VIRGINIA BEACH

I start by coasting the shores of California to the song “Miss California” by Jack’s Mannequin.
It’s four o’clock in the morning and I can’t get these songs stuck from out of my head.
One of my favorites just appears in my head every once in awhile too, “Scrubs” by Zach Braff,
and the “Sanford and Son” theme song too.
I look at my cell phone every five minutes because I’m desperate for attention.
When I think of my life, there’s a main theme. The picture that comes to mind is “cheeseburger,”
and I try and get it out of my head. McDonald’s is just a huge part of my life right now,
which I soon hope to put it behind me. Staring into the distant sky on a late fall evening,
I look at all the different kinds of colors on the horizon: blue, pink, orange.
What a beautiful sunset, which starts about 6:13. Nothing can be better,
the sunset with my girlfriend sitting next to me. It’s not too cold
yet it’s not warm. We just sit on the hood of my car thinking
and talking about the long future we will have together. She brings our favorite drink,
Vitamin Water XXX. I know it’s not an alcoholic drink, but we both really don’t like to drink.
It’s just relaxing sitting there watching the waves in the sunset from Virginia Beach.
When we are together I feel nothing can go wrong. Those open air smells
come up my nostrils. The only thing that makes things bad right now is
the dead fish on the edge of the water. I ask Brittany if she wants to move,
but she tells me “No, I just want to stay here sitting next to you.” My favorite
song pops into my head, another Jack’s Mannequin song, “Mixed Tape.”
One of the lines then comes to me: “I swear to God this mix could sink the sun.”
This place puts my mind and my body at ease. The song just keeps playing
over and over in my head. Brittany knows me so well, she knows exactly
what I’m thinking about. At that particular moment, I was thinking about her.
I have all these random thoughts, but at that moment it was all about her. I woke up
in a cold sweat. I am confused for a second when I find I’m in my own bed
in Buffalo. The song, “Mixed Tape”, was playing on my alarm clock.
It was all but a dream. I looked at my phone and saw a text
from Brittany. She loves me. That part wasn’t a dream.