Meet me at the place it began tonight at 8:00 PM, I want to show you something.
Yours Always
Les283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDqP49e49D
I look at the note one last time to make sure it is Leslie’s writing. The handwriting is neat with extra pen strokes on the capital letters, something she always did. The note itself smells of her favorite perfume. As I fold the note into my pocket, I can’t help but visualize her. Her fair skin, and her ringlets of curly brown hair, and that cute smile she would always give me before we kissed. There is only one problem though with receiving this note. Leslie has been dead for a month now.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7v8Tf3h4Z
A few days after Christmas her car wrapped around a light pole. It took almost an hour to get her out of the car, with her body bruised and broken. They performed multiple surgeries for three days to save her, but on the third day, she screamed in pain one last time. It killed me inside knowing I could not even be close to her as she struggled. When they buried her, I watched from a distance weeping alone. I visited her grave many times. Often I would do it late at night when no prying eyes are around. 283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7QF2eDcba
Now I am standing at the rusted gate of our special place. The plot of land outside of town, it has a history. It’s hosted many stories. Tales of triumph and glory. Accounts of despair. The bonds of love. They have all showed up here at the old Drive-In Theater. I can imagine this land being full of cars watching movies back in the day. These days though, it’s another rundown relic with occasional teenagers hanging out or two adults on a rendezvous. This old Drive-In holds a special place for me and Leslie. We made love here for the first time. 283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6TPMo7TEH
Now I am standing outside this dilapidated drive-in reliving my memories.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPMkG8j21s
I understand the allure and charm of this old lot even if it has seen better days. I can imagine the old concession stand, now covered with crude spray painted words used to host long lines. People waiting for their popcorn, drinks, and candies before the movie. The other building towers over the old concession stand. The old projection room is in there. The equipment is still there; I know because the two of us have been inside. It points to an old wooden screen. The white background is cracking, and the posts holding it up seem to be rotting away283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJjkU29SbX
I look around the vacant lot, no one seems to be here, but me. I don’t know what drew me here because she is dead. I'm left with the emptiness I have felt since I heard at the bar that she had passed. She was the only thing keeping me in this shitty small town. Now all that is left is the loneliness, the guilt of not saying goodbye. Unfortunately, our love story was a complicated one. I am a fool for thinking anything would come of showing up to this drive in. 283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rer5XfjHn
As I turn to leave, I hear a high pitch noise almost like feedback coming from the speakers.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WsG8ZTWRt
“So what brought you down here?” A voice asks over the crackling speakers. The sound of the voice stops me as I turn to look around the drive-in. It sounds just like Leslie. The speakers hum in unison as a light flickers above me. A movie plays over the screen, that is when I see her face, that smile of hers. I would know it anywhere.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlP9L9qHiRh
I watch as I hand her a drink, "I just wanted a change in scenery. I figured why not see more of the country. How about yourself, are you from around here?"283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1RkPhufwF
283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ29njilIkp
"Born and raised," Leslie said as she gave me another smile. "I am pretty sure this place is very different from Oregon."283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ016iktTfzx
“It’s a bit different,” I replied as I grab pint glass filling it with beer for another customer. “I enjoy how warm it is down here though.”283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUn4txsaW6Q
She smiles again as she sips her drink as I returned her smile with one of my own. The scene was the first night I met her, and I knew on that night there was something special about her. It was the start of our romance, a complicated one, but I loved her never the less.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8MNBG2JeC
A cigarette burn comes on the screen as the scene changes. I see Leslie in tears as a man approaches her. I can see the red mark on her cheek as he slaps her again. That is when I see his face. It’s her husband, a god awful man. I watch as he smacks her again and throws her onto their bed forcing himself on her. I turn my head away from the screen it is too much for me to stomach. 283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDgoAeZhkY
The screen begins to flicker again as I am left in confusion of how I am watching our story play out on a movie screen.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzufBuZcGo
Another burn mark appears, and it shows the two of us on our first time at the drive-in. I remember that night. She had stopped by the bar and said she needed to get away, somewhere where there were not any gossipers. We found ourselves at this rundown lot. I can still remember the somber look in her eyes, a woman who was being broken. I tried to comfort her that night. That is where our affair began when we shared our first kiss.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZ8qu92hjt
She wiped a tear from her eye, “I need to get out of this town. I want to go far away and never look back.”283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgN28v9EVoR
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"You need to leave him first," I said as my hand grabbed her when she finally broke down crying.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNnx8CLztt
283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD25HsXfkvD
I watch as the two of us kiss again on the screen. I don't know how this is happening as I look up to the tower that holds the projector. Someone else is here at this old drive in with me, and I intend to find out who. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!" I yell at the tower as I run towards it.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdo05TFi5AH
I enter the tower as I climb the wooden stairs to the top. My ears still hear all the speakers crackling again. The high pitch buzz is almost deafening as I see the door into the projection room. Someone else is inside there. I kick the door open violently to find nothing. The room is empty, not a soul inside. The room though has pictures covering the walls. It is pictures of the two of us at the drive-in, every kiss, cuddle, and even times the two of us made love. I notice next to the projector is a small note next to another speaker.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwkbtpxzvj
It reads, “Finish the movie.” 283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqbqzAOqiy
I look outside the projector room and back to the screen. It’s another scene of a figure sitting in the car looking on the bar. I watch as Leslie, and I walk out as the person watches on. The two of us embrace and kiss. The camera cuts over to Leslie as she smiles. 283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvwaZKoO9E
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“I will file for divorce after the holidays,” she said as she rubbed my face. “after that let’s get the hell out of Cullman. We will never look back.”283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPXQ3yDvsk
The camera then reveals that the mystery figure in the car is Leslie’s husband.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MeFb8yv5r
My heart sinks to the realization he knew about our affair. I look around the room looking at the pictures. Did he set all of this up? The speaker crackles again as I turn to watch the screen. I watch as he surprises her with a gift, I don’t see what exactly he gave her before the screen flashes to Leslie driving. I hear the crashing of her car as the screen turns black. Credits roll with all of our names as I cry in the room.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgWJ4UuaDc
The screen goes white again. The speaker begins that deafening high pitch sound once more. I look onto forward with tears as more cigarette burns appear before cutting to a new scene. That is when I see her face again, on the close-up. Almost like she is staring at me. It’s Leslie with tears in her eyes.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYH2WFiOLW
She sobs, "It wasn't an accident that took me away from you. He planned it and killed me." I leave the room and run down the stairs outside to the lot and toward the front of the drive-in.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRkctTeBGw
"You're dead!" I shout to Leslie's face on the screen. "How are you doing this?"283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk26B2cuXqz
“There is a way that the two of us can be together again,” she tells me before the scene goes black, now cutting to me on the big screen. I now see myself as if someone is recording me live. I think I am going crazy as the screen mimics every move my body makes. Something else happens too. The concession building behind me lights up. I pause before turning to see that the concession stand is now with power, that this is actually happening.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF17rDXRbUJ
Whoever is doing this wants me to go check it out.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WUViyzj42
When I walk to the building, I look inside the window. I notice a person tied to a rusting metal chair with a hood over their head. The thing that really throws me off is the what sits at the feet of the captive person, a strange looking knife. When the door opens as I enter, the screams happen from underneath the hood. They struggle in a panic trying to free themselves as I walk over to reveal who is restrained to the chair.283Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpWX0aGWde
I see Leslie’s husband with a look of fear in his eyes.
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