The Ravine by Robert Pascuzzi

than paying to go to school, I figured, screw them, I don’t need to waste my time with that. When I look back, I can see that if I hadn’t let my pride get in the way, things would have been different.
    “It’s no one thing, Mitch. It’s lots of little things put together. So, I accept that prison may have been the best thing ever to happen to me, and now I intend to work my ass off to make something of myself instead of feeling sorry for myself. You get it?”
    “I get it,” Mitch said, and he really did.

    Around that time, Tony met a smart and attractive young woman named Emily, and it was clear they had fallen in love. She accepted him for who he was, despite his past mistakes, and she encouraged him to grab life with both hands and go for it. She was a big fan of his Thursday night hoops because she knew how good it was for him to excel at something again, and frankly it got him out of her hair for a night. He was nuts about her, and the feeling was mutual. Danny and Mitch were both a bit envious, which meant they teased Tony endlessly about Emily.
    Time wore on and Mitch and Danny continued not to be so lucky in love. Because Danny was such a good-looking guy, he didn’t have any trouble getting dates, but when he saw the relationship Tony had with Emily, he knew that real love was worth the wait. Mitch was a bit of a perfectionist, and was convinced he would know the right woman on sight when she came along. Danny told him he had been reading too many of those weird books he was always talking about, but Mitch was unshakable in his conviction. So there they were, both reasonably good catches in their twenties who had outgrown the dating game. And that’s how they found themselves on a Friday night with nothing to do.
    After hoops that night, Danny mentioned he’d run into a girl he knew from his childhood, who had told him about a club up in Putin-Bay, on Lake Erie, where they had terrific live music every Friday night. It was called Lakeside Bar, and she had suggested they check it out. Initially Mitch wasn’t very interested, until Danny told him that Macon Peach, an Allman Brothers cover band, would be playing. They were supposed to be incredible; the two guitarists could knock off the harmonic lead guitar parts note for note. Mitch liked Southern rock a lot, but he absolutely loved the Allman Brothers, so he was sold.
    As they expected, the dance floor was crowded when they got there, and Danny looked around for his friend, Carolyn Hamilton. Danny felt a special bond with Carolyn because of her father’s visits when they were at Chillicothe, though they never talked about that time. Finallyhe spotted her across the floor, with an entourage of guys circling her. When she saw Danny, she ran over and told him how glad she was that he had made it because she had someone she wanted to introduce—or rather reintroduce—to him.
    “Reintroduce, what do you mean?”
    “A long time ago, when you were leaving the field after a game, I introduced you to my good friend Rachel, but you were too busy running off to a keg party to notice,” she said, with a laugh.
    “Well that sounds like me, back then. By the way, I want you to meet my friend, Mitch.”
    All this time Mitch had been standing there, admiring Carolyn’s golden hair, deep-blue eyes, and great shape, feeling a little like Michael Corleone when he was struck by the thunderbolt. He was smitten just looking at her, but then when she laughed and smiled, and he heard her voice, he literally felt a flash. He felt as if he had known her all his life, though he had yet to say a word to her. He knew she was the one he had been searching for.
    Mitch, who was normally quite talkative, was speechless. He opened his mouth and out came a sort of croaking sound, leading Carolyn to cup her ear and shout, “What did you say?” The music was pretty loud, so that gave him a chance to regroup.
    Danny jumped in to save his friend. “Mitch is a great guy. He’s an