two fifteen year-olds on their only date
were waiting for a theater box office to open
and window shopped at the Woolworths next door
>
the then-popular family TV series THE WALTONS
became a topic of conversation
she said “Don’t tell me you like THE WALTONS”
he, not listening to what she was really saying,
responded with light talk about how the show had
mountains and clean air, basically escapist stuff
>
decades later, he realized she was struggling
with unhappiness and other people’s expectations
and he wished he had said something different,
something which could have formed a lasting friendship
