I
remember when I was young. I would spend my days on my grandfather’s farm,
helping with the daily chores. The skies were bright and blue and you could
always hear the animals in the field. You could smell the peppers in Grandpa’s
garden from a mile away. The house was nothing special. Old and a little worn.
The white paint on the siding had worn mostly away and every time you stepped
on the porch you just knew it was going to fall through on you, but just like
grandpa it always held up.
I remember every morning grandpa would go out to
the stable and sit with this old bull he had. He would have his morning coffee
and read his paper as the sun came up. He and that old bull were like brothers.
They would both stay there grumbling at each other for hours,
but you knew they still loved one another. I still remember the day
Grandpa passed. I was upset and sitting on the porch looking out at the field
and the stables. It dawned on me no one had told the old bull that his morning
sits with grandpa were over. So I went inside grabbed me a cup of coffee and
the newspaper and went out to see that old stubborn thing. You see normally
you couldn't get close to him. But today it was like he knew why I
was there. So I sat down beside him in grandpa’s chair sipped my coffee
and talked with the old bull. Somehow it felt like grandpa was there with us.
At least for a little while we both knew grandpa was looking down on us
smiling.
Most days I miss that old farm. I miss grandpa and his
simple views on life. It wasn't long after grandpa passed I that
realized my once vivid dreams had started to fade. I used to dream of the
stories grandpa would tell me. I could imagine myself living out the adventures
in his old stories. But now, they were gone.
For
the longest time I thought that it was just me. Over time, I realized that
everyone around me had lost their dreams. It was like we had all lost our
passion. We had lost our reason for living. People would wake up each day,
grind out a living throughout the day then go to bed at night and lay there
somewhere between awake and asleep and praying the whole time for just one more
hour of rest. Only to wake up the next morning, still tired
from yesterday and do it all over again. As a people we had lost our
heart.
Then
I met her. Selah. We had been studying at the same university for a year now.
Every morning we had breakfast at the same place and at the same time. I guess
it was only a matter of time before we met. I still remember it like it
was yesterday. She was in a rush to get to her dad’s speech at the cybernetics
convention and was running out of the diner. I stood up at just the wrong
moment and she and I collided. Food and drink went everywhere, my tablet hit
the floor, and we both landed square on our rears. After a few seconds to
gather our thoughts, we both just broke out in laughter. Seeing each other
there covered in pancakes and coffee was just too much to handle. It was the
first time in a long time I had a good reason to smile. I found out later it
was a good reason for her too.
After
we collected ourselves she rushed off to change and get to the presentation. I
went about my day mostly thinking about her. That night I had the most amazing
dream. I was back on grandpa’s farm sitting in the stables with that
bull. The screen door on the old house swung open and out came
Selah holding two cups of coffee and the morning paper. It was the most vivid
dream I had since I was a boy. I woke up the next morning feeling alive and
refreshed. I jumped out of bed and took a shower, got dressed and headed to the
diner. Only to find it was only 3 am and the diner wasn't open yet.
Apparently I was a little excited to see if she would be there. So I sat
there on the bench outside and waited. The diner opened I went in to my normal
table and waited. I waited as long as I could, but she never came. It went on
that way for months. Every night I would dream about her and every day I would
wait for her. It felt like God had dropped this dream in my lap just enough
to wake me up. Then snatched her away again. After a while I stopped looking
and I stopped waiting.
One morning I walked into the diner and went to the
counter to order my food. I took my place at my normal table. I ate my
breakfast while reading over my notes for an upcoming exam. Then I felt a hand
rest on my shoulder. I turned around and there she was. "Is this seat
taken?" I promptly started to stutter and I think I actually spit my
coffee a little but I managed to murmur "No, please have a seat."
We sat there for hours talking about things that had happened and how much she
had tried to come back to the university but just couldn't. Eventually,
I even worked up the courage to tell her about my dreams.
Praying she wouldn't think I was a freak or something, but she looked at
me with a serious look and asked me point blank "So it was your
grandfather’s farm? I was wondering why I have been dreaming about a
farm..." In an instant we knew that we had been having the same dream for
nearly a year! She could even tell me what the bull looked like and how I liked
my coffee. From that day on we were inseparable.
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