It is early autumn again. Thirty years away from the last time Mary broke up with Bill. Time flies.

The flashes of memory are swirling in Mary’s mind.

So many years ago, she impulsively married another man she thought she would love with time went by. However, things did not turn out as she expected. He is a good husband, but, she just couldn’t forget Bill, the one in her life. If it were not for her pregnancy, she would have stopped this unnatural relationship.

In the next several years, she had three babies. But Bill was still haunting her. She finally decided to name her youngest boy Bill and leave her husband. She couldn’t deceive herself anymore. He didn’t ask why, just let her go.

Then, she met Bill, in such an embarrassing situation. She could not forget every word Bill said and every movement he made. The distance, the politeness, like a dagger, stabbed into her heart. Bleeding. Promising career, happy family, Bill must be very satisfied. His happiness was not her concern anymore. Both of them had a family and a different way to go. They shared a common past, but would never have a future.

The world keeps spinning around. Four seasons come and go in a recurring pattern. The Washington square is still the way what it used to be. But Mary has changed.

Walking through the ashes of time, she is already an old lady with gray hairs and spreading wrinkles. Reflecting on her whole life, it is just like a dream, a dream she prefers not to have.

The wind of early autumn is a little bit cold. She leaned on her husband’s shoulders like a little girl.

“It’s cold. Let’s go home.” He said.

She shakes her head, still leaning on him. She feels warm.

He holds her hands, tender and gentle.

Their grandchildren are playing, laughing in the Washington square, like little angles.

It is happiness, yes, happiness. She smiles and closes her eyes.

She has never told his husband that she had met Bill that early autumn evening. Neither did she confess that sometimes she dreamed about Bill: In the Washington square, Bill’s eyes twinkle with starlight. And Mary herself bursts into tears in a flash, silently. Without a word, Bill holds her in his arms tightly. Time freezes while countless People are passing by. All the bright stars fall down from the sky……

It is not important at all.

What really counts is that she finally woke up from her long, unrealistic dream, and went to find her husband, a man who really cherished her all the time. He didn’t ask why either, just like before. But deep in his heart, he knew, this time, they would spend their whole lifetime hand in hand, never be apart.