The street corner was dismal and dark, the night sky blank with no visible sparkling stars.  He sat on the curb, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm from the ten degree temperature.  Winter had been harsh, covering the city with five inches of fresh powder, which had now been transformed into a thick coating of gray slush.  Above him, the streetlights cast an eerie golden glow along the way, illuminating only the most prominent items on the avenue.  He glanced down the asphalt roadway in both directions before pulling his coat closer around his neck.
     He leaned back onto his elbows and looked up into the midnight mass circling above him.  It was a clear sky, no clouds whatsoever.  The lights from the city cancelled out all the stars, leaving no spectacular heavens to stare back down at him.  The sky was a blank canvas, impatient for the city to go to sleep so it could create its beautiful work of art.  Unfortunately, this city didn't know what sleeping was.  His brown eyes roamed, searching for even the tiniest sparkle that could remind him of her eyes.
     A few strangers passed by, giving him questioning glances, wondering why he was waiting in the dead of night.  He was searching for her, any trace that would give him a sense of her being next to him.  The stars had failed him by being absent from his line of vision.  He could practically feel her, her arm linked with his, her head on his shoulder, her warmth flooding his body.  He breathed deeply before opening his eyes again to an empty space next to him.
     A rumbling noise broke his peace.  He quickly sat up, glancing anxiously down the street, searching for the source that he was wishing it could be.  It was in the distance, a thirty-two person capacity bus slowly pulling up to his waiting spot.  Its wheels slowed, its lights flickered, and its door opened with one swift motion.  He could see shadows moving down the aisle, but their faces were skewed by the fog attached to the glass windows.
     He stood up, watching the passengers slowly pass him on their way off of the vehicle.  Each one was a stranger, an unknown face.  His eyes darted back and forth, searching earnestly for the only person worth seeing.  There was a break in the crowd, a minute of no one walking down the metal steps onto the concrete sidewalk.
     He slouched a little, feeling defeated.  Hope surged through him, and he took a second glance up at the door, praying silently that his efforts hadn't been in vain.  Footsteps met his ears, a figure beginning to move out of the transparent darkness.  A smile spread onto his face.  No words were necessary.  His pleading eyes met hers, the sparkle instantly ignited in his blank canvas sky.