Turn off Map Quest, it’s not going to help. (Play sad music in the car. Maybe Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” to set the mood). Keep going straight, past Rite Aid and the Broadway Mall that closed last year. When Route 25A forks, bear left, then leave your Jeep at the Park & Ride next to the train station and take the dirt trail at the edge of the lot. Hopefully, you’re wearing comfortable shoes as the path has a tendency to get muddy. (Remember our camping trip to Vermont when you forget to pack hiking boots and it rained and you kept telling me you wanted to break up?) Don’t read the map on the wooden board. (All the landmarks are wrong). The trees are scarred with red paint to help guide you. Not every tree – that would be overkill. Just the ones far enough apart to make it interesting. (In case you forgot why you’re here and thought you were taking a nice walk in the woods). When you get to the big oak, there’s a picnic basket underneath, with lunch inside. (Bacon folded into hearts, broken heart chocolate cake, hot Cheeto mozzarella hearts, candy hearts that say YES PLZ and BAE and KISSES). Consider if you should eat these goodies or if they might contain something unsavory. Proceed to the creek, where you’ll see a shovel. Start digging. It’s a shady spot, with bottled water next to the shovel. (See warning about the heart themed food above.) Keep digging until you touch something pulpy and wet. Fragile. Oxblood red. Lift it out gingerly. Rinse it clean in the water. Try to forget it’s a human heart, still beating, still warm. Try to remember what love tastes like. The best of us. The marvelous. That’s what you’ve lost.
Very enjoyable.
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