text: Derek C. The Stack The snow dampened the world. It crunched beneath our feet as we slipped down the path. All was quiet except for our voices. We stumbled to the barn. I felt out of place, oddly gazing at the hay as if it was a masterpiece. The starlings bathing in the dust and pecking at insects flew off as we walked to the back. I climbed onto a stack of hay and she pulled out her camera. She stared through it and fiddled with the knobs. “Look that way,” she said waving her hand around. I sat still atop this mountain I had conquered and looked out. I heard a giggle and a click. She dropped the camera and her eyes met up with mine. I smiled and said “Why don’t you get one from up here?” She shrugged, went to the ladder and soon we were on top of the world. We sat and talked, my hand in hers. As the day ticked on the birds came back. One at first cautiously darting it’s head this way and that to see if the loud creatures had left. A few more came to join it. Soon we were watching the dozen or so starlings peck at the ground and dusting their feathers in the dirt. I looked at her. She sat there beside me with a smile permanently plastered onto her face. I looked out to the world. The smell of hay filled the air. Snow drifted slowly down though we were sheltered under the roof. The birds danced and tweeted. The tattered ends of ropes holding bales or tarps danced with the wind yet the trees remained still. The world turned yet it felt as if we stayed still. I felt her gaze on my face and I looked back to her. There she was. Right here. She could’ve been anywhere right now but she had chosen here. It amazed me. A shiver ran down my back as much from the excitement as from the cold. With that I started stammering, my mind losing it’s control. “Do-d-do you want to kiss?” She took a short breath, “Maybe...” The way it rolled off her tongue was odd. Not bad by any means just in a tone I’d never heard anyone give their words. I smiled and closed my eyes as did she. There we sat. Atop the hay bales in the back of a barn. Snow falling and birds chirping as if we were in a movie. I sat there taking in the moment. I took in the smells, the sounds, the world, and her head in my shoulder and arms around me. Then I heard it. Those three sacred words. Again I stammered but I managed to get them out. My heart beat its way out of my chest. Then the gentle swoosh of the wind took over again. “So that’s what butterflies feels like.” She said with her cheeks red from the rush and the cold. It took me a moment to process the line. Something about it sat in my head and wouldn’t move. It had power behind. I smiled ear to ear and pulled her in close to steal her warmth. The snow dampened the world around us as we sat. Content in each others presence while the world ticked on.