What are we talking about in 2010? Haiti earthquake; the Tea Party; SeaWorld; The Hurt Locker; BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; Elena Kagan; El Bulli; Rahm Emanuel; Don’t ask, don’t tell; Chilean miner rescue; Alexander McQueen; 127 Hours; WikiLeaks; Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson, Chris Traeger, Tom Haverford, April, Andy, and Ann Perkins; “I see you drivin’ round town with the girl I love.”
Her favorite moments of the year are the moments right before she sees him. He’s on the ferry. He has boarded the plane. He’s on his way. His rental Jeep is going to be speeding down the no-name road toward her cottage, bringing a cloud of dust and dirt and sand. The anticipation is ecstasy. It’s a perfectly ripe strawberry dipped in melted milk chocolate; it’s a roaring fire on a snowy night; it’s a double rainbow; the green-glass barrel of a wave; the first sip of ice-cold champagne.
And then…he arrives, he’s there. They lock eyes; he rushes out of the car—forget the luggage, worry about that later—wraps his arms around her, picks her up off the ground, sets her down, holds her face in his hands, and they kiss.
Stop time, she thinks. Please, God.
It’s the inverse when he leaves. The most excruciating pain she has ever known is watching him drive away, knowing it will be 362 days until she sees him again (and a day longer in leap years).
What will change in that year?
Will anything happen that will keep him from coming back?
Mallory’s fortune: An acquaintance of the past will affect you in the near future.
Jake’s fortune: Feeding a cow roses does not get extra appreciation.