"Driving down the highway that stretches for miles into infinity, I watch as the sky melts from orange to a deep indigo. I hit the scan button on the radio, and settle on one of the two stations playing Dolly Parton. The hum of the tires turning over the uneven road causes a rhythmic cadence that accompanies the music. The once warm breeze that played with my hair has now turned cool, and I wonder if renting a ten year old convertible was that wise. I stretch my foot into the night and make patterns against the sky with my toe. The night smells differently than the night back at home; it's clearer and tingles in my nose. I can smell the possibility, the fragrance of something better yet to come. I try to follow the movement of the desert, focusing on each cactus before it fades back into the shooting beams of the night. You interrupt me in my quest to separate the night...something about the time when you and your friends drove to Vegas. This story sounds like all of your stories; exciting, but all with the same inevitable outcome. I smile because I know it's coming. You stop because you notice my recognition. My laughter urges you to keep going, but you've been wounded by my inability to listen and settle on your characteristic smirk. I love that smirk. It has the innocence of a little boy, but the sensuality gained from memorizing the outline of my body. It's so quiet that you catch the erratic turn that my breathing has taken, and the smirk fades. I feel the car slow and see the night falling back into distinct components...I wonder if your gaze has frozen time. I search your eyes for an explanation, but see only the same longing that emanates from mine. It's so quiet that the energy from your glance creates a buzz that changes pitch as it shoots through my body-eyelids to chin, collarbone to fingertips, my heart to my knees. I began to notice how dark it has become and can see the night's expansiveness cascading down the sides of the car. You touch my face once, letting your hand fall, gently brushing my side. And all at once, yet slowly and stealthily, we disappear into the night, joining the shooting beams of cactus, possibility and love...."