Heart of Stone
Rarely has there been a more unlikely couple since Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher walked hand-in-hand into Injun Joe’s cave. Virginia Shelton was brilliant, serious, amazingly sexy, and dedicated to doing good with her life. Simon Peters took it one day at a time. Though he worked hard at his studies it was only because he so completely enjoyed the work. Laughter was more important than success to him, even after leashing the wildest part of his prodigious sense of humor. He was good looking but not someone that turned all the girl’s heads. In most things that people care about they were opposites. Yet beyond reason love began to grow.
This was the happiest time in either of their lives. They enjoyed long walks through the campus grounds which usually led to dinner and cuddling under a blanket watching the stars. There were deep and engaging conversations about anything and everything. Philosophy, politics, entertainment, social problems and fantastic dreams all provided a chance to look into each other’s hearts and minds. Neither had ever had a friend who was at once fun to be with and capable of holding up their end of the debate. They were equal, compatible and hopelessly in love.
Winter was in full swing now, with its short dreary days and long restless nights. The occasional snow storm would rumble overhead, leaving a sugar icing on the ground and Jack Frost’s fingerprints on every window. One crisp December afternoon Virginia pulled Simon out of his lab for a much needed snowball fight on the Lawn. After 15 minutes their breath heaved out massive clouds of steam and they threw themselves down on a dry bench in the shelter of a portico.
“Simon, do you remember Mrs. McClure’s fourth grade class?”
“Yea, vaguely.” He said with a shamed-faced grin. “I think that was the first time someone dared me to do something.”
“Do you remember who asked you to eat that spider?”
“Ginni Shelton, you know darned well it was you that made me eat that worm. I haven’t been able to have spaghetti since.” Her face was glowing, not only from the cold wind biting into her skin but in excitement to be with the man she adored. His mind traced her lips, caressed the side of her face and ran trembling fingers through her dark luxurious hair. Finally he let himself dive into her grey eyes, where nothing else mattered except making her happy.
“Besides, if it had been a spider, you would never let me do this.” He gently brushed his lips to her cheek and felt a rush of hot blood thaw out the flesh. Her fingers had discovered the back of his neck and gently but irresistibly pulled him closer. Her breath played on the small hairs of his neck making him shiver in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. She smelled of vanilla and cinnamon in such a sweet mixture that he could not take enough through his nose. In and in he sucked the powerful intoxicant until the world spun in confusion. He could die right now and be in bliss forever.
Her fingers entwined themselves into his shaggy brown hair and pulled him slightly away so that she could gaze at him again. Something primal in his head growled, “Now! Now!” The tip of his tongue lightly played on his upper lip and then he leaned forward. Her grip tightened and pulled him sideways off the bench into a deep snow bank, her weight landing pleasantly atop him.
She purred in the way a cat does when it has finally captured the mouse and bent down to ravage his mouth with her own. Their kiss was passionate, warming, truthful and reassuring. For an eon of seconds they lay there making snow lovers until a loud clearing of the throat caught their attention.
“Ven you are qvite feenished vith him Ms. Shelton, I reqvire Mr. Peters bek in za lab.”
Professor Grosskopf’s indulgent smile made them both laugh. He was still young enough at 41 to understand the urgency of new love while old enough to enjoy the thrill of anticipation. His presence brought them back to their senses. Of course what they were doing was ridiculous but then isn’t that one of the joyful parts of love? As they arose and brushed the fine powder off themselves and each other, Grosskopf looked down at the melted burrow they had created.
“Pairhaps I should pluug my lay-zair into ze two ov you. I vould haf more power zehn NASAs new rocket.”
Whether the flush that came over them was from shame, exertion or desire none could tell. But the furtive glance they shared was enough to say all they needed to at that moment.
“Come Peters, all play und no verk makes Zimon an exshpelled shudent. Auf Wiedersehen, Veergeenia.”
After a few paces Simon called back to her, “Meet me at my dorm at eight. Jody is bringing a girl for us to meet over dinner. I…can’t wait to see you.”
Ginni watched them with hungry eyes until Simon was out of sight and then furiously kicked a nearby snow drift. It was going to be a long and frustrating afternoon.
The clock ticked just as slowly for Simon. He simply could not concentrate on the laser project and about 7:30 the otherwise patient Dr. Grosskopf was forced to say something.
“Zimon, vhy are you pointing zee lay-zair at me? I do not need anozer hole in zee head.”
Simon quickly swiveled the apparatus back to the “at rest” position. This was a safety procedure designed to avoid accidental drillings. The machine was incapable of firing so long as it was not in the proper orientation. Grosskopf was setting the target in place at the time.
“I’m so sorry Professor. My head isn’t on straight.”
“It iz not your head zat iz zee problem. Go. Vee are ready for tomorrow und Alfred und I can clear avay zee mezz. Go zee your beautiful girlfriend und give her a kizz for me.”
“Okay Professor…and thanks.”
Simon hit the door at a run and didn’t stop until he was half-way across campus. His lungs were seared by the effort and the arctic cold front which had dropped down from the north. The weathermen were predicting several feet of snow tonight on top of the two which fell yesterday. Much more of this and classes would have to be cancelled.
As if on cue a soft pillowy gloom descended over the school. Simon looked up to find a veritable waterfall of flakes cascading down on him. If it had been 50 degrees warmer this would be called a downpour. Simon thought it felt like a thousand pounds of icy cold flour dumped over his head.
Desperation gave him the energy to run once more. There were only 200 yards left between him and the warm dormitory. He began to struggle through thigh high drifts while Old Man Winter’s icy breath pushed against his progress. More than once he slipped on unseen expanses of ice and fell headlong into the deep snow. Simon was wet, cold and becoming quite miserable.
100 yards to go and there was no more running involved in this struggle against nature. Now he could only manage a fast trudge. The snow thickened to a white sheet which blocked out all vision. The wind howled fiercely and tried to blow him bodily away from home and safety. For the first time Simon began to worry about not making it at all. This wasn’t a normal storm. Everything was working against him, trying to push him back into the frozen wastelands. There were stories about these sudden blizzards, how they trapped people in their cars where they froze to death in just a few hours.
A new and terrible thought then entered his mind, “Ginni was supposed to meet me at the dorm. What if she got caught in this too? There’s no telling where she is.” For a moment he thought about cutting across the campus to looking for her. He had to find her!
He turned sideways to the howling storm and began working in the directing Ginni should have come. Immediately he was knocked off his feet and into a mountain of snow and ice. The brutal temperatures started to numb his very core, having long ago lost touch with everything beyond his torso. He struggled painfully to his feet and tried again. This time the landing was neither soft nor painless. His head banged violently against a metal post spinning him around so that he landed hard on his left shoulder. He felt and heard a loud pop, fire in his joint and then black.
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