and then it hit her. driving down I-20 at 70 miles per hour. she had his CD in, the one that she fell in love to back when she was just 15. she listened intently to each and every word of the songs as if it were her instructions on how to lead her life. as track 8 began to play, she heard the familiar lyrics that had touched her soul and sent her into a place of reminiscence. how did he know? how did he know how this song affected her? they had never spoken of it before, in fact, they hadn’t spoken in 2 years. how did this boy, who is so now distant to her, have the ability to unknowingly touch the depths of her being with what he thought was just a song? she couldn’t handle it. why was this happening now? after 2 years of what she thought was closure. she had to pull the car over. it was nothing other that pure shock. why now? what does this mean? she sobbed. tears of uncertainty, confusion, heartbreak, for a whole half hour in the rain.

after making it back to the apartment in a very flustered state, she began to draw in order to release some of the disarray that she had been feeling. she started to sketch out the perfect mandala, the one that would soon be a permanent part of her being. it had to be original, with exact symmetry and a feminine feel. it was complete after 15 minutes. she looked at her design, impressed with herself, but found herself yet again confused by the so-called obsession that she had with the design. she began to dig deeper into its meaning to her. where had she even seen a mandala? does someone she know already have this tattoo, therefore making it unoriginal to her? that wouldn’t do. her tattoos were always perfectly hand-drawn and unique. 

again it hit her like a train. him. his tattoo. of his family’s perfectly circular and finely drawn crest. in the middle of his upper back. that’s where she knew this design from. of course hers was much different and had no symbolism to her family, but she subconsciously developed the idea from him. him, again. everywhere. in every song she heard, in ever word she spoke, in every thing she saw. she could never escape the heartache that had so comfortably embedded itself into her, even after 2 long years.