A Penn State Story: The Lovers Who Never Met

There's a place for us, you know the movie song.
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
Mark Knopfler, Romeo & Juliet

I was on campus late Friday afternoon, snapping a few photos as I walked around for a little while before catching my bus home. The light was very dramatic: all dark clouds, giving way to occasional, bright light. It was especially fun for shooting in monochrome.

I was taking pictures of the long shadows that the lamps and the trees made on the road, and people-watching, when I spied two individuals enter my scene. The woman came from the right, the man from the left. They crossed the road, and passed each other in the middle without even exchanging a glance. Like ships in the night.

And suddenly I remembered an almost identical scene, about a month ago in the HUB. Same deal: guy from one direction, gal from another. And they passed within a hand-clasp of each other, never looking, never seeing.

I thought to myself then: What if they are supposed to meet and fall in love? What if they are each other's destiny? And I silently encouraged them, whispering quietly to myself: Look up! Look up! Look UP! (Which is what I thought, and said to myself, on this day too.)

It gave me the idea for a short story about two lovers who never meet, but almost do, time after time, on campus. Each time, one of them is looking the other way or not paying attention; their eyes never meet.

They are within each other's reach two dozen or more times over a period of years, crossing paths at many different scenes on campus. (It was just that the time was wrong, Juliet.) I think that in my story, in the end, they will finally meet, and share a glance, and then a touch, and fall in love.

Are these two the same couple I saw last time, at the HUB? I'll never know, of course, but I'd like to think so. The next time I see them, will one of them look up? With love, as with all things, one can always hope. . . .

(There could also be a plot twist of a group of people who become aware of the couple and conspire to help push them together. . . . . Come on! Look up! Look up! Look UP!)

The soundtrack: the marvelous Mark Knopfler tune, Romeo & Juliet. It's a favorite and here are several versions. At least one should tickle your fancy. :-)  Here is: a rather early Dire Straits version that appeared on Live on Fridays, a version that includes Clapton (Wembley, 1988), and a cover by the Indigo Girls. Enjoy! And here's hoping that true love will win out in the end!