Although it was a long time ago since he first dated her in college, he still kept a tiny lock of her auburn hair hidden away in the secret compartment in between the lining and the outer leather of his wallet. Until his freshman year, Mark had never known or loved a girl as beautiful as Mia. She was his first love and his first "real" kiss.

Of course, there had been a few girls before, beginning at the innocent age of four when a cute bright-eyed girl once chased him around a coffee table insisting on a tender little kiss. "Oh, go ahead and let her kiss you so we can get going," said Mom or Dad, or maybe it was both in unison. He wasn't sure at the time himself as he was too busy trying to escape the dreaded little girl's embrace.

Then there was the time when the two neighborhood girls, ages seven and ten, held him down for a series of "torture" kisses. "Get off! Get off!" he screamed before finally relenting to the lip-lashing. "I think he likes it!" the older one said. She did seem to have fuller and softer lips, unlike the younger girl whose lips were thin and rigid by comparison. (Incidentally, she became a state trooper many years later.)

There was a girlfriend or two, (really only one), for what seemed like only a week in the eighth grade. Later on, he had a few innocent dates in high school while going to a football game or a basketball game, or the big bonfire before the game. Outside of a dance or two and a quick peck on the cheek, there wasn't much touching. Dating was mostly a social, platonic activity.

But, Mia was his first real girlfriend. He thought about Mia constantly. You might say he was infatuated with her. Yet when they finally had to break up, she tried to tell him that it was only puppy love and that in time he would get over it, find another, and move on. Not knowing how much time that would be, he asked her for one last favor. He asked her for a lock of her hair.

Now after many years had passed, he forgot all about the little lock of hair. That is, until one Christmas morning when his wife gave him a new billfold made of handcrafted Italian leather from Milan.

He transferred an array of credit cards, insurance cards, and his driver's license from the old wallet to the new one. When he removed an "emergency" twenty-dollar bill from behind a hidden flap, the tiny curl, which at some point he had taken the time to carefully seal between two layers of heavy clear plastic tape, fell to the floor. He quickly picked it up and stuffed it into the back pocket of his jeans for the moment to avoid any unpleasant embarrassment of being noticed.

"Do you like it?"

"Very much!........ I love you, Mia!"

Story and Cover Illustration Copyright © 2021 by Michael DeFrancesco