And the strange lightness they had been feeling filled their insides again.

And that feeling confused the woman. And she suddenly remembered that she was on a mission and that she needed to get back to doing what she needed to do in order to accomplish it.

So she said, “I’m sorry—you know what? I really need to get back to…” And she pointed to the sky to let East know that she needed to get back to doing what she was there to do.

“Oh, sure,” said East.

“And—I really appreciate you letting me stay here. And look for the northern lights. I just really need to do this, and … thanks for being so understanding and accommodating—”

The next thing either of them knew, East was hugging the woman.

And then, just as suddenly as he was hugging her—he wasn’t.

Because he had pulled away from her.

And was now standing stock-still, facing her, a little stunned.

The woman was also a little stunned.

“Oh, gosh—I’m—I’m sorry,” stammered East.

“It’s okay,” said the woman. Even though she wasn’t sure it was.

“Are you okay?”

The woman wasn’t sure she was.

“I’m real sorry I did that,” East added, imagining what it must have been like for this small woman to have had a big lug of a man like him come at her and wrap her up in his arms. “It’s just…” The strange lightness East had been feeling grew inside him—it felt like it was possessing him, even—and it seemed to take control of his body and push the rest of the sentence he had started out of his mouth and make him gutturally blurt out, “I think I love you.”

And then he felt like everything stopped.

And he found himself unable to breathe. And unable to move.

And his face was the picture of contrite befuddlement.

The woman’s eyes widened and bugged a little as she took in her host’s unexpected confession. And then she recoiled a bit and may have even taken a step or two away from East as she skeptically uttered, “I’m sorry—what?”

And East started breathing again and conferred with himself for a moment. And decided that what he had just said was indeed true. “Yeah. I saw you from my window—no—wait: I didn’t actually see you. I just … felt … like you were out here when I was looking out my window … and…” He thought some more to make sure what he was about to say was true. And when he was sure it was true, he continued, “And I loved you. Before I even saw you.”

And then East shrugged helplessly.

And everything was silent and still.

And East stood facing the woman, still looking contritely befuddled, trying to process what he had just said.

And the woman stood facing East, trying to process what she had just heard. His profession of love was a little disconcerting—because it had come from a complete stranger. But it seemed sincere and, ultimately, harmless. So the woman was gentle as she quashed her lovelorn host’s romantic overtures. “Well … that’s really nice of you to say, but, um, there’s something I think you should know: What you just told me? I’m not here for that.”