Oakdale Ink

February 2025: Love

"Doubt thou the stars do are fire; Doubt thou the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love." - William Shakespeare

“What Lingers On” by Aspen Alofe

i wish that february wraps you in his embrace/but you’ll be expecting my heartbeat and my skin prickling against yours /[it never comes].

love letters lay on my cocoa 

desk, frostbitten at the edges

i wish you roses not yet bloomed,

i’m stuck in the in-between living-

living as if you’re still here,

but your coat no longer falls

on the metal rack & your weight fails

to dip beside me & i can no longer

wrap my arms around your

frame, gripping tight to keep-

keep you from slipping from me; i’m

unable to delay this truth, it already

passed. i step through the door

frame entwined with honeysuckle

& dripping dulcet candied syrup & i

relive june, impregnated with our

love, spilling through cracks, 

reaching july & stretching ‘till

february. shortest month, longest

feeling. the anniversary of the day you

left, my world shattered 

& pieces scattered across the 

floor. you said you “outgrew love”

& i’m left to rebuild what’s left. it 

was all you, too much history

shared & i’m stranded now that

you’re gone, with no manual aiding

me in How to Live Life When You’ve

Lost Your Heart. i wish february

wraps you in his embrace & you

think back to the times we were together. 

you’ll be expecting my heartbeat & my

skin prickling against yours, but

it never comes. eternally yearning

for a love that might reflect what i had for 

you. 

“Sweet Summer” by Evah Long

The first time I saw her; she was in a bar in Costa Rica. Eyeliner was smudged on with my curly hair pinned up, strands of hair floating out like water. The combination of alcohol and the crowded room made her seem unreal, almost a figment of my imagination. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl’s blonde hair make a halo around her face. 

Her brown eyes shone despite the low lighting of the room. Her bright smile burned into every possible corner of my mind. I never understood how one could be left breathless until that moment, until every breath, every thought, was encapsulated by her. I immediately pushed forward, not caring upon hearing the protests of passersby. I had to know her, to be near her. Before I was able to get close, she was gone, leaving a lingering smell of warm vanilla.

For months, the feeling of wind blowing through my hair or the sweet summer air against my skin brought me back to those blissful few seconds; Those seconds when I could believe that there was heaven on earth.

The second time I saw her, I was walking on a boardwalk in Hawaii, the fresh air bringing back her smile and the foreignness of her hair shining around her. 

             Fresh lavender flowers were entwined in my hair, my stomach aching from laughing. The girl’s elated face poked out of the car window, the sun gleaming off her skin creating a golden glow full of life. 

This time she was looking at me, her stare full of longing. But then she was gone, leaving me with nothing but a memory that would only return in the lingering tastes of wine, remaining bittersweet. 

The third time I saw her was on a beach in Crete, the breeziness of the day stirring up the sand. Water surged against her ankles and the girl looked out into the sea. She wore a flowing sun dress with her hair like sun flowing off her shoulders. 

This time, there was no crowd to get lost in, no forces driving us apart. I walked across the rough sand towards her, feeling her glowing presence more with every step. She turned, her golden hair falling across her bronze shoulder, my breath leaving my body once again.

“Hi.” Her sweet voice spoke, the small word almost tearing me apart. 

My throat tightened up, unable to focus on anything except the way she smiled and blinked her wide eyes at me.

“I’ve- I’ve seen you around.” The girl spoke, inching closer.

“What’s your name?” My voice finally let out.

“Summer.”

The moment seemed a hallucination, like a daydream that would play over and over. Soon enough, Summer was gone, her lingering presence burning into my mind.  

             Though she was gone, when the clock hits twelve and the thoughtfulness of a late-night settles in, I always knew Summer would return in my mind, the mystery girl I would never truly know. 

“Snow”

“Victoria, wake up!”  I jolted up in my twin bed that laid secreted in the corner of my dorm at the one and only University of Maryland, brows furrowed and frantically whipping my head around, curious to see who had the audacity to wake me up from my slumber. 

“Victoria!” Hearing the voice more clearly now, I could tell that it belonged to my roommate, Marissa. It laid muffled beyond the dorm door…but that couldn’t be possible because she told me that she would be going back to her parents' house for the weekend. (Her parents lived around 2 miles away from the college and she for some reason likes to walk and run there- it apparently connects her with nature or whatnot.) I then dug my face back into my pillow because she couldn’t possibly be here.

“Victoria opens the door.” I groaned as I rolled off my bed, stumbling to regain control of my legs. Maybe it's someone else- I thought. I’d fallen asleep reading yesterday, so I was still wearing pink sweatpants and a white lace cami that was decent enough for the public eye. I gathered my unruly brown curly hair into a decent messy bun and headed towards the door of my dorm. I opened the door slightly, enough for me to peer outside. 

“Why are you here Marissa?” I say, yawning as I’m greeted by a familiar face. Marissa is a tall and slim Italian American with strikingly sharp features models would kill for. She’s also the smartest person I know, henceforth it makes sense that she is double majoring in Chemistry and Astronomy. Personally, as an English Literature major, I couldn’t fathom it.

“I’ve been standing out there for ONE HOUR. I left my keys inside and YOU weren’t answering your phone!!” My confused and half-asleep look on my face must’ve annoyed her. “Girl, have you even looked outside?” Marissa said, powering past me into our dorm and towards our window. She then dramatically thrusted our curtains open and pointed to what laid beyond the glass pane.

“Oh my god.” My eyes bulged as I saw a magical wintery scene. There was an obscene amount of snow that had already coated the buildings and trees overnight, but the amount was ever growing for the snow seemed to continuously power down endlessly. I headed towards the window, forgetting to close the door.  I glanced down towards the campus grounds and was delighted to see the shimmery and pure white snowflakes pour down with unnatural speed to form a cloudlike heaven. “It’s beautiful.”

“Sure it's beautiful but it's even more inconvenient. No one can get in or out. I should’ve left for my parents yesterday like I meant to.” Marissa said in an exasperated tone, falling onto her bed with a plop. We stood in a moment of silence, I on one hand stood elated, while Marissa sat in despair. But our silence was interrupted by a sudden rhythmic knock heard from the hallway area. 

Me and Marissa whipped our heads around to see a group of 4 boys standing at the open door which had I forgot to close- in fully decked out snow gear. “Excuse me ladies, would I be able to interest you in a very formal snowball fight that will be occurring on the main campus in t-minus 10 minutes?” This exuberant voice came from a tan skinned guy who had striking and piercing green eyes. His features were bold and sharp. Some would even say he was handcrafted by God by how handsome he was… but I wouldn’t say that. He couldn’t stand still; he seemed to be buzzing with excitement. Personally, the thought of a snowball fight didn’t sound enticing at all, but next to me Marissa perked up with intrigue.

“Do you guys do not realize it's quite literally-” I flicked my wrist to look at my old school vintage stopwatch my Mami had gifted me for my 18th birthday. “-8:30 in the morning, you know normal people usually sleep in on the weekends, not go gallivanting around so early in the day.”

“Ah, well you see my dear friend a very formal and serious snowball fight is in need of occurrence because it is not a normal weekend. As you can see, we are in the middle of a very serious snow blizzard.” The guy said dramatically, enunciating slowly and gesturing to his snow gear. His sparkling green eyes locked with mine, and intensity surged through me. I was met with a vast tinted green ocean, it seemed as if it was where ships had sunk, and storms had risen. Man, that was poetic, I should write that down and tell my professor… It was as if his eyes were ever powerful. I couldn’t last a mere 5 seconds without tearing my eyes away from his intense glance. 

 I never used to believe that one could get lost in someone's eyes... But suddenly for a few seconds I was lost. And to be honest I didn’t really mind it…

“Well, I guess blizzards are a pretty good reason to have a snowball fight, don’t you think so Vic?” Marissa said, interrupting my silence and hopping back onto her two feet. 

“That's like saying a tsunami is a good time to go surfing…but yeah I guess so.” I said sarcastically, folding my hands over my chest. 

“Just come, we’ll have fun and after we’ll raid the cafeteria supplies- I happen to know where the keys are.” The green-eyed guy said in a sing-songy voice. Somehow the thought of an adventure intrigued me as well as the thought of spending more time together with this guy… made my heart skip a beat. I couldn’t tell if it was out of irritation… or something else.

“Omygod, sign me up.” Marissa said, walking towards the boys. She was already in snow gear thanks to her attempted escapade earlier in the morning. She and the rest of the boys then looked at me, expecting an answer. 

I could feel Marissa’s eyes nailing me as if I was a headboard. I could also feel the green-eyed guys stare which made me have irritating goosebumps. You’re doing this for the plot not for him. This is for the plot and for Marrissa... Right?

“Ugh. Fine. I’ve decided I will go to this very serious and formal snowball fight, and I will very respectfully drown you all in snow.” I said as I walked towards the door towards the group. "Now if you’ll excuse me.” I grabbed the doorknob and then proceeded to slam it in front of the green-eyed guys smiling smirk. A breath I didn’t know I was holding escaped my lungs as I slumped against the door. 

“We heard that by the way. Get up and get your butt in snow gear.” A muffled voice came from Marissa outside.

I let out a groan. 

“C’mon Vic, I’m hungry!” Marissa’s irritating muffled voice sounded louder, and she kicked against the door, and I felt it faintly against my back. 

“Of course you're in it for the food.” I loudly responded, getting up and accepting the fact that not retaliating has never been my strong suit. I walked towards my closet and began to quickly put on my snow gear. After a minute or two I was finally done.

“Onward Vic!” The green-eyed guy said in a sing-songy voice as I stepped outside the door. 

“You have no right to call me Vic by the way.” I said, making my way towards Marissa. He lifted his hands up in defense.

“I’m sorry, let me reintroduce myself. I’m Wyatt, very pleased to meet you.”  He said as we began to walk down the hallway corridor. I nodded in response, side eying Marissa as she struck up conversation, giggling and twirling her hair because she had already ditched me for Wyatt's blonde guy friend.

“Victoria.” I said after a second, forgetting that I hadn’t responded to Wyatt. 

“Ah, nice to meet you, Victoria.” Wyatt remarked. I nodded in return. To be honest the way he said my name itched my brain. It was as if my name was a missing puzzle piece that was missing from his extensive and lucrative vocabulary. To be honest the way I met him was so odd for a college guy but somehow it made him more… charming. 

The rest of the walk towards the main campus held no conversations. When we approached the main courtyard there were already dozens of people approaching from other entrances. It was as if somehow everyone had known about this snowball debacle.

The snow came up and over my knees, and as a 5 '4 tall girl, it wasn’t very pleasant, and it was a struggle to power through the heaps of snow. However, Wyatt stood tall, unbothered with the snow barely reaching his knees. 

Wyatt suddenly cleared his throat, and the chatter died down.  “Ladies and gentlemen. Who is ready to fight!”  Wyatt bellowed in an ESPN type of way. I let out a chuckle as his announcement made the rest of the crowd erupt in agreement.

“Alright, everyone make your very best snowball-” Wyatt said as he bent down and made one himself. As I reluctantly strained and reached down to grab some snow, Wyatt had already placed 2 quite large snowballs in my hand. 

“Oh- thanks.”  I said, blushing and confused.  Heavy gusts of wind began to blow with the blizzarding snow, and I was struggling to stand still. 

“Don’t thank me, someone of your stature needs it” he said loudly and smirking, in order to be heard over the blizzard. The heat drained from my face- what did he mean? This was just a friendly fight, like they would've done in the movies, it wasn’t as if-

“3,2,1, GO!” Wyatt yelled and, in a panic, I immediately launched my snowball towards Wyatt, who stood a few feet away from me, but I failed miserably (I’ve never been good at aiming).  He threw his head back and laughed and then threw his snowball towards me - and it smacked me right on the face. 

A cold sensation spread over my face, the fact that I was already knee deep into the snow and that the wind had been biting my cheeks for over 5 minutes, my mood severely soured yet a laugh still slipped out of my mouth. 

“Oh no you did not.” I scoffed, bending down to grab a fistful of snow. Then I whirled the snow towards his face and I actually hit him! He stood still for a second, paralyzed by the snow on his face but after a second he smiled. He smiled so bright that it could have melted the surrounding snow. 

“Oh, you're so on!” Wyatt then trudged his way over to me, and I couldn’t escape him, because my feet were too deep into the snow. I shrieked as Wyatt tackled me into the snow. 

“No Wyatt! Let me go!” I said, twisting my body to try and escape his grasp. In a second, his arms around me released, he easily got up and then he helped me onto my feet. In a blur I turned to face him and tauntingly whispered- “This is what you get!” I proceeded to shove him onto the snow, and he took me down with him. We both start laughing and start throwing whatever snow we could onto each other's faces.  

“What, you think a little snow is gonna hurt me?” He whispered into my ear as he wrapped his hand around my body. I stilled as a heating sensation overtook me and heat swelled my cheeks. Suddenly the pouring snow and the gusts of winds weren’t cold at all and the commotion of the ongoing snowball fight didn’t faze me at all. 

Was there even a blizzard occurring? If so, how could you explain this melting sensation in my body?