Saving the Planet

A story about a computer geek, a junkie and an encounter at Dairy Queen

When the time came, young Albert approached the girl with whom he was infatuated. She was 16 years old and he was 15. The opportunity presented itself on a hot July day at a Dairy Queen restaurant. He was coming in to treat himself to an ice cream cone. She was sitting alone at a table reading a book, the remnants of a sundae at her side.

Despite a shyness that was crippling at times, Albert managed to gather the courage to invite himself to her table. His thinking process had not advanced beyond that, though, so he was dumbstruck when she readily invited him to sit. So he sat and began eating his ice cream cone. After a few licks, he suddenly felt odd eating the ice cream in front of her, so he stopped and looked into her eyes. She looked back, and hard.

They had only spoken three times before. Albert remembered each time distinctly. The first time was way back in junior high school when they sat next to each other in a class. The entire year she spoke to him only once. Albert didn’t remember what they spoke about, but he sure remembered the brief encounter. That is around the time his infatuation with her began.

The other two times occurred during the previous school year. Once they talked in the cafeteria line and…