She took my breath away on a cold day in July. All the air molecules in the vicinity just packed up and rushed off after her as she drove past. I guess they’d much rather have had her breathe them in than me – I can’t say I blame them really. Fortunately for me, Mother Nature really does abhor a vacuum, and I was soon able to breathe again.

The setting was a rest area on a road that snaked its way to the top of a thickly wooded mountain. The view was crying out to be photographed, and I’d already used up three rolls of film trying to silence it. Then the heavenly vision in the black convertible had cruised past and derailed my respiratory system.

Make her stop! Oh, please make her stop! I’ve gotta get a better look at her.

To my delight, she slowed to a stop just a bit up the road. Maybe she was tired of driving. Maybe she wanted to take in the incredible view. Maybe both. I didn’t care which. I had my wish.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly and the birds and the bees were twittering and buzzing away merrily in the trees. The air was laced with the scent of oranges, with a tinge of honeysuckle thrown in. Sure, there was a rather icy breeze due to the high-altitude, but nothing to worry about – I rather enjoy it when there’s a bit of a nip in the air.

But the best thing of all, there was no one around except for the two of us. I looked up to the heavens and smiled.

I love you! I really, really do.

With a song in my heart, I started towards her. I had barely gone ten paces when a dark shadow passed over me. The warm yellow glow that had covered everything faded to dull gray as huge black clouds passed across the sun. The birds stopped twittering, the bees stopped buzzing, and the frigid breeze suddenly turned into an icy wind.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Hey, wait a minute! What’s with the thunder and the …

There was a deafening roar followed almost immediately by a blinding flash. A beautiful tree that lay across the valley – the focal point to my photographic ventures - was reduced to ashes.

… lightning? Oh, come on! I was photographing that tree! What is it? I shouldn’t approach the girl, is that it? I looked up at the sky expectantly. I was met with cold, misty rain.

Ok. I see. I get it. Pouring cold water all over my enthusiasm. Very funny! I see you’re in a zany mood today. A simple thunderclap would have sufficed, you know. Did you have to be quite this dramatic?

I wiped the cold spray off my face, tucked my camera well into the shelter of my jacket, and turned back towards the car. I cast a doleful glance behind me and managed to catch a glimpse of her car as it rounded a bend up the road and disappeared. As soon as it was out of sight, the rain subsided.

I hate you! I really, really do.

Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance and I could sense a certain testiness in the air. I was quite soaked from the shower, so I decided to just stand and admire what was left of the view for a while and let the breeze dry me off. I was in the mood for a bout of pneumonia.

Rumble all you want. You don’t scare me. That was just cruel, and you know it. How many times is a chance like that going to come along, huh? Just because you’re omnipotent doesn’t mean you can do anything you want!

The breeze let up slightly, and the sun broke through the clouds, warming things up considerably.

Is that your way of apologizing? If you really want to make me feel better then bring her back, and do it right this damned minute!

“Excuse me!”

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Up close, she was every bit as lovely as my first impression of her, and then some. Her eyes were a clear dark brown, and she spoke with the most charming of accents, every word enunciated the way it had been meant to. Her hair was dripping wet, and wind-tossed. Her dress clung rather uncomfortably to her, and she shivered with cold. She couldn’t have been over twenty. Her car was nowhere to be seen.

“I’m sorry to bother you. That storm caught me by surprise. I couldn’t get the top up, so I thought I’d try to make it to shelter before the rain really got going. But the stupid car quit on me just a bit up the road. Now the engine won’t start, and I don’t have my cell phone with me.”

All this came out of her in one breath, and she had to pause to take another one. She seemed to notice for the first time how I was looking at her, and she burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry, I tend to babble when I’m flustered.”

“Oh no, no, no!” I cried.

“It’s all right. I can be a bit of an idiot sometimes.” She paused for another breath-catching session. “Could you give me a ride into town, do you think?”

“Sure,” I said, without skipping a beat.

Now this is more like it! See? You can be pretty benevolent when you want to. Work on it.

I smiled and opened the passenger door for her.

“There’s coffee in the thermos. French vanilla. That should warm you right up. There’s a pack of plastic cups somewhere in there too.”

She smiled her thanks and poured herself some.

This was better, way better, than what I initially had planned. That sudden cloudburst had actually worked in my favor; it had brought her to me. The stage was set for me to play the knight in shining armor to her damsel in distress.

I opened the door on the driver’s side, crossed my fingers, and then slid into the driver’s seat. She poured some coffee for me.

“It’s really good. Did you brew it yourself?”

“Thank you, yes I did. Here, let me turn the heater on for you,” I said.

She smiled again, without really looking at me. Just for a moment, I imagined I saw something other than gratitude flicker across her face. It was as if she was smiling at a private joke more than anything else.

We sat and sipped our coffee in silence for a while; she captivated by the beautiful view out the window and I captivated by the beautiful view right next to me.

“A pity about that tree,” I said presently.

“That’s why you should never stand under one in a storm,” she replied, still looking out at the valley. “They’ll shelter you from scorching sunlight, and from freezing winds. But lightning is drawn to them like iron to a magnet. You’re better off getting wet.”

She was either a poet or a philosopher, or both. Beauty and brains! What a combination!

“We’d better get going, I guess.” I started the car up.

“You know, it’s funny,” she said, and started to giggle.

“What?”

“You’ll think this is weird. I was in such a foul mood on the drive up. I parked here basically to blow off steam for a while. Then that storm hit out of nowhere. Its what the travel brochures never tell you about. Then my car breaks down, and I have to walk all the way back here …”

She paused, and started to laugh softly.

“The last straw, huh?” I asked. This was good. This was very good. I was now slipping into the sympathetic ear role. Things could only go up from here.

“Well, you’d think so, wouldn’t you?” she said. “But you know, the funny thing is … I feel better for all of it.” She laughed again. “It’s like the stuff I was fuming over doesn’t really matter so much anymore.”

We’d pulled away from the rest area and were cruising up towards the bend in the road.

“Well, thank heavens for the rain then,” I smiled, “if it made you forget your troubles. What had you so upset anyway? If I’m not prying that is.”

Buckle your seatbelt. We’re about to lift off!

“Oh, it was just silly …”

We’re cruising down the runway.

“I got into this stupid fight …”

The flaps are open.

“… with my boyfriend.”

And we have liftoff! Wait … did she just say …

“Boyfriend?” I could barely get the word out.

“Yeah. We had a fight, and I stormed off. I was driving around to get away from him. But you know, when I was sitting there, with the engine kaput and the rain, all I could think of was how much I wanted him to be there, right then.”

I was quite literally stunned. She laughed again.

“Thank you so much for this, by the way. You’re a life saver!”

“Don’t mention it.” I decided I didn’t really like her voice all that much any more. She talked a little too much.

“Oh God! I just realized, you don’t even know my name! When we get into town, I’ll introduce you to my boyfriend. He’s into photography too.”

She went on and on. I realized that she was a bit of a giggler too. I gritted my teeth and kept driving. I guess I should have known better. You know all those times when you wonder how it could have turned out if only...? Well, sometimes you’re better off not knowing.

I hate you. I really, really do.

The storm had now almost completely subsided, leaving brilliant sunshine in its wake. I watched the last of the gray clouds disappear into the distance, looking remarkably like a bushy old man smoking a pipe. For a moment, just for a moment, the face appeared to wink. Then it was gone.