He had stumbled over the words many times. He'd even practiced in front of a mirror. But when the time came to speak he stuttered again. For months he had been dating the same girl. For the past few weeks he had been building up his courage because he wanted to tell her that he loved her. Those words didn't come easy for him. They especially didn't come easy because he didn't always get his words exactly as he wanted them to be. Maybe, he thought, it was because he had watched too many movies. He thought that because the stars of the cinema spoke eloquent words that he too would have to speak eloquently. But as often as he tried to form the words he simply couldn't do it.

Maybe something else would work. If words weren't forthcoming perhaps something else. That night he recalled that she …