Compass Society

The heat continued as the dream faded. The bright light of the morning sun streamed in through the hole in the window shade. It was that time of the year, when the sun came up at just the right angle and would shine through that blasted hole and right onto Gary’s face. He turned away from the light, but could still feel the heat of the morning’s ray on the back of his head. He wanted desperately to go back to sleep, but knew that he wouldn’t be able to now. He wanted to revisit that moment in time, even if it were only a dream, to see Stacy’s face, her smile, and her eyes. Discomfort existed, however, and sleep was gone. He opened his eyes and sat up in bed. He looked at the empty side of the queen-sized bed and reached over to put his hand on the space that used to be occupied by the one woman that he would ever love. He imagined her lying there. He could see here turning over to face him, opening her eyes and smiling, stretching and then wrapping her arms around him. He could see her leaning in to kiss him and then biting her lip as she always did before they made love. He closed his eyes and wished with all of his being that she was still there, but as with days gone by, all the wishing in the world wouldn’t bring her back, and no amount of hoping would allow her fingertips to caress his face again.