It was a cold autumn night in Indiana. I was stopped at the light on Wells Hill road. I remember the wet leaves sticking to the hood of my old maroon 63 Ford Galaxy. I took a few drinks of a bottle of Boonesfarm wine and a couple tokes from a leftover joint in the ashtray. While tuning in a good station on my crappy radio...I saw her step out on the porch. The first thing I noticed was her perfect womanly shape wrapped under a black and white dress.

I rolled the window down and could hear her shouting something and looking all around. A misty rain was blowing in the wind. A horn blew behind me, I looked and saw the light was green. I waved the car around me. I shouted out to her,"Hey lady....you need some help!" She shouted back,"My crazy dog...he ran off again!"

I remember the rumble of the 390 engine as I pulled into her driveway. I shut the car off, got out and walked up by the porch. She said,"I hate to be a bother but could you check out by the barn...he goes back there a lot." Then she lifted the bottom of her dress to show me her wrapped knee. The dress was white with little black bows all over and it tied in the front with red ribbon. She softly said,"I would go check but this just hurts so bad when I walk very much."

As I smiled, she chuckled and said,"Oh...I am sorry...my name is Maria." I was mesmerized by her smile and managed to stutter out,"My name is Tommy." I shook her hand and told her that I would go check the barn for her dog. As I walked to the barn she shouted,"His name is Bubby!" I shouted back,"OK...I'll find him!"

I walked back to the barn and there he was. The little beagle named, Bubby, was digging by the barn door. I stooped down and called his name a few times. He shied away at first but finally came to me. He was soaked but I picked him up and carried him back to her front porch. As I walked up the steps, she was thanking me and scolding the dog.

She opened the door and invited me to bring Bubby in the house. I remember smelling her perfume as I stepped past her in the doorway. I sat the dog down and he shook off the rain on both of us. I laughed as she scolded Bubby again and told him to get to his corner. The little dog slumped and went to a brown wicker basket, climbed in and laid down.

She smiled and walked by me saying,"Come on in...I'll put on a fresh pot of tea...If you like tea?" I said,"Sure,sounds great to me." She walked with such grace. I followed her into the kitchen and she invited me to sit at an old pine wood table. She was putting on the water for tea and asked,"Are you from around here Tommy?" I said,"No, not really...I'm from Oldenberg...I was just passing through to Harrison."

She said,"Oh...I know Oldenberg...nice town." We exchanged more small talk and sipped at our tea. I made her laugh with my stories of high school pranks. She told me stories of New York and how she had to get out of the rat race. She was an executive secretary for an investment firm. She had saved enough money to buy a small farm and was now designing furniture for a company in LA.

She slowly moved her hand across the table top and said,"I made this a few years back...made the chairs too...I love working with wood." She asked me if I would like some wine. I told her that I would love some wine. Before midnight, we had gone through two and one half bottles. She giggled and said,"Young man...I think you're trying to get me drunk."

I laughed and said,"Young lady...you have gotten me drunk." She busted out laughing and said,"I'm 49 years old Tommy!" I laughed with her and said,"Well I'm 17 years old Maria!"

She climbed up on the table and sat right in front of me. Her bare feet on my legs and her hands on my shoulders. She leaned forward and kissed me. Then she whispered in my ear,"We can do this...only if you promise to never come back! WE HAD MUFFINS.

(3 paragraphs of muffining have been removed....sorry)

I wanted to stay and have more MUFFINS but she insisted that I had to go. I

She walked me to the door while pulling the red ribbon from the dress. She put the ribbon over my head and around my neck and said,"Keep this...think about me sometimes." She stood behind the door with just her head sticking out and waved goodbye to me. I got in my car, looked up and the door was closed.

It was still cold and rainy but I didn't feel cold at all. I drove away with a hundred thoughts, swirling in my mind. She was 49 years old. Her body wasn't perfect but she was. Her skin wasn't like the teenage girls I had been with but it was soft and beautiful. We didn't make love....we had MUFFINS...awesome MUFFINS. I got to feel that day.....what a man gets to feel. I couldn't wait to be 49.