December Challenge - "He thought it was their first date; she knew it was their anniversary."

She kissed him goodbye, knowing he wouldn't remember her tomorrow. Her heart sank as she reached her car and unlocked the door. "Good for a one night date only" she thought to herself. Tired of wondering why, she put him out of her mind. She knew she would never hear from him again. Sure, he was nice, employed and no children. Also, he was very handsome and well dressed. Drove a corvette...oh well.

In a quiet Parisian café, a sensitive but fragile writer meets a beguiling stranger whose warmth seems to illuminate the deepest shadows of his wandering mind. What begins as a simple conversation over black coffee unfurls into a charged dance of intimacy, illusion, and recognition. Between cigarette smoke, gentle laughter, and the tremors beneath their words, the boundaries between memory and desire blur. As their connection deepens, the writer is forced to confront the mysteries of himself reflected in her gaze.

Marissa is sent as a temporary Secretary to cover a sickness. She meets James and discovers they have met before....

He thought it was their first date, but she knew it was their anniversary. She would not let on yet. She didn't want him to feel ambushed or scare him away. "No, she would take things slow" miranda thought.

For Bradley, it was their first date. For Lucy, their anniversary, but the date might not end they way they dream.

A man with a brain injury recovers beyond where he was before the injury.

A shelter dog named Ziggy is signed out for what he thinks is a simple “first date” outing with a volunteer—but for her, the day quietly marks the anniversary of the moment she first promised herself she’d come back for him. Through a long year of visits, walks, and patience, their bond is already formed long before Ziggy understands the significance of leaving the shelter gates behind. When the outing becomes an adoption, Ziggy navigates new experiences—a car ride, sunlit pumpkin patches, curious resident cats—and wakes the next morning to discover the thing he’s been waiting for all along: someone who stays. Tender, funny, and rooted in shelter reality, the story explores how love often begins before either side realizes it, and how sometimes what feels like a first date is really the celebration of a promise already kept.

Love isn't always visible sometimes it's a dog on the brain

a couple learns through fading memories and passing moments that their enduring love will last long past memory