As the morning mist delicately peppers my face, I wonder how I got to this point. The gray clouds mosey across the melancholic sky, blotting out the sunlight. A grouping of birds soar across the sky, flying southward away from this increasingly chilly landscape. A strong gust of wind catches me by surprise, reddening my ears and nose from the cold. A gray morning for a gray life.

See, here I was thinking I had a chance with a woman. Foolish, I know. The day we met was a beautiful day. An orange sunset painted the sky blue, red and lavender. I stood outside the local watering hole, feeling the cool inhale of a menthol cigarette. As I exhaled the minty vapors, I saw her for the first time. I’m not sure what overtook me, perhaps the devil on my shoulder, perhaps the angel. Whomever it was, I decided to approach her, such a far cry from my shy, lonesome self.

I would describe her, but see it doesn’t really matter, because now she’s gone. But she was beautiful nonetheless, picture her as your ideal woman, in body and personality.

“You look like you’ve had a long day, care for a smoke?”

“Sure have and I sure will, thanks! What’s your name generous stranger?”

And that’s how we first met. And my god did I fall hard and fast for her. Of course everyone knows the stereotypes of what guys think about, but I truly fell in love with her mind. The more and more we talked it seemed we saw the world through the same lenses, the same hopes and dreams. I thought we would both paint our brushstrokes on a shared canvas called life. It turned out we wouldn’t even have a sketch.

At this point we had been friends for a few months. I knew I had to make my move soon, so I asked her out on a proper date. Not just down to the bar this time, we went to the restaurant that serves mussels as an appetizer and dirty martinis from the bar. So the night ended and I asked her to be my girlfriend. I thought she felt the same way about me that I did about her.

“No, I’m sorry but I just don’t see us that way.”

“What do you mean, we are almost the same person we can relate to each other so well.”

“You’d have to be an absolute fool to believe that!”

And so she stormed off in a rage with myself in a flustered state. I guess she was right.

That’s why it’s appropriate that it’s a gray morning I guess. Pretty foolish to think it would be any other kind of day today. Pretty foolish to think that it would be warm, with the sun shining and the birds singing instead of fleeing.

Although I know I won’t see her again, she did teach me one very important lesson.

I am a fool.