One Shots

Air and Earth

I finally did it. I kissed him. I gave everything I had into the kiss. I grabbed his hair, hands, and chest, and he responded just as fiercely. I couldn't control much of my actions or how I felt. I don't even know how he felt by now but I had to give it a try. My thoughts overwhelm me and I look at him waiting for his reaction.

I was not expecting him to say: "Well that's a Valentine's day kiss I'll never forget!"

And then I wake up.

I had given up on finding love after losing my boyfriend John. But since his passing, every night, I dreamt about a man I'd never met, who helped me through the healing process. I didn't know him, yet I was drawn to him. I longed for the kind of love he showed me in my dreams, but I couldn't have him in real life.

Now I have developed these feelings I don't want, which in real life I can't have, and yet it's like my subconscious hasn't caught up with me. I often think of him, the man from my dreams which I used to forget my pain.

Is it even possible to heal so fast the death of someone you once loved, with someone you haven't even met?

I went on about my routine for the day, worked out, school, work, and then I went into my favorite coffee shop as I did once a week, at night to study, to escape the routine of my everyday life. And then I realize it's valentines day, the decorations, all the loving couples, and I realized, I want that. I've been overly exhausted with everything I do every day. It's the same routine and I'm tired of it, I want to have spontaneity in my life again, I want someone to care for me and love me.

I shut out everything from my mind and kept on reading my course material and suddenly someone sits next to me. The person starts moving my stuff and I find it irritating so I grab everything and push it toward my side of the table.

"Is this seat taken?" Well, that's a deep voice I will never forget.

I was about to talk when I look at him and he was just staring at me.

"No." I smiled politely. As I look at his face, I felt a strange familiarity, but I couldn't place it.

"Don't you recognize me?" He asked.

"Have we met before?" I ask back.

"I'm Russ." I start laughing because that's the name of the man in my dreams but he's not him. "What's so funny?" He looked confused. "Listen, every night for the past year, you see me. Us."

"I beg your pardon. I've never met you, let alone gone out at night to see you." I point out.

"That's not what I meant."

I start packing my things in my bag to leave but he stops my hands.

"In your dreams." He said it so low, like a whisper.

"I don't know what you're talking about." How could he know about the man in my dream?

"Genna, I've been looking for you all around the world." He paused looking cautious.

"I think you have me confused with someone else, Russ." How did he know my name? Then I looked at my coffee cup and realized it was in there.

"No, I don't. I am sure you're my Genna." And then he starts talking about things we did in my dreams, things I hadn't even told anyone. The more he talked the more I entertained the thought he might be telling the truth. Despite my skepticism, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to Russ than met the eye.

"But you don't even look like him!" I whisper yelled, more to myself. He was much better good looking but he had similar features.

"That's because you see a person I used to be physically in another lifetime."