Oh, My Darlin'

A short story about a boy's promposal to his girlfriend. Based on the characters of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Joel Barrish and Clementine Kruczynski.

With the day of the prom getting closer and closer, Joel just kept getting more nervous and ultimately, in disbelief that he still hadn't asked Clem yet. He racked his brain for ideas, asked his friends how they were going to do it, but the perfect solution hadn't come to him. It wasn't until the very day before prom did he finally perform his grand scheme.

His day started out with skipping school. He wanted to get something for her to wear to the prom. While he walked over to Nana's Attic, he thought of how Clementine will be wondering where he is. He bought a silver pin which he figured would stand out pretty well against her bright orange-coloured hair; it had sapphire gems in it, somewhat rotted in colour and the age of the pin was clearly visible, with the smearing and touches of oily fingerprints. Far beyond what any average girl would want, Clem would believe it to be spectacular.

He sat on the steps outside a diner while he ate his grilled cheese. He took his notebook out of his coat pocket and continued to draw the picture of himself and Clem at the dance. He made sure to make her look her usual beautiful self; her peeking smile was a little less than usual. He added the pin to her hair, finished the strands escaping from his head, and scratched a couple lines here and there for the people behind them. He stared down at his sandwich and smiled, and suddenly an old couple made their way to the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Joel says, abruptly rising, "I was just sitting there." But he might as well be talking to the wind.

He thanks the driver, closes the cab door and walks straight to the payphone.

"Alright, Jim. Good... Yeah... Yeah, I'll be there in an hour."

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Clem's painting her nails a deep red, kind of purple tinted while she talks to a quiet girl with ponytails, sitting alone. Clem's practically conversing with herself, talking about the name of the nail polish and how she'd want to name her daughter something like that maybe, or she might want to name her son River or something based on nature.

Amy flies past Clem just before the bell rang for lunch, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her.

"What are you doing?!" She tries to face forward while her arm is still held hostage, laughing out loud and poking her friends face.

"You're oranges are here!" and they throw their heads back in unison.

"Oh, my darlin'! Oh, my darlin'! Oh, my darlin', Clementine..." The girls halt in the hallway and glance up to the speakers in the ceiling. They look back at each other and continue, this time Clementine's willingly running, too.

"You were lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, Clementine."

They arrive to a freezing cafeteria and are let through to the very front of the shivering crowd. Clementine is met by a frame of wooden boards holding together the home-made ice rink filled with ice on a tarp. On the rink is Joel in his thick coat, microphone in hand. He looks at Clem and smiles, quickly ripping off the beanie from his head, presenting his messy locks.

"Oh, my darlin'. Oh, my darlin'. Oh, my darlin', Clementine." He stretches out his hand and she walks to him onto the ice.

"You are here, and now I outta get this question off my mind."

He passes her the microphone and she nervously holds it like a bouquet in her hands. He takes a box from his back pocket and opens it like an engagement ring, never taking his eyes off of Clementine.

"Will you go to the prom with me?"

She raises the mic to her mouth and says, "Yes!" She hugs Joel and the room explodes into whistles and cheers, clapping and yelling. Even the principals, who are generally annoyed at the sight, are smiling and slapping their palms for the joy of the moment.

Clem lets go and Joel puts the pin in her hair while she beams and the whole pack applauds and shouts.