It was another rainy day. The world was dark, and hope was nothing more than a memory. Staring at his reflection in a muddy puddle, he saw nothing more than failure. Life had tricked him. He had gone at with idiotic optimism, and it had slapped him in the face. But it wasn’t like he cared anymore. Pain and suffering had left him with little emotion, and he was numb. It hadn’t always been this way, though. As he gazed at the pouring rain, he remembered. He remembered her beauty. He remembered her wonderful, amazing, sleek design, her soft leather seats, and a steering wheel that fit just right in his loving hands. He tried to push away the thoughts, but the memories of years ago continued to flood his mind. So he let them come.
It all started like any other day. He got up. He ate cereal. He brushed his teeth, combed his hair. He was feeling rather fancy that day, so he wore his shirt without stains on it. He stepped outside and took a deep breath of the sweet summer air. He walked along the sidewalk with a slight spring in his step. He rode the winds of spontaneity and walked where his feet led him. And that’s when he saw her, sitting on the display at the car dealership. He had never believed in love at first sight, but that first glimpse of her changed his mind. The sun gleamed off her sparkling windshield. The tires were blacker than the dead of night, and the paint redder than a blushing cardinal. Perfection was the only word to describe her. He ran his eyes over the lovely automobile, lastly falling on the price. He couldn’t help but notice the number of zeros that followed the initial one. A lump formed in his throat, and a tear ran slowly down his face. He couldn’t stand the thought of living without her, but he knew that she was out of his league. That didn’t stop him though. He went to the extreme, selling everything, just to be able to buy the beautiful wonder that sat in the lot. In just a short while, he was T.V.-less, fridge-less, chair-less, and homeless, and happier than a kid on Christmas. The car was as good as his. He practically flew to the lot. And that was about the time when his world came to a screeching halt. He had never seen something so horrible in his life. Or, to put it more accurately, he had never seen such an absence of beauty. His love, his one and only, his gal, was gone. The display was now empty.
He cringed. Just the thought of that horrible day was almost too much for him to bear, even though it had been years ago. He stood from his seat under the gazebo, his bones cracking and aching. Age had not dealt kindly with him. Standing there, he couldn’t help but wonder how his sweetheart had fared over the years. He pulled his coat tight around him as he stepped out into the downpour. He walked, not going anywhere specific. He just wanted to clear his mind. He walked past the grocery, past the dry cleaners, and past the junkyard. And then he did a double take. Sitting there, water streaming down its cracked and dirty windshield, was a car. The car had deflated tires and scratched paint, and you could barely see its color under the layers of dirt that had accumulated. As the rain continued to pour, however, the dirt washed away to reveal a car with tires blacker than the dead of night, and paint that was redder than a blushing cardinal.
And suddenly the rain stopped.