Wedding Nightmare

This is a story from within my larger story, Teen Angst

 

As she brushes her shining hair of ebony, she looks into the mirror over her vanity.  Everything is in place and the way it’s supposed to be.  She’s about to go out and meet her boyfriend for dinner, he has something special for her and won’t tell her what.  Hoping it’s a proposal she finishes her make up, with lips colored blood red, and smiles in the mirror.  They’ve been going out for three years and had decided that the potential for marriage was there.  He was twenty-one and she was nineteen, they loved each other as much as anyone could.

She imagined being with her love forever, it made her feel warm and comforted.  She knew he was the one, no doubt about it.  They’d already had this discussion several times before.  It was true love, meant to be.  Everyone said they were a beautiful couple and they’d have beautiful children.  She wanted kids and he did too, but not too soon, they had everything figured out.

Seeing herself on her wedding day, she smiled.  Her parents would be there, and his parents too.  She’d kiss her dad on the cheek and he’d shake her sweetie’s hand, and they’d hug her mom while she cried uncontrollably.  He’d get a hug from his dad, and she’d get a kiss, they’d both receive a kiss from his mom while she tried to calm her mother down.  Everyone would be happy to be at the wedding in that little chapel, everyone all dressed up for her big day.

After the ceremony, they’d all go out to the lake for the reception.  There’d be a little party on the beach and it’d be nice weather, as they’d planned for a summer wedding.  She’d greet everyone and he’d talk with the family about future plans.  Everything would be perfect.

Content with her appearance, she gracefully walked out of her room and downstairs.  She saw her mother on the couch, she was crying.  She should have been happy.  Tonight was the big night after all.  They were going to find out if she was going to be a bride.  Calling her mother, she continued down the steps, but her mom didn’t answer, she didn’t seem to be hearing her.  She had to get all the way to her and put her hand on her shoulder just to get her attention.  Turned to her, eyes wide, her mom didn’t know what to say to her daughter and couldn’t bear to be touched.  She was so confused it was overwhelming, her mom not wanting to feel her touch, not knowing what to say.  She wished she knew what was going on.  Her mom just gaped at her, searching for words.  She looked horrid.  What had happened?  The phone rang and her mom grabbed a handful of her dress and pulled her close, cradling her.  It all hit her like a cold slap in the face, she remembered.

Her legs gave out and she started crying, her body seemed that it didn’t want to work.  The shock was too much.  There’d been a bad accident.  Today wasn’t even the right day for the date.  That dreadful day had already passed.  She looked as if she was reliving a nightmare.  Terror paled her complexion and made it frightful to look at, her hand convulsed around her mothers as she violently sobbed.  She remembered it all.

Her lover was driving them to her house, they’d already had dinner, and he’d proposed.  She was so happy.  When they got home, they were going to open a bottle of champagne and tell her parents.  They’d be delighted.  The only problem was they never made it home.  A truck had swerved out of the way of a dog that ran across the street, and when he saw them coming, it was too late.  He plowed into the front of the little car her fiancé had driven, but he didn’t stop there, he ended up on top of the front end.  Her beloved had tried to get out of the way, but it happened too quickly, all he had time for was to say he loved her and to hear her reply.

She remembered the bright lights and loud sirens.  She remembered wanting everyone to go away and to leave her with him.  She was holding his hand willing him to live and she kept whispering to him that she loved him.  She was desperate to have him, but he was already gone.  Everything went black as the firefighters ripped the roof off of the car and started to get her out.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed, bandages everywhere covering stitches where glass had ripped her frail skin apart.  Her mother was next to the bed in a chair from the great room, she was sobbing, but the girl didn’t know why.  She squeezed her mother’s hand to gain her attention, but she didn’t know what she was supposed to say.  The only thing her mom could utter was that she was sorry, so sorry.  Her dad was the one that broke the news.  The girl broke down.  She refused, this couldn’t have happened, everything was so perfect.

She found herself in the living room repeating her denial.  She looked at her arms for proof that she hadn’t been in an accident.  There was none.  Her arms were covered in bandages and cuts and scrapes.  She sank to the floor and beat it with her fists, as if it’d actually make a difference.  Gradually, she entered a hazy state of mind from the pain she was causing and the pain she was enhancing.  She couldn’t focus, she didn’t want to focus, and as much as she didn’t want to, she had to remember.  She couldn’t stop her memory.  The memory of a one-time love being lost, never again to see.  The girl with ebony hair, paled, with red lips, realized her delusion, and drowned in it.

Reviews

[Dawn Jones]

This is tragic. It is horrific to know that the human mind will destroy itself in an attempt to protect. I love this. It is beautifully written and again you capture the tragedy perfectly.