Yeah, she dumped you. And yeah, it’s been a pretty tough twenty minutes since you left that Denny’s where she told you it was over and you started driving home. First NPR—which you only had as a preset to impress her—told you that the world was burning (and it might have been comforting that your life wasn’t the only one that was falling apart, but did those hosts have to be so calm about it?), and then the next station you scanned for was Latin music, and the only word you understood was FIESTA! and, given how happy the singer sounded despite your heartbreak, it seemed completely plausible that the FIESTA! in question was celebrating your ex’s newfound freedom, like she left that Denny’s so abruptly because she had to go Sombrero shopping for the FIESTA! that everyone but you is going to tonight. So yeah, it’s been a little rough.

But now? You are starting to see that it’s going to be ok. You changed the station, and the bass is thumping like your heart, which is not actually ripped from your chest, and the guitar riffs are both deeply soulful and totally killer, like they are lighting your poignant sadness on fucking fire or something. And sure, you don’t actually know who this band is, but they are also kind of familiar, and maybe that’s just the power chords, but also maybe it’s because of the power of music which, like love, has the ability to make the familiar new: to make you REBORN. And sure, your ex seemed perfect, but there will be others, and you are totally special, destined for love, and nothing is going to get in the way of your next relationship, which will feel predestined and beautiful and will lead you to HIS GATES.

Wait.

Fuck.