If Only I Had Told Her

by Laura Nowlin

This is heaven: her forehead pressed into me, her head under my arm, and my hand on her shoulder. We found each other by instinct.

How am I going to live the rest of my life in love with Autumn Davis

when I fell in love with Autumn Rose. Something

I felt for her before I even learned to read

My devotion to Autumn is engraved on my very being. I am in awe of her. I will sit in the stands and cheer her on in life as her most ardent admirer. I know I will always love her in the same way I know I’ll always need oxygen.

pulling her into my arms the way I have dreamed of so many times before,

My Autumn.

Her devotion to her writing is beautiful, like the rest of her.

She knows what she wrote is good, in the same way she knows that she’s pretty.

She is as extraordinary as she is beautiful.

I will go to dental school and rebuild her teeth if she needs it.

that you’re so close to me—“about

how much I adore you—“whether

She smiles at me, making my heart beat faster.