The day was January 1st, 1973,  the snow on the ground had turned a murky brown from all of the people the night before.  Streamers littered the slush, like an old memory of good times that had ended as soon as everyone sobered up.  It was the perfect day, the perfect day to meet the love of your life.

“Ma’am! Ma’am are you okay?” I snapped my head back to the voice of a young man.  I was standing in the snow, next to an old fountain.  In the middle of the fountain there was a statue of a naked baby with water splurting out of its mouth.Judging from my purple fingers, I had been there for a while.  I turned my head back to the young man.
“Yes, I’m fine, just lost track of time” I mumbled.  I was still standing there as the man walked away.

While I watched the children in the snow, I felt a thump on my shoulder.  I turned around to see the silhouette of a man holding my purse.  My eyes took some time to adjust to his beauty.  My reaction was less of a “GIVE ME BACK MY PURSE NOW”, and more of a “My… purse… back…”.  The man only laughed as he handed me my purse.  His eyes were a deep brown, the same color as the hair that dusted the top of his head.  He seemed to be naked, and covered in a thick coat of body hair.  His back-end was unusually long and curved upward like a ski jump, some type of birth defect I think.  To me, it didn’t matter that his butt was unusually long and hairy, or that he didn’t wear clothes, he was perfect.  He IS perfect.  I knew that when I saw him, he was the one. 

A thank you was the only thing I could muster to mumble.  The man smiled at my foolishness.  I turned way to hide my red cheeks, as I felt a rough surface brush into my hand.  I grabbed the slip of paper and clutched onto it, making sure not to drop it.  I watched the man walk away as I entered his name, Stephonoe Glaciria, and number into my phone. 

I texted him the next day. ‘Hey :)’ Oh no! Was the smiley face too much? Was it too informal, should I have said hello?  I watched as the writing under my text go from sent, to delivered, to read, and then finally a ‘hello’.  A small smile crept upon my face.

We talked over the course of a few weeks, we talked everyday by text.  I suggested after a few weeks that we meet up again and asked him if he wanted to meet at a local coffee shop.  The day we chose, I wore my best clothes and drove to the Roasted Bean Coffee café. 

The first date, well, it was amazing.  We continued to go on dates, and fell deeply in love.  My favorite date was when he took me to the park, but now that I think about it, the only dates he ever invited me to were to the park.  We only went one one date other than the park, the first one at the coffee shop where we still sat outside.  

Six amazing months went by, we were completely in love.  We had moved in together three months prior.  We bought an apartment in northern manhattan with my inheritance from my grandparents.   Stephonoe surprisingly didn't have a lot of stuff, he had no money, no clothes.  He never wore clothes, he was a free spirit.

It was the day before Thanksgiving, Stephonoe and I were planning on visiting my family for the holidays.  He said that his family and him weren't close, his parents and sister abandoned him when he was a baby.  We drove the eight and a half hours to Ohio, where my parents still lived in the house I grew up in.

I had a good feeling about today, today was my day.  We stopped for a picnic in Pine Creek Gorge, during sunset.  I had bought fresh bread, lunch meat, lettuce, good wine, and some other picnic foods.  It was beautiful, we stuffed our stomachs and watched the sun go down.  I knew that it was time, I pulled out the box and cracked it open.  The gold ring sparkled in the dim light.  Stephonoe gasped, and nodded his head.  He drank more wine, I made sure not to since I was driving.  We got right back on the road, and made it to my parents by 10:00.   My parents were already asleep when we got there, so I slept in my childhood beadroom and Stephonoe slept on the couch.

The whole day I couldn't shake the feeling that my parents were looking at stephonoe weird, me, I couldn't stop staring at him.  His body hair was tinted red today. On different days he looked completely different, some days his body hair looked grey, some days it was red, and others a chesnut brown. 

Dinner time rolled around, and we all sat down at the table.  My mom, Stacy, cleared her throat. 
“Honey, umm, Stephonoe isn’t a… well, he isn’t a boy.”
“Ooh my goddd mom, I know that.  He’s a man!”
“That's not what I mean, Stephonoe is a squirrel.  I think it may be time to lay of of the LSD.”
“No! No he's not!” my head was spinning.  He can't be a squirrel! But, it all made sense.  That ‘body hair’ was fur.  The long ski jump butt, is a tail.  That first day, he didn’t tap my shoulder, he fell from the tree above me.  It also explained why all of our dates were in the park.  Gosh, why he always looked so different, was because it was a different squirrel every time!  I can't believe I was so stupid!

I broke down crying, and ‘Stephonoe’ ran away and out of the door.  I ran to my car, and started it.  Two hours later was when I realized the squirrel was still in the car.  I opened the door and watched as he trotted out into the woods by the side of the rode.  It wa time for me to let go.

I kept the apartment, I already had a two year lease.  I looked out the window, and saw him.  His skin was tinted green, and he looked like he was in desperate need of some moisturizer.