Penguins

The third time my computer crashed today was when I clicked to open an email from the woman I'd been secretly in love with for the past two and a half years. The window lit up my screen for a moment long enough for me to catch the words "tomorrow" and "penguin" -- and then the machine took a deep sigh and powered down. I was left just sitting there, staring at the blank and dusty monitor. I got up and took a couple of turns around the office, counting to 105. A lady in the cubicle next door was having a coffee, so I had a cup too. I told her about my plans to go to the zoo tomorrow. Then I came back to my desk and hit the "on" button again. I played with my fingers while the computer tried to untangle its own internal mess. Finally, I was able to run the email program. My heart was pumping. But it turned out to be absolutely nothing. She wanted to have dinner at the zoo tomorrow night, and she was also very excited to see the penguins again. That was my fate. I loved her and she loved the penguins.