(Okay, so I was much younger when I wrote this. Its kinda silly and sappy, but hopefully it will make someone laugh! It's clean of language and smut. Please share your comments! 🙃)

Happy birthday," he said as he leaned against his car and lit a cigarette. The glow from the small flame illuminated his face in the darkness. He wasn't tall, dark and handsome, but Zoe was infatuated as hell with the guy.

His name was Slater Andrews, and like most of Zoe's infatuations, he was an actor and a writer. In her eyes he was the epitome of the legendary James Dean, but in reality Slater was sort of a Cause without a Rebel.

"I'm glad you came," she said with a smile. "It's been a long time."

"Well, you know, I got busy. After graduation there was work and plays...."

"Oh good," she said with a touch of sarcasm, "I always thought you were just avoiding me."

"Oh, I tried." he said, returning the sarcasm right back at her. He then added an almost sincere "I'm sorry." And then tactfully changed the subject. "So, what do you want for your birthday?"

Zoe racked her brain for something witty to say, but she was overcome by nervousness and had broken out in a cold sweat. No matter how hard she tried, she could not stop shaking. Luckily, the bitter, cold January air made good cover. Her teeth chattered and she began to mumble. "Uh..." Then suddenly she burst out- "Peace on earth and good will toward men!"... With a laugh so filled with cerebral air she wanted to die.

"Christmas was last month, my dear; though I do believe that one remains unanswered as always. Seriously, I thought you might wanna rent a James Dean film with me some night. You've probably only seen Rebel Without a Cause about a million times; why not make it a million and one?"

Aha, he did care! Although from another time and place, James Dean was the man of Zoe's dreams. Yes, even Slater took a back seat to him.

"Sure, but not until I get what I really want." Zoey bit her lip and dug her heel in the snow.

"Oh, and what's that?" he asked, wondering if he was going to regret it.

Her eyes widened and along with a mischievous grin she exclaimed "To be a tall blonde with an ass to die for!"

Slater cynically slapped his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair. To Slater it was a Jack Nicholson thing, but to Zoe it was James Dean all the way.

Slater had a sore point with Zoe regarding the self-insulting remarks she tended to make, and this was only one of many. Zoe had got it in her head that Slater's ideal woman would be a tall blonde with....well, let's just say well-endowed features; not at all a short, fat, sub-woman, as she often referred to herself as. She had a hard time believing that Slater was once quite fond of a woman even larger then Zoe herself.

"Now, why didn't I see that coming?" he asked as he reached for a handful of snow and hurled it in her direction.

Zoe's attempt to dodge Slater's playful retort caught her off balance, hence her legs slid out from under her, plopping her down on her back side in the cold, wet snow. Slater did try to catch her, but by the time he reached out the embarrassment had already welled up inside her and began to escape in the form of hot tears.

Zoe had waited a long time for moment like this; and she felt like she'd blown it. So many times she tried to tell Slater how she felt about him, but only succeeded in making a fool out of herself. Like a Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde character, Zoe was transformed into Bunny with the I.Q. of a pet rock.

Bunny was the progeny of Zoe's low self-esteem and fear of rejection. She often referred to this entity as her demented alter ego. Bunny was always there right on cue to help Zoe make a fool out of herself. Zoe would openly make jokes about Bunny, which only made matters worse she wanted to impress someone. Bunny was uncontrollable at times and this one was no exception.

Confused by her tears, Slater slumped down in the snow beside her. "Zoe, what's wrong?"

What's wrong?! What's wrong?! Those words echoed in her mind as memories came flooding back to her. Memories of every moment she'd ever spent with him. It was all wrong! How was she ever going to justify herself or her feelings toward him without embarrassing herself? What sort of justification did she want anyway?

Even Zoe could never really see the two of them together. She knew that outwardly they were just too different. To her, he was Prince Charming, only she never could get past the bibbity-bobbity-boo of the bubbly fairy god mother when he was around. Her fantasies however, were a whole other story. She fancied him as Fred to her Ginger, Robin to her Marian, Romeo to her Juliet; only in reality, he wasn't even Ozzie to her Harriet.

Zoe and Slater knew each other through brief encounters and family acquaintances. Part of her, perhaps a remote realistic side, kept trying to tell her that he had no real interest in her, but the infatuation prevailed despite many attempts to forget about him.

It all began late one summer when Zoe's brother Hank threw his friend Jake a birthday party. Slater's sister Mary, Jake's wife, introduced them.

"You two should get along quite well," she said. "Not only are you both into theater, but you lean a little towards weird sometimes."

Zoe was in love with him the second he walked in the door. After Mary finished her introduction, Zoe impulsively handed him a lapel pin that she had in her pocket. Hank made her remove it, as it embarrassed him; it read 'We are the Weird!'

"Forgive my forwardness," she babbled as she took his hand and placed the pin in it; "but I think Mary is right." Hank gave Zoe a dirty look as he took Slater's coat.

Slater smiled and curiously looked at his gift, laughed and said "It's perfect! I love it!" But, when he looked up to thank her, she was gone.

"Just ignore her." Hank said, as Zoe's behavior annoyed him.

"Why? I think she's right." Slater said as he pinned his gift to his shirt.

Hank just shrugged his shoulders and headed down a hallway.

Zoe spent most of the evening in her room, but did venture out occasionally, if only to make an appearance for Slater's sake. Once or twice she tried to be funny by making snide remarks about the 'thirty-something' crowd at the party. Hank was not amused, but Slater was, and just as Zoe hoped it was enough to make him come looking for her. He found her hiding in a back room that served as her bedroom whenever she stayed with Hank.

"What's the matter;" he teased, "are we not having any fun?"

"Oh yes, I just live to annoy my brother." She replied.

Yes! She said to herself as he came in and sat down on the floor in front of her. She hugged the guitar she'd been playing close to her chest in effort to contain her excitement.

"You play the guitar?"

"No." she said trying to be funny, "I just have it to impress people or hide behind."

"Play something for me." He requested.

"Okay, but I have to warn you, I'm not very good."

Slater nodded, shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Play" he said softly.

"I guess I'll play you something I wrote."

In her nervousness she played a few chords wrong, but for the most part, it was a beautiful song, as beautiful as any song about suicide can be.

"Nice," he said when she was through. "Very sad, but nice."

"It's for a play I'm writing at school."

"Ah, so you're a writer, too."

Zoe only nodded and shrugged.

Slater leaned back against the wall behind him. "I'm writing a short story right now called Behind the Curtain, it's about..." he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "It's about this girl. She's a singer I know. In fact, you kinda look like her."

"You're kidding. You seem to be the type to want, well... a tall blonde with an ass, to like die for." She teased.

"I've learned beauty is only skin deep, sometimes. Don't be so hard on yourself either. Trust me; I know what it's like to struggle with weight. I've lost about sixty pounds."

Zoe was surprised. "Wow, you did?"

"Yup, so don't stereo type me either, kiddo."

"I'm sorry. It must be a true story. Could I read it?"

"Sure, I'll send you a copy sometime."

"I'd like that." she said touching his hand.

Just for a moment, they sat there looking into each other's eyes. Zoe later thought it was her imagination, as she'd projected romantic notions on guys before. Only Slater, she thought, is different. Only how am I going to keep Bunny from letting him see the real me?

'I'm here to keep him from seeing the real you because you know he probably won't like you anyway." said the annoying voice of Bunny in her head.

"Want to hear something funny?"

"What?" he said still off thinking about his story and most likely the girl.

"Want to hear a funny story?" Slater nodded and Zoe began. "Well, there's this girl, she's what I call my alter ego. Her name is Bunny and she has the I.Q. of a pet rock."

Slater laughed. "I can just hear Freud now...do you tell this to many people?"

"Na," she giggles "only cute guys who like a little torture. Anyway, Bunny was driving out to meet a guy; I'll call him... Slater..."

"Oh you will, will you?" Slater laughed.

"Yes, I will!" She squealed and went on. "She was driving out to meet Slater at White's Ferry. You know, the little park way out by the Potomac River where you can be in Maryland and Virginia at the same time?" Slater nodded. "Well, she was driving really slow 'cause the road out there is a really dark, country road and she was afraid an animal would run out in front of her and she'd hit it. Well, sure enough, just as she rounded a bend, a little ole' rabbit went hopping across that road, and sure enough...she hit it.

"Ker splat!" Slater exclaimed.

"Yes, Ker splat indeed! When Bunny got out to assess the damage, Bunny's guts were just everywhere...and that rabbit was a real mess too."

Slater laughed, "Uh, that pun needs a little work, my dear...."

"Anyway..." she continued slapping his knee; "Assessing the damage she thought about what this guy...Slater would think. Maybe he'd laugh at her and never let her hear the end of it..."

"Maybe he would." Slater said with raised eye brows and a grin.

"And maybe...he's a mean ole' bunny rabbit hater, too."

"Na, not me, I'm a pussy cat."

"Yeah, pussy cats love eating little ole' bunny rabbits. ...Anyway, she decided to clean up the mess on the front end of the car, so she went into the trunk and got out a rag and a can of spray cleaner. Now, remember, it's really dark out there, and her trunk light didn't go on, so she had to feel around to find the cleaner.

She felt really bad about hitting the rabbit and wanted to get it cleaned up and get out of there as fast as she could; the place was giving her the creeps. After frantically spraying the front of the car she wiped all the evidence off as best as she could. When she was done, she looked down at the remains of the rabbit; it was soaked with the car cleaner that had dripped off when she sprayed the car.

Rather than have to see the rabbit when she drove by every day and feel guilty, she decided to move it out of the road, so she picked it up with the rag and tossed it off into the brush at the side of the road. Getting back into her car, she glanced over in the direction where she'd thrown the rabbit. Well, she had to do a double take, and she thought she was going crazy, 'cause that rabbit was sitting there waving at her! She looked away and shook her head, but when she looked back that rabbit was still sitting there waving at her! She got so scared, and thought she was really seeing things, so she decide to throw the can at it just to prove to herself it wasn't real, but when she looked at the can that was to be her weapon, what she saw made sense to her. It wasn't a can of spray cleaner that she used to clean the car with. It was a can of Permanent Wave for Damaged Hair!" Slater gave her a blank stare. "Get it? Hare...h-a-r-e as opposed to h-a-i-r?"

The look on Slater's face changed so fast it was even funnier than the joke. He had an exaggerated look as if he were about to cry. Then, he suddenly burst out laughing and fell to the floor.

Hank and Mary appeared in the doorway.

"Zoe, what did you do to my brother?"

"I told him a joke, and it wasn't even that funny."

Slater sat up and composed himself.

Hank rolled his eyes and said, "Well, not to interrupt your 'weird' party of two," and yes he added air quotes. "But, it's time for the cake."

Zoe didn't say much to Slater as the night wore on until midnight, when both seemed to have had just about enough of the 'thirty-something' crowd. She offered the relief of a drive, which he gladly accepted. Of course it was an excuse to be alone with him, and he probably knew it too. Hence, that short ride became a long drive out to White's Ferry.

Not only was White's Ferry a locale in her Bunny jokes, but it was a special place of peace and safety to her. As a young child it was her place of power as she played out her fantasies of knights in shining armor and damsels in distress. There was once a ruin of an old tower that she and her playmates called their Magic Castle, but eventually it was washed away by the rise of river.

Now, it was a place where she tried to play out her fantasies of love and romance with guys who made significant impacts in her life. A few even became lovers, but eventually all drifted away.

This trip was no exception; the conversation was deep and full of the pain of lost love. During the drive out Zoe told him about the love she'd lost and the health problems she was experiencing as a result. Slater listened compassionately and even offered a sincere hand on her shoulder now and then. As soon as they reached White's Ferry, it was his turn. Zoe parked the car and prepared to be there for a while.

He talked mostly about Kitty Devroe, the woman he'd written his story about. Despite the fact that she'd ripped his heart out by seeing another man and was trying to ruin his reputation, he was still desperately in love with her. He continued with woes of school and society and the loss of friends due to Kitty's vicious lies. At one point he became somewhat melodramatic by writing her name in the condensation that had formed on the car window.

"I still love her so much, you know..." He said as he outlined her name with a heart.

"Yeah Slater, I do."

"I know she don't love him."

"Doesn't love him," she corrected.

"I wish you could fix my love life like you fix my grammar." He said as he wiped out the name in disgust.

Despite Bunny, Zoe thought everything was going really well, too well. The big scene had begun and she felt an old familiar pang that told her it was now or never, and if she were going to win him over her lines had to be good.

"Slater, I'm sorry this hurts so much, but she's not worth it. She's an actress and it sounds like she lives her life as if she's the star in some soap opera."

"But she loved me, I know she did."

"Seems like she was just looking for someone to play her lead, but a walk behind me, look good and don't get in my way lead. This must be what your story Behind the Curtain is about, isn't it? The show goes on even after the curtain closes, but people like us, well, we just don't realize it's still a show. Believe me, I know; only this time I was too late for the audition."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Forget it, look at it this way. You thought you were the director and Kitty was your star; you were going places together, right? It's hard to except that you're just a bit player, isn't it?"

"I guess, but what about my friends? They think I'm the one who did her wrong."

"Friend's, Slater? Sounds like her cast to me. Seriously, what I'm really trying to say is if they were really your friends they'd be on your side, and if she really loved you she'd probably be with you tonight, not me!" Zoe didn't realize it until that last word came out of her mouth, but she'd been yelling at him. She was to feeling somewhat frustrated; not so much with Slater, but with the fact that she was seeing a lot of herself in what he was saying. They were both silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry, Slater. I didn't mean to yell at you. I tend to over act sometimes." More silence..."Well, please, say something."

"It's okay," he finally said.

"This may sound sappy, but I think that you've been so intent on pleasing Kitty and your so called friends, that you've been losing yourself in the process. You're a very special person. I only met you a few hours ago, but I knew it the moment you walked in the door. If they can't see it, then they're just not worth it."

Slater was silent again, but only for a few moments. "Thanks, Zoe." He said softly. "I guess we do have a lot in common."

"Yeah, Slater, we've played the same parts in other people's lives."

Yes, it was Oscar night at the ferry and Zoe had just played her most award winning scene. A romantic kiss was her only after thought, but whether or not that was Slater's intention was beside the point. Just as he reached for her, Zoe panicked.

Alarm bells went off inside her head, waking Bunny up to remind her that things like that don't happen to sub-women like her in the real world. Only in sappy movies does a girl like her get a guy like him, let alone a kiss! You can't change that unique fact of life; Bunny said. It could very well mean the total upset of some cosmic plains!

Quickly Zoe turned away and attempted to slump down in her seat and snuggle against his shoulder; mighty hard to do in bucket seats. Not only was the position she ended up in embarrassing, but the emergency break was wedged into a quite compromising place. Whatever Slater's intention, whatever the universal fates had in store, Zoe was sure of one thing-- she blew it.

They drove back in silence, realizing upon arrival at Hank's that it was nearly dawn. Their parting moment was an awkward one. Zoe kissed him on the cheek as he attempted a one armed hug. After giving her a sheepish grin he left, leaving Zoe alone to kick herself.

A few days later a package came for her. It was Slater's story. Zoe read it, but she was not surprised to find it was exactly what she thought it would be. Yes, she and Slater did have a lot in common. As she read, every word she said to him that night out at White's Ferry came back to her. She attempted contact him a few times after, but she never had much luck. True as his excuses were, he still was always busy with school and plays. Zoe told herself that whatever it was that sparked between them had ended before it begun.

With other personal problems surmounting, Zoe went to stay with her mother in Miami to escape. She wrote to him a few times, and he actually wrote back twice. Both of his letters were about the continuing saga of that Kitty woman and the people he thought were his friends. Zoe wrote him back sappy ego inflating letters, mostly because she knew exactly what he was going through. Her friends, or rather some people she once called friends, were treating her like dirt, too.

In a journal she began to keep, Zoe wrote about him and that night out at White's Ferry. She could not get passed feeling stupid and she could not help but to continually wonder whether or not he would have kissed her if she hadn't panicked. One day, Bunny had an idea. Hence, a tradition of doing stupid things Zoe would later be embarrassed and regretful for continued.

Using Halloween as an excuse she called him. She was afraid to just come right out and ask him, so, she thought he'd understand if she read him a story about that night that she'd written in her journal. When she was through she told him he didn't have to say anything if he didn't want to; so he didn't. The conversation only left her feeling ever the more stupid, as it resolved nothing.

The new year found Zoe back in Maryland. She'd moved in with her brother's friend Linda and her son Alex. The house was out in the country, not too far from White's Ferry. Zoe found a good job and tried to be a stable, productive person and to forget about Slater.

Fat chance! She called him, but of course he was busy with school and plays. The play's he did tell her about she went to see, sometimes more than once and without him knowing she was even there. From Mordred in Camelot to a court jester in Revenge of the Space Pandas, she drooled and sighed through every show.

After one performance, Zoe did go backstage to see him. She could not help but to laugh at him as he looked so adorable in his panda suit. Bunny made all sorts of unBEARable jokes, but Zoe did get a date out of it despite her behavior.

He took her to a classic film festival. Now that was an almost perfect evening. With James Dean up on the screen and Slater Andrews sitting next to her, what more could she want? Simple, for the evening to never end; but of course it did and as before it left her the same insecurities resulting in Bunny's relentless banter. Zoe knew she would eventually push him away from even being just friends. It was just that every time Zoe opened her mouth Bunny with her I.Q. of a pet rock popped out and she'd humiliate herself.

After that night, Zoe forced herself to stop calling him, so she didn't hear from him for quite a long time. Almost three years went by since that night at White's Ferry. That night and other thoughts of Slater still lingered on Zoe's heart. She knew it was time to let him go, and so just before her twenty-fifth birthday, she did just that.

She sat down and wrote out everything in a story, that later became a one act play put on by a local theater group. It included everything about Slater and Bunny, and even had an ending to justify her fantasies. It didn't exactly turn out the way she hoped it would, but she knew it was necessary. She sent Slater an invitation to opening night, but he never came. She should have stopped there, but no, she had to send him a script.

On the night of her birthday, Zoe planned to o.d. on James Dean films and eat chocolate cake alone. She thought about having a party, but never got around to mailing the invitations. She purposely left them in Alex's truck and asked him to throw them away for her, even to his surprise, Slater's.

Well, Alex and his mother Linda were not about to let Zoe sit alone on her birthday, so along with thier friend Gerry they picked up pizza crashed her pity party. Zoe met Gerry while working with the theater group that performed her play. It didn't take long for them to become good friends.

"I want the real thing!" she said as she opened each gift they brought her. They all knew of her love for James Dean, and so each one had a common theme.

"Zoe, I hate to break it to you," laughed Linda, "but the man has been dead for over twenty five years!"

"Maybe not," Zoe whined. "I heard somebody saw him over at the mall the other day."

"She's right;" added Gerry added, "only he was with Elvis buying an Inquire and a box of Twinkies."

"No, it had to be ho-hos!" exclaimed Alex as he flicked a glob of creamy, white icing at Zoe.

"Hey," Linda interjected, "that's the KING you're talking about."

"Okay," Zoe added with the same whiny tone. "But" she said with here finger in the air.

"They were buying shoes!" They all burst out in unison and laughing hysteticlly.

Linda and Zoe looked at each other and began laughing hysterically as they recited in unison.

On that note Alex and Gerry broke into dueling Elvi appropriately singing Blue Suede Shoes and dancing around the living room. This sent Zoe into a frenzy of giggles that sent her running to the bathroom to avoid wetting her pants.

When she returned, she began opening her last present. There was a knock at the door, but she was too busy ogling a life size poster of James Dean to notice, so Alex went to answer it. Zoe heard a familiar Raspy voice ask for her.

"Hi. I'm Slater, is Zoe here?"

Alex began to laugh, as he was standing face to face with the very same guy he portrayed in Zoe's play. "Uh...Zoe, James Dean is at the door."

Zoe looked over at Alex who was grinning like a Cheshire cat, or at least the one who ate the canary.

"You didn't!?" she yelled at him. Alex had sent out the only one invitation that he knew what's the prize for the most.

"Well, you were so depressed after the play was over, I had to do something!"

Linda laughed, "So are you just gonna leave him out there to freeze, Zoe?"

"I don't know." she answered, frozen herself, "Part of me thinks it's a good idea."

"NOT!" exclaimed Alex and Zoe in unison as she jumped up and raced to the door.

Alex extended a hand to Slater and pushed Zoe aside.

"So, I finally get to meet the man of Zoe's dreams." Slater reluctantly met his handshake. "Hi, I'm Alex. It's nice to know you weren't just that, that is, just a man in her dreams."

"I guess so." Slater sighed, a little overwhelmed by his greeting.

"Hi, Slater." Zoe said as she pushed by Alex and jabbed him in the ribs.

"Hi, Zoe."

"Hey, I've missed you." She said, trying not to sound desperate.

"So've I," he said sarcastically.

"Ooooooooo," Alex exclaimed, "he's funny and he knows all the lines in your play doesn't he?

Zoe jabbed Alex in the ribs again and returned her attention to Slater. "Well, come on in and meet my cast of characters."

"Actually, Zoe, I'm not feeling much like a party, I just wanted to come by and see you."

"Okay, what did Alex pay you?"

"I didn't do it!" Alex laughed as he threw his hands up in the air and then added in a deep southern drawl "I've been set up! Honest I was!" And he had been too, by Zoe's own hand, handwriting that is. Between the play and Slater's invitation, Alex proved to be a friend through and through. "I have an idea," he continued. "Why don't you two go for a walk? There's a beautiful moon, why I've seen it myself not too long ago this very evening, I did." Before Zoe could get a word in, Alex had thrown her coat over her head and pushed her out the door. "Ya'll have fun now, ya' hear!"

As he closed the door behind her, Zoe threw her coat on the ground. "I hate you, Alex!" she yelled. Of course she didn't mean it, she was only being dramatic.

Slater laughed.

"What's so funny?"

Shaking his head, he picked up her coat and helped her put it on. "Come on, let's take his advice."

They only walked down to the end of the driveway, but as they neared the bottom, Zoe's heart began to pound and Bunny started to emerge.

"I got your manuscript." Slater said raising his eye brows.

"Really, pretty bad, huh?"

"Well, it may not be award-winning, but I liked it."

"So, what did you really think?" she asked hesitantly. "I mean, how did it make you feel?"

"I don't know, I guess this is where we play out the script and see what happens."

"But you really don't smoke, do you?"

"No, but that's just a technicality."

"Don't you think it's strange?" Zoe asked. "I mean, we haven't seen each other in quite a long time and my guess is we haven't very much in common anymore. You don't have to indulge my infatuations. I'll grow up sometime."

"Gee Zoe, I hope not...look Zoe, I know you really tried hard to get to me and I'll admit at times you were annoying, but I remembered how you made me laugh. Your letters and phone calls, even your play. I know I never told you, but you did help me and I appreciated it."

"Funny way you had of showing it," she said bitterly.

"Hey, after graduation my life was a roller coaster. I hardly even saw my own family. I thought you of all people would understand."

"Why'd you come tonight?" She asked plainly.

"I don't know, probably the same reason you wrote the story."

"You came to help me get it out of my system?"

"We are the Weird." he laughed and flashed her a smile thay should have curled her toes. "Happy Birthday."

"Gee, thanks." She took a deep breath and told Bunny to take a hike. This was her chance shine. "I am glad you came."

Slater nodded and leaned back against his car. The moon light reflected off the snow, illuminating his face in the darkness. He wasn't tall dark and handsome, but he was as cute as the day she'd met him.

"I know I'm probably going to regret this, but-- what do you want for your birthday?"

Zoe thought him showing up was present enough, but he was actually being sincere; or maybe he had been possessed by his own ego. She continued the game by blurting out "Peace on earth and good will toward men." She took a deep breath and realized she was still alive.

"Christmas was last month, my dear; though I do believe that one remains unanswered as always. Seriously, I thought you might want to rent a James Dean film with me some night. You've probably only seen Rebel Without a Cause about a million times; why not make it a million and one?"

Aha, he did care! Although from another time and place, the legendary James Dean was the man of Zoe's dreams. Yes, even Slater took a back seat to him.

"Sure, but after I get what I really want." She bit her lip and dug her heel in the snow.

"Oh, and what's that?"

Her eyes widened along with a mischievous grin. Suddenly Slater dropped to his knees in front of her. "Oh no, please, don't say it!" he begged, "Please, please, please, please, I'll do anything!"

Zoe laughed. "Now why didn't I see that coming?" They were both laughing quite hard by this point. Suddenly Zoe burst out, "I wanna be a tall blonde with an ass!"

"Shhh!" Slater was laughing so hard he was almost in tears. "With an ass to die for?"

"Oh, yeah...With an ass to die for!" she yelled out as her legs slid out from under her, landing her in his arms, in the snow. This wasn't in the script, and neither could stop laughing.

"Are you alright?" he asked between breaths and laughter.

Zoe tried to calm herself down and Slater followed suit; though it wasn't an easy task.

"Yeah, and you know what?" Zoe laughed "I don't feel stupid anymore."

"But I do! I screwed up my lines!"

Zoe burst out again. "Stop it!"

"Hey that's my line, I think." Slater added and tossed some snow at her.

"Well Slater," she said as they finally composed themselves enough to help each other to their feet, "you're off the hook, 'cause the script ends here."

Although Slater was confused. ⁿZoe suddenly got that justification she'd been looking for; only it wasn't what she expected at all. That cosmic plain was suddenly restored as something inside her (and it wasn't Bunny) told her something about Slater she'd never thought about before. Anything was possible, he did come to see her finally, but Zoe now realized why and it was that very same thing that brought them together and kept them apart, their dreams.

Both of them were chronic dreamers, but they were two different kinds of dreamers. Zoe was the kind who kept on dreaming, but never really did anything about her dreams. Slater, on the other hand, had changed. Probably about the same time they drove out to White's Ferry together.

Slater had become the kind who went after his dreams and could taste his victory. He probably saw a lot of himself in Zoe at one time; after all, he told her he'd lost a lot of weight, and he'd also written a story about the woman he was in love with. The theme from The Twilight Zone began playing in Zoe's head.

No, Zoe's ending was going to be much different than Slater's. His story ended with both hero and heroine-- no, strike that, leading characters is more like it. Neither he, Zoe, nor that Kitty woman were exactly heroic material. Anyway, his story ended with his leading character's committing suicide, one over not being able to admit her true feelings to herself or others, and the other for not being able to have the one he loved. The music in Zoe's head got louder.

"What are you talking about?" Slater asked.

"I'm talking about me and my silly dreams; but dreams don't seem so silly when they're yours, do they?" Slater shook his head in agreement as Zoe went on. "That story you wrote... Behind the Curtain, well it just occurred to me that it was your way of killing off an old part of you, a dream you probably realized would never happen. Well, I'm not like that. I can't let go of my dreams and that's what my story is about. When my dreams don't work, I can never just kill them or let them go. I need them kind of like I needed you. So now, I guess I'll just have to change them."

"I don't know what to say." Slater said as he buried his hands in his pockets.

"You're an actor, Slater. Just improvise!" Zoe began to walk backwards toward the house. "Thanks for coming. You may not know what you gave me tonight, but it was the best present anyone could give me." She climbed the porch steps and opened the door. Looking back at him standing out there alone made her smile. How poetic, said a voice inside her. Touché', said another. Say goodnight Gracie!

"See ya' around, Slater." She said as she closed the door. "I guess it just isn't Oscar night."

Yes, it was another award winning performance and just like the last one, she didn't get the guy and she didn't get a kiss, but she didn't feel like a fool. Of course she didn't get an Oscar either, but what she did get surpassed the value of what all those dreams could mean, if they ever came true.