MICHAEL VENTURA
LETTERS AT 3AM –
WINTER REVERIES
Austin Chronicle – December 28, 2012
Donna wasn’t really pretty. She was kind of scrawny. No stunning features. I remember a pale face, dark hair, grey eyes – but I may be wrong about the eyes. What she wore didn’t flatter her. You never noticed her clothes. The thing about Donna – and I don’t exaggerate, I promise – is that every guy who met her, every guy worth a damn, fell in love with her. There was something only Donna possessed, or something that possessed only Donna — something you fell in love with. Her sad glow, her brave laugh, and something other. Anyone who knew her knows what I’m talking about. I’ve not seen that “something” in anyone else – not even in a movie.
I never thought I could be her boyfriend. Donna seemed meant for something I knew nothing about. Something indefinable – something infuriatingly indefinable! – shimmered around that girl.
She didn’t know what the hell it was any more than we did, and I know she suffered for that.