resolution

21 Apr, 2026

I looked at my friend languidly as we slowly made our way through the queue. It was the weekend and we met up to try this new hot dog restaurant that opened up near us. I've known him for quite a while and we generally have pretty good conversations. Sometimes funny, and perhaps sometimes deep and sometimes outrageous.

"I had a dream about Amelia last night." Shiloh looked at me timidly as he spoke the words. I gave him a look of disbelief when I heard him. "What was the dream about?" He frantically explained away, using gestures, speaking quickly, "She was moving away to a distant country for 10 years. In the dream, I was talking to her mom and my mom was talking to her mom as well. It was weird because they didn't know each other. And I never met Amelia's mom either. The weirdest part was that I never actually saw her in the dream." I gave him a long stare. "I haven't even seen her in like 6 years--though I kinda keep up to what she is doing these days. On LinkedIn she is still at her university researching stem cells." My friend's enthusiasm signaled to me that there was more he wanted to share, but we just reached the front of the line. Our attention directed to the menu.

Menu
Classic Richard Signature sausage dressed with ketchup, mustard, and house-made relish
Spicy Richard Spicy sausage dressed with ketchup, mustard, and house-made relish
Wild Richard Apple chicken sausage dressed with Japanese curry, caramelized onions, and fried garlic

Including the hot dogs, they had two sides: tater tots and baked beans. We ordered two classic Richards, one for each of us, and then tater tots and a wild Richard to split. We grabbed a table and relaxed while we waited for our buzzer to go off. My mind came back to my friend's dream. Amelia was his high school crush, while they were friends, it didn't really develop into anything else outside of school. She had a boyfriend at the time though, so it was difficult for him to express anything to her. He was a thoughtful guy in that sense. Though now he had a girlfriend from college for a while and seemed pretty happy.

The buzzer went off and I quickly went over to the counter to grab the tray of food. Grabbed a couple packets of ketchup and got two water glasses. I brought the tray back to the table and we settled into our meal. "Why do you think you dreamed about her?" I asked as I took my first bite into the hot dog. The relish was crunchier than expected and the sausage had an intense meaty flavor unlike a grocery store hot dog.

My friend paused for a moment, either thinking of words to say or thinking about the hot dog. "Did I ever tell you what happened between us?" I leaned forward, almost baffled, seemingly a innocent relationship was possibly intimate? I stammered, "did you have se-?!" Almost a little too loud, the table next to gave me a funny look, but in the moment I was truly anticipating my friend's next words.

"Do you remember that field trip we took where we visited that college for the engineering program?" I nodded.
"We were texting while I wasn't at school and then when we got back I was walking to the language arts hall. Then I saw her come out to greet me, but when I walked up to her she opened her arms and gave me a hug. I was kind of in shock in the moment, but gave her a hug back."

"Goddamn you fucking virgin, I thought something crazier happened. Though, I didn't realize you guys were close enough to hug... I don't even think I've seen you hug someone." Shiloh wasn't exactly a touchy-feel person.

My friend looked down with guilt, "We never did anything that crossed a line, but there were times when I felt that she knew how I felt. And that she felt similar. Maybe if we didn't go into quarantine than things would be different. Her family was strict so she never went to any of the graduation events."

I was finishing my hotdog as I processed his sentiments. I wiped my mouth and my friend gestured me to start on the wild Richard. Biting into it, the curry taste spread all through my mouth pleasantly and sweetness of the apple sausage completed it perfectly. The fried garlic gave it a nice pop in flavor. With my mouth half full, I said, "Have you guys spoken since graduation?"

He shoved the last bite of his classic into his mouth, and said, "She texted me out of the blue a couple of years ago about something I don't even remember now, but I wouldn't ever message her myself at this point." I nodded in understanding. I passed him the wild Richard so he could have his half. I half-expected the conversation to drop after that statement, but he continued.

"I think what I wonder the most about is the 'what if' of the whole situation. Maybe we could have dated and been happy. Even though I would choose my present over the alternative, I can't help but wonder."
I lulled over his words as I grabbed a tater tot and bit into it. I tasted the beef essence from the fat the tot was fried in, and looked across at my friend.

"We should have gotten the beans too."