When I went to bed last night the sky was clear with a million stars gleaming in the heavens.  Most November nights in the upper reaches of Indiana are this way.  Only when a storm comes in does the cold north wind make its appearance and remind you of just how far up in the Northern Hemisphere you are.  I have lived here all of my life.  Mom and I moved to the outskirts of Chicago just after her husband left us.  I went through the mandatory twelve years of public school, graduated and attended Ball State University.  Received my degree in teaching and in a short time later landed a job teaching math in a small country grade school a few miles from where I grew up.

Like I said the night was clear when I went to bed or should I say started my adventure with that gorgeous strawberry blonde, Rachel.  That chance meeting a few months ago in the grocery store had bloomed into what I thought was the a serious romance.  It started out unlike anyother relationship I had known.  We actually took time to  really know eachother before advancing to second base.

 This was like I had always dreamed it should be; the guy courts with flowers, romantic dinners and only the finest gifts one can afford.  The woman accepts reluctantly while rewarding with passionate kisses qaccompanied with as we used to call it "allowing light petting."  This would escollate into more serious foreplay but never into a situation that was uncontrollable.  That came only after both hearts were sure of eachother and a lifetime together was reconsiled.  That kind of love was for ever; Rachel and I had reached that oneness or at least I thought so.

We kept no secrets from one another.  She told me of her life in Colorado and how she ran away from home at the age of 19 to see how the rest of the world lived.