The crouching sun behind the tall abandoned buildings stamped dark shadows on the street. Rare streaks of bright light cascaded across it where it was intersected by another street. Although the teenagers could see the large gray puffy clouds hovering over the south side of town, creeping towards them, they decided this place as the perfect location for the drag race. A fog began to crawl down the street into the hollow buildings. From a rusty pipe at the top of one of the houses, a leak dripped water that seemed somewhere between burnt orange and crimson red. Below it, you could see the evidence of its long existence in the rather large puddle of this murky water. It seemed to shine due to the sunlight dancing on its surface.
Amber was walking slowly towards this puddle, unbeknownst to her. She was daydreaming until she sloshed in it and a drop hit her on her cheek. Disturbed, she felt a little angry at that drop, at first. But as she glared at the puddle, she found it to be rose-petal-red. When she turned the corner, she saw the bright fading sun. Amber was amazed by the beautiful hues that emerged in the sky at sunset - the golden colors, the deep purples, the soft glowing pinks and the little glimmers of red that would sometimes bounce off of objects basking in the sun’s dim light. It was indeed a magnificent sight and as she watched the sun snuggle below the horizon, Amber felt an inner calm and peace that she hadn’t felt in a while.


As Amber let her eyes wander she slowly and unexpectedly became conscious of someone standing by her, not too close, yet close enough to give her an eerie sensation. So she cautiously turned and beheld a radiant image, whose aura seemed to beckon her closer. The image’s head tilted toward her so that they were now face to face. His eyes. His eyes sent shock waves through her soul. Joseph had seen her standing there in front of the magnificent sunset and decided to attempt to speak to her. But when he realized she was mesmerized by the sunset, he let her be. Being exuberant, since they were finally making eye contact after all the time he spent staring at her in school, he let out in an excited nervous tone “Hey”. The moment was so surreal to Amber that there was an awkward pause before “Hi” was softly uttered from her polished lips. Gradually the two began talking, giggling, and connecting to each other on a deeper level.


Car loads of minors began enveloping the street where the drag race was to begin in less than a quarter of an hour. Everyone could feel the buzz of exhilaration and like ripples in a creek the predictions of who would win flowed through the group. The large gray puffy clouds were directly over them now. Our fresh couple was amongst the crowd chatting away. Joseph was one of the leading competitors, which made Amber especially proud. This relieved Joseph because he felt that he could never impress her. Meanwhile, Amber was debating whether to kiss him or not. She didn't want to go fast, but she felt an inclination to do so. Just before the race began, Amber couldn’t keep herself from giving him a gentle tender kiss on his cheek. Of course, Joseph reciprocated. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder boomed and the clouds burst with rain. Everyone and everything was drenched almost instantaneously. The road was slick and the buildings seemed as dreary as ever.


3-2-1-GO! The horde of adolescents screamed, jumped, and cheered as the cars went speeding off down the street. The course was a small rectangle and people were on each corner to witness the first drag race of the summer. Amber was afraid of the pitch black darkness, so even though the thunder jolted her, she enjoyed how the streaking lightning stretched out like varicose veins in the sky. As she listened to the others shout between the roars of thunder, she imagined Joseph passing all the competition bit by bit at each turn. On the block where she was standing, the place of the finish line, the tension rose higher and higher. Amber peered down the intersecting street. Finally, they saw the cars swerve around the corner. Joseph was sure he would win now - he had just pulled ahead of the currently reigning champ. He looked behind him for a fraction of a second to soak in his new found glory. Suddenly, within that fraction of a second, the car veered and headed toward the same corner where his first love had discovered that rusty puddle. The people there realized they were in imminent danger and scattered while hollering. Joseph’s car slammed into the building. Horrified, Amber shrieked and ran across the street to him, a tear sliding down that cheek the rose-petal-red water had touched. She reached the wreckage and just as her eyes met with Joseph’s, the car abruptly exploded. Love found and consumed by life-extinguishing flames within a few hours at that perfect location for the drag race.