IT WAS love at first sight. Ganesh had never felt this way before. And this was just the first time he had laid eyes on her. At age twenty-six, he had been in and out of a number of relationships. There had never been any serious commitment on his behalf, so they had been easy to terminate.
But all that was about to change. He has seen the woman of his dreams. She was perfect in every imaginable way: Beautiful beyond description. The Portuguese chick was also the livewire of the party. She was easy to chat with. Everyone laughed at her jokes. All the guys had their eyes on her. Even the married men cast quick, furtive glances her way, hoping to catch her eye and avoid their spouses molten glares.

Ganesh approached her, and they began chatting. It was immediately obvious that they liked each other a lot. They danced and chatted, and only became aware of others when the music ceased. He offered to take her home. She accepted. They both walked towards her home.
Celia was charming, and chatted happily as they walked along Coconut Grove Public Road. As they neared the village of Pine Field, she held his hands and pulled him to a stop.
“Let’s go somewhere else before we go home.”

Electric current coursed through Ganesh. Things were going better than he had anticipated. He nodded vigorously, afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would put his foot in it.
The beautiful woman steered him down a narrow street, and into total darkness. This didn’t bother him. He knew what her motive was, and readily accepted. She turned into a small pathway that leads directly into the local burial ground.
Strange! But not enough to deter him. He went bravely on.

“Let’s sit over there.”
He looked in the direction in which she was pointing and saw a fairly new tomb.
“Right there,” she said happily, and sat down on the resting place, pulling him down beside her.
Ganesh began to feel uneasy; it was the first time he had entered a cemetery at night. It was also the first time he had sat on a tomb in the dead night, with a beautiful woman in his arms.
But Ganesh forgot all his misgivings and started to ‘make out’. As he kissed and caressed her, he began to feel strangely cold. He knew this was odd, because he was heating up with their romantic encounter.
She held him tightly, and he felt chills running up and down his spine. He decided to pull back and take stock of the situation. Something was not going right. He pulled himself gently apart, and looked at her. She seemed to have aged slightly. What started out to be twenty now looked like thirty. She was still beautiful, and he did not resist when she pull him into their intimate game.
The chills were now all over his body. He pulled back, puzzled that he felt so very cold. His hands and legs were trembling. He decided to call it a night, and take her home. He stood up and smiled.

“Let’s go; it’s getting late.”
“Just a little more time, please, Ganesh.”
He surrendered again, but not before he noticed that there were streaks of gray he had not noticed before in her long, beautiful black hair. Ganesh struggled to stay focused. He was cold and puzzled. Things were getting too weird for his liking; his girl was changing faster than the weather.
He stood up abruptly and said, “Time to go!”
“No!”
“What!!!”
Ganesh was shocked that she was refusing to leave this spooky place. The woman he was now staring at had changed considerably.There were now some wrinkles on her face, and a generous amount of grey- and-white hair in her head. He stared hard at her, trying to remember what she had looked like back at the party.
Too many beers and whiskey had clouded his brains, making it hard for him to concentrate. Things had somehow gone wrong, and he wanted to end it.
“Lets go home, Celia; ah feelin’ real cold.”
She shook her head angrily, not budging.
“I stayin’ right heah!” she shouted.
Ganesh changed tactics. He gently rubbed her face, and whispered encouragingly.
“Time to go home now, baby.”
“I reach where I want to go.”
He was disturbed by this and said angrily, “Look, girl! Get yuh backside up and lets go home!”
She sat with her head cradled in her hands.
“I reach home, Ganesh! Stay wid me, nah?”
He felt a cold fist hit him in the stomach, taking the wind out of his lungs. His gaze rested on the tombstone, and his eyes bulged as he read what was written on it: ‘Here lies Celia Vieira’.
Ganesh looked down at the woman who was now old enough to be his mother. She raised her head, and her eyes shone wildly.
“If you stay with me, I will make you happy!”
At this, Ganesh’s feet took off before his brain got into gear. He was running at high speed, leaving a shoe here; a cap there; and vomit everywhere.