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endings to no beginnings



The following piece was requested:

What began as an unforgettable weekend soon turned into a reality check. It is true that once in a while we find a person who we think is everything we want. But it’s also true that just because that person is everything you’ve ever wanted that that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be a perfect match.
He arrived around noon on Friday. When she went to pick him up from the airport her day dreamer side was excited to see him. She looked at him, he looked at her. And it was a friendly connection. He was charming, and amusing. Everything she thought he would be. There was no denying it. She felt like she’d known him for years. She didn’t have to pretend to be someone else. She felt comfortable and at ease around him. To her it seemed to all be going well. Until the night before he left. They were sitting under the starlight night immersed in conversation when she asked him if he’d enjoyed himself. He said yes and that it was really good to see her. He said Texas had a lot to offer and then she sensed a “but” coming. So she said “So…?” And if there was ever a moment that she asked a question she didn’t want to hear the answer to… this was it. He began awkwardly describing the things she needed to change in order to make it work. She looked at him nodding her head in agreement because that was all she could do. And her entire little girl day dream came crashing down.

It suddenly was obvious to her that her Mr. Right wasn’t at all tactful. And that she had gotten caught up in the emotions of a summer love that she had forgotten to protect herself from comments like these. Its not that she was a novice at this on the contrary if there was something she was an expert on was heartbreak. But at the moment she had received a slap in the face and she wasn’t even sure if it hurt or if it had happened. So she just smiled and nodded. She’d been expecting his arrival with so much hope that she didn’t remember to be practical.
The day he would be leaving arrived. She was accompanied by a friend to go drop him off. She went up the escalator with him while her friend waited downstairs. It was time to say goodbye. She let him go slowly. She knew the moment she pulled away that would be the last time she’d see him. He looked at her and she knew the moment was over; he kissed her on her cheek and slowly walked away. She walked to the escalator and went down. She never looked back.
“What goes up must come down.” Her friend, who had accompanied her, said from below the escalator. And she sighs because she was right. And though she was referring to her coming down the stairs, in that moment she felt like she had been tossed in the air and was frantically falling down. Not knowing if when or if she landed there’d be solid ground to break her fall.
And in that moment she felt her heart curl into a question mark. Because after all some endings to no-beginnings are very difficult to understand…

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