we spoke in whispers, so as not to wake the boy with the open mouth grin, who was sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat.

telling secrets in voices that only the night and cold will hear, we decide that boys are not so bad upon seeing the peaceful and adorable state in which he sleeps, calmly, like a baby, with his mouth open, just like his goofy grin.

The evening seems perfect, as I realize that nothing has changed with us. Summer has come and gone, people have grown up, time has passed, people have left, but everything with them seems relatively the same.

He snores gently as she starts the car, and we drive in silence, listening to the engine rev and the boy with the open mouth grin. When we get to your house again, we decide to let him sleep longer while we try to understand the undecipherable actions of others and their mysterious and frustrating ways, talking about things that we always talk about, and make plans for the next weekend. 20 minutes later I roll over realizing I too fell asleep, comfortably lying across the back seat of the car. Sitting up, I see both the driver and passenger are asleep as well and I feel better knowing that I didn’t fall asleep in the middle of a conversation.

it is comforting to listen to the heavy breathing of the both of you sleeping, and I close my eyes content to listen to you sleep. It is 1 in the morning when I open my eyes again, and we should be heading home, as I have to work in the morning, and if we stay there any longer I might fall asleep again, and end up spending the night in the back of your car.

We wake the boy with the open mouthed grin up, and confused he asks how long he was asleep. We lie and tell him that it hasn’t been long at all, but as it is obvious that he is still exhausted I take the keys and drive his car. He claims to feel bad, and tries to stay awake to keep me company on the way to my house. He makes it only 2 minutes down the road, and again is snoring. I turn off the radio, and drive the speed limit, listening, content.

I wake him again when we arrive at my house, give him a few minutes to recover, and then let him get back into the drivers seat. I get in the house and call him to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep on his drive home. We talk about life and work and next weekend, when we plan to do it all again.

“take my hand, live while you can.”