She was always a go go go kind of girl

A minute stood still was a minute wasted

There was just so much to see,

so much to do

so much to be!

That’s when she met him

He was lazy

Did things his own way

But still seemed happy

She looked at him and understood nothing.

Funny how two very different people’s lives can keep crossing

While she was working at the local diner he was ordering lunch.

While she was getting A’s in Ms. Polly’s biology class he was a row behind getting solid C’s.

While she was mowing her front lawn he was across the street drinking lemonade on his.

While she was on the field playing sports he was in the bleacher with a couple of friends.

And one summer’s day, while she was hiking he was napping under a shady tree

She finally asked

“How can you do it?”

He peeked out from under his cap, looking only mildly surprised to see another person in the middle of the woods.

“Do what?”

“How can you sit there and do nothing? Sit there and accomplish nothing? Sit there and be nothing?!”

“Hmmmm”

He paused for a moment

“Have you ever tried it?”

Ok, that was not the answer she was expecting

“Well… no…”

He didn’t say another word, just shifted a little to the left

But it was a clear invitation to stay a while

Never one to ignore a challenge, she plopped herself down against the hard, uncomfortable trunk

She leaned against that tree

And she sat

And she sat

And she sat

Until she was bored

And then she sat some more.

She began to hear the birds chirping, and the stream running

She began to smell the pine and the wildflowers all around them

She began to see all the leaves in the trees and the little critters scampering by

She began to breathe in the fresh air

Until she wasn’t bored anymore,

Until she felt at peace.

And then,

she looked at him and understood nothing,

Wonderful, beautiful nothing

she looked

at him

and

understood

nothing.

she was

still

shocked.

why had

he said that?

it changed

everything.

out of the

blue,

out the

darkness,

out of his

lips, the

words

emerged.

she wanted

to yell,

shake him

by the

shoulders,

ask-

have you

lost your

MIND?

he had

crossed

a threshold,

a threshold

that never should

have been crossed.

it was the start

of the finale,

a final desparate

attempt to

bring it

all back.

she replayed

the words

in her mind

one last

time,

for some

sort

of

closure.

i love you.

She thought that when they were reunited, everything would make sense. But now she was more confused than before.

"Answer me!"

He just kept looking at her in that queer way, saying nothing, showing nothing, but

still somehow seeming like he was hiding nothing.

The darkness around him seemed to swell at her growing anger. She roughly grabbed the window screen to pull it closed.

"Come on Shade, you said no more secrets between us!"

At that his face hardened, showing for just a heartbeat, frustration. He stepped closer to her house, like he'd climb up the short wall to get to her window, but stopped himself.

She scowled and slammed shut the window. The sobs came just barely after the curtains were drawn. She yanked the light off so he wouldn't see her crying through the thin curtain.

When she looked outside again, though the side of the curtain, without actually opening it, he was turning away. And just like last time, when she saw him, she understood nothing.

this man.

this being.

all she’s ever known

wrapped up in one human,

and now this?

from ‘daddy’

to ‘father’

to first names

to foes

in a only a moment’s time.

but upturned

crimson palms

make for

evidence

of the crime.

her brown eyes

once gazed

with love upon

this man

she thought she knew.

but now...

after....

she looks

at him and

understands nothing.

She pulled into the parking lot to save her heated car, and panicking a little bit

Because she didn’t know anyone was near.

Struggling to cool it down, she sees someone sitting there.

So she asks could you to please help me?

He agrees and calls her by name, which stops her in her tracks.

She looks at him, understanding nothing.

She seems to know him from a place, a place she cannot say.

Then it comes to her: he saved her just the other night.

She was in my bed, lying there and drowning in fear; yet, thankfully he was there-the man inside her dreams.

A man she hadn’t known until that very night.

He came to her and calmed her down.

Bewildered, she still seemed to be.

How was he in her dreams?

And now on this day he stands.

He knows her name.

She knows not his-she just doesn't understand a thing.

In this parking lot

He saves the day

He's here for her again.

He cools the car and saves her life just like the night.

She thinks she found her love to be

Until finally she sees

He's not alone. There is another with him.

She also sees his wedding band.

She sees it all, but understands nothing.

And then she starts to recognize: they've only met inside her dreams.

They make a deal and he promises to come to her when she's in need but they will only meet in her dreams

She looked at him

and understood nothing

not even the freckle

underneath his right eye

he was an enigma

a Rubik’s cube

with one too many

colors and shades

that never seemed to

match

he left too many questions

in his answers and so

the cliffhangers in his story

became all she ever knew.

Cliffhangers -{renata ferretti}

When they first met, Jen and Phillip, were the happiest people of all

They had nights out where they went to catch a movie

They had dinners at diners that were open late

They got caught in the middle of a downpour more than once

They had so much fun

They evetually got married

After their wedding, they still got caught in the rain

They went to the beach and got sunburns

They had so much fun

They had two kids Sam and Chloe

They were so happy

They spent late nights each helping with the babies

and when the kids grew older, something was amiss

There was something lurking in the shadows ready to kill their happiness

Somehow, for some reason, Phillip gave into the temptation

He decided that after adulterating his marriage he would divorce Jen

He wished to break their holy union

He invited Jen to one of those open late diners for dinner and a chat

He explained to her thart he wished to divorce her

And with a solemn look he handed her the divorce papers to sign

With tears in her eyes she looked at the papers

And the looked up at him

When she looked up at him she understood nothing

As if the whole world just stopped making sense

She felt like she couldn't breath properly

That's when her happy world came crashing down

She looked at him and understood nothing.

He sat on the floor in front of the couch with his crinkled smile and single dimple sporting the only bright yellow jacket emblazoned with a large capital B that she had ever seen and wearing a crimson and navy cap with a with a cardinal at the back backwards on his head.

Worlds collide in every corner, but if you keep your mind narrow enough, you’ll never have to walk in anyone else’s shoes. Elena had never been to any country outside of the United States of America, so when her work transferred her to Tunisia she was more than a little nervous. Still, she reasoned, there’d probably be McDonald’s there, if nothing else.

Her first morning in the country, she tried to buy bread from a baker. She used her airport tactic, which was to gesture while speaking loud and slow.

“TWO BREAD, YUM YUM,” she pointed at the bread and made slurping noises.

The man behind the counter looked at her coolly, and ignored her when another customer came in. She looked at him, and understood nothing.

Elena didn’t want to understand, but when she complained at work the next day, there was an awkward silence. A man with a kind face said to her:

“When immigrants come to your country, they do their best to adapt and learn the basic language.”

“But I’m not an immigrant, I’m an expat.”

“You still have to try,” he told her.

“But it’s hard,” she said.

So he introduced her to an Arabic tutor.