for keeping it secret so long.
And she wrapped both arms around him and whispered in his ear "Thank you!"
And in those two words what she really said was "I love you!"
And on that hill 20 years later they stood together, where he first asked her to be his wife.
And vowed to share eternity together in a happy & love-filled life.
© 2003