A sunburn is just what I needed.

They say people change like the seasons. But her? Nah, she was like a never ending summer. She kept me alive with her late nights and spontaneity. She was hot, like the pavement in August. Her face shined like the sun on my drives home from work. That laugh, well, it was as infectious as the boys' across the street streaking through the stream of a simple lawn sprinkler. Everything was simpler when she was around. It was the birds chirping and the flowers blooming type of feeling. Things normally seen so commonplace, you forget they are happening, but when you really stop to look and listen, it can truly take one's breathe away. And above all, I loved her like teenage boys and girls love a summers night out. I relished every moment, knowing that if I didn't take my chances, she would be gone, too, like the heat. Too many times I've been left in winters cold, and this particular time, I vied not to get complacent. I wanted to suck in the pollen. Feel the heat. Climb her like a tree. For the first time in my life, I knew what it was like to be me.

-DD