"Karen, how could you? You knew about this for three weeks. How could you just up and run off with them? We had been planning this weekend all month."

"Greg, I told you that I was sorry. They asked me to go and I accepted. You know that I like to be with my friends some of the time," Karen cried.

"No, I didn't know that," Greg sneered sarcastically. "Karen, I hope that you are happy. After as hard as you worked to get me to like you, you just lost me! Good-Bye." He started to walk away but stopped and turned, "Oh, and give me back my ring. Now!"

Karen, snatching the ring off her finger, hurled it into the mud at his feet.

As Karen ran away from him, he said sadly to himself, "Well, that's over."

Later that night as Greg slipped into bed and lay listening to the thunder outside, he thought about the events of the day. He felt different, odd in a way. Not wanting to think about it anymore, he closed his eyes. Images of Karen's face played in his mind as he slipped peacefully into sleep.

The phone's ringing startled Greg. "Hellooo?" he answered, his mind still fuzzy.

"Greg, is that you?" a hysterical voice screamed through the phone at him.

Now, fully awake, he answered, "Yes. Who is this?"

"It's Karen. She's had a wreck. Please come to the hospital! Hurry!" Karen's mother sobbed into the phone, "It looks bad."

He hung up and slowly got to his feet. As he reached for his shirt, his body went limp. "Karen!" he whimpered.

After throwing on his clothes, he grabbed his jacket and raced to the door.

Driving at wild speeds, he arrived at the hospital in minutes. Running in, he almost collided with Karen's father. Frantically, Greg reached for him. "How is she? What happened?"

Grabbing the boy in his arms, her father led him to a chair. When Greg had calmed enough to listen to him, he started to explain. "As she was driving home, the worst part of the storm out there," gesturing toward the window, "hit her. I guess the car skidded and, on the wet road, she lost control. Her side slammed into a tree and was totaled." He started to cry as he continued, "She was unconcious when they found her. She's still in surgery, or I guess they would have told us if she was out."

"When can we see her?" Greg asked.

"I don't know, but I expect they'll come tell us."

Later in Karen's hospital room, Greg sat holding her hand and talking to her. After a while, he settled back and just sat staring at the flashing light and listening to the beeping of the monitor.

Just barely dozing, he awoke with a start to a continuous buzzing sound. "Oh God! The monitor.... She's gone!"

Looking around frantically, Greg expected to see a hospital room with his girlfriend lying in the bed. "But wait a minute... This isn't a hospital room," he thought as he rolled over to stop the screaming alarm clock. "There was no wreck. It was just a dream!"