33 Days: Warning - Extremely Cheesy Content

After weeks of my school paper having front-page headlines about dating etiquette, listening to snippets of conversations my peers were having about how the last date they had with a certain someone had gone, and finally having my Fitness and Healthy Living professor make a hint about dating in his lecture, I have decided that I've had enough.

I don't like dating. I never really have. I don't have a problem with the opposite sex, and I gush over the romance in chick flicks, but at dating I draw the line. Dating is usually not romantic. Dating - in my experience - has everything to do with testing the waters, awkwardly feeling our way through this whole "love" thing. And also, I hate the clothing store feel to it: Some guy comes along and says, "Hey, you look like a nice tie. I think I'll try you on for the night. ...Nope, that didn't work out. Well, guess you can live in Walmart for a while longer. Have fun. Oh! Look at that tie!"

(*sigh*) Yes, I know that I have issues. But the idea of dating makes me sick to my stomach. It's all one big guessing game, yes-or-no, trial and failure. (Mostly failure for me.) So I decided to chuck the whole process. I'm no longer bothering with dating, because I have designed a future for myself that skips the whole dating phase all together. I call it Instant Love.

* * *

It was a day like any other, except that it was a little overcast. I was walking with my friends after class, laughing and bemoaning the homework load we all had. Campus was as crowded as ever, and the swarms of people pushed us along like leaves in a rushing stream. One of them was saying something about her landscaping class when it happened: a shiver of electricity ran down my spine and I froze in place. My friends took a couple more steps before looking back, wondering why I’d stopped. I couldn't have explained it; it was as though an instinctive knowledge held me there. A soft gust of wind blew past me, and I turned my head to the left, sure that there was something there I needed to see.

There was a young man standing across the way, who appeared frozen in time as well. His hand was in mid-gesture and he had his head turned, looking right at me. Our eyes met without hesitation, and in that instant a bolt of lightening shattered the sky, hitting the ground between us and making the crowds of students back off, looking scared. As the crack of thunder echoed over the mountains, the previous babble of conversation gave way to utter silence.

We both began to run at the same moment. Everyone in the crowd stared at the surreal scene, but I had eyes for no one but him. His dark hair tossed slightly in the wind and I heard my books fall to the ground; I hadn’t noticed ever dropping them. We reached each other just as the rain started to pour, drenching us instantly. His arms were around me immediately, and I reached up to caress his face as we kissed each other hungrily, as if we’d been starving our entire lives.

It was bliss. It was perfection. Two lost souls finding each other in a moment of purest clarity. We clutched at each other as if terrified the moment would vanish into fantasy. Our lips moved together in a dance that seemed completely natural and yet exotic. We held each other in the torrential rain for an eternity before we broke off the kiss, staring into each other’s eyes. His were a wonderfully warm brown, and shone with happiness. I knew my face must betray the same overwhelming joy; I could feel the smile bursting from me, and I thought I’d never cry again.

At last, he spoke, and his voice was deep and smooth like chocolate. “I found you,” he whispered. He laughed in near disbelief, and the sound filled me with delight. “I can’t believe I’ve finally found you.”

I kissed him again, lightly this time. “After all this time,” I agreed. “I was beginning to think you’d never come.”

“I was always coming,” he said, softly. “I was just afraid I’d never get here.”

“But you did,” I answered. He leaned his forehead against mine. “You’re here.” I said it again, as if to cement it in fact, “you’re here. We’re together at last.”

“And the long search is over.” He took my hand in his. “All that’s left now is eternity. Together.”

“Together,” I echoed.

With the rest of the campus looking on in shock and bemusement, we strode off toward the horizon, still wrapped around each other. His friends and my friends seemed to have gathered together, watching us with a mixture of confused and delighted faces. We waved at them as we continued on our way, my hand on his bicep, his arm around my waist. The rain was letting up now, a bright rainbow was poking through the clouds as we walked confidently into the future together.

And I casually asked, “So, what’s your name?”


Today's Movie: "The Village"