And there he stood, chills going down his back. It was a familiar feeling. She was near. He didn’t need to look around as he could already sense where she was. As he looked up a cool breeze sliced through the heat left behind by the summer sun, but it did nothing to cool him on this night. The breeze sent her hair dancing on her shoulders like flames flickering from a fire. She was still a great distance away yet her eyes pierced through the night like the first ray of sun over the darkened earth. He could get lost in her eyes so he dare not look for long. As she approached her footsteps seemed like thunder getting louder and louder, becoming more intense the closer she came. He realized it was not her feet striking the ground that was causing the thunder, but his own beating heart. She was the only person that could make his heart beat faster and slower at the same time. Now only a few yards away her scent is stronger than a thousand gardens at dawn. The gloss on her lips creates a sharpness that could cut glass, yet there is a softness to them that only passion could satisfy. For him one kiss would be worth an eternity of torture, her touch would be worth a hundred thousand deaths. Now mere inches apart the anticipation is greater than that of any championship, for this reward cannot be spent or worn. Only cherished forever. He gently brushes the hair from her face and tilts her chin up…..And she is gone. For this is not reality, but a haunting reminder of the nightmare he must endure. And so he waits, awake in a living dream.