I opened the gate, we walked in. The area was wooded, silent, secret. The rain dripped through the tops of the trees and down on our heads. The cars zoomed by outside the gate. We were shielded by the plants and shrubs that aligned the inside of the white fence.

I stared at Alex, I had seen his eyes before, every day. They were my eyes, a reflection of a star field of memory, emotion, longing and joy. I stared into his eyes, I knew him as I knew myself. For the first time that reflection was beautiful. I was not myself, rather, this was the second of a whole. I took his face in my hands and thanked God for him.

Where had he been all of my life? Where had this precious soul been wandering without me? We kissed forever while standing on a blanket of water-drenched grass and leaves. I was his, and he was mine, never before but always after. That banner was a word, I wanted to utter but waited to speak.

This man, this Alex, this fragile stone. I had known him always but never before that night. He pushed me up against the wall and consumed me. Electricity and his face of joy. At long last here we were, our destined paths intertwining. I sit here now, the words on the tips of these fingers, I know him still, I want him now. My body is his, and my heart, no longer mine.

The wooded area shielded us for an hour or more. Time remained in the street we left it in. All was still in that evening hour. His name is on my tongue even now, his smile a riddle in my pocket.

My life before me, my life before me.

J.M. Prater