"Red"
“Red, red, red”, Ron thought to himself. “Why did I wait so long to buy a shirt for tonight?” He looked through shirt after shirt on the rack, but none seemed to satisfy him. Tonight was the big night. Dinner, dancing, and the biggest question he would ever ask. Ron flipped open his phone, and saw her face staring back at him. He couldn’t help but smile. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. She was smart, beautiful, and caring. Suddenly the phone rang loudly, snapping him out of his love-induced trance. “Hello?” he stammered.
“Yo man, what’s up?” a familiar male voice asked.
“Ah, man, trying to find a shirt for tonight. *bleep* said she’d be wearing a red dress, and I have to find just the right red to match.” Ron replied.
“You’re kidding right? You’re going to match to go out? Man, you are whipped!” the friend quipped.
“You’ll understand when you find the right one. You’ll do whatever she asks to make her happy.” Ron said back, with a certain anxiety in his voice.
“Oh yeah, tonight’s the big night, isn’t it?” the friend asked, “are you sure you want to marry this girl? There’s no going back you know!”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” Ron said, “Now let me go so I can get the hell out of here.”
Ron could feel his palms sweating all during dinner. He had never been so nervous in all of his life. It was all he could do to not throw up. He kept checking to make sure that the ring box was still safely in his in his pocket, that it hadn’t fallen out each time he jammed his hand in to retrieve something. He was fumbling with everything, falling over curbs, and tripping over his words as if he was hooked on some euphoric drug. Dinner; conversation. Every time he looked into her eyes, he felt like the luckiest man on the planet. He could feel his chest tightening, it was hard to breath. All through the main course could he see the worry in her eyes. Coming on quicker now, he falls loudly onto the floor. His heart feels as though it’s going to burst. Ron closes his eyes as it sweeps over him.
Then Ron’s eyes open.
“I step onto the pier. I squint to see you. You look so far away, standing at the end, gazing out onto the ocean. I can’t help but smile. Even from this distance, I can’t help but get that feeling in my stomach, my palms start to sweat; I can’t believe you’re my girl.
So I start to walk towards you, your red dress becomes clearer, your hair blowing in the ocean breeze.
I start to run; the anticipation of your kiss is too much to bear. Closer and closer I come, I can almost smell the scent of your favorite perfume. No one smells like you. No one is as beautiful as you. I yell your name. I run faster.
Almost there now, you begin to turn around. I slow my pace. You turn around, and you are gorgeous. That smile. Those eyes. That look. It’s everything I could ever hope for, everything I’d ever want. When our eyes meet, I swear I am in heaven. I run as fast as I can to the end of the pier, nearly there now.
I blink my eyes in the summer sun. My eyes open and I’m there. I’m at the end of the pier, where my angel is. Just in that blink, I’m ready once again for that look. That look I get when I look into those brown eyes and see the love that you exude. The love you have for me.
Only this time you’re gone. I spin around and around. Where did you go? What happened when I blinked my eyes? Did the rest of the world die?
I stare blindly out onto the distance, scanning the horizon for any sign of you. Nothing but water. Water for miles and miles.
I start walking backwards, trying to make sense of it all. Step after step, but nothing.
Then a step, and then no pier. No wood. Nothing.
I fall.
Falling and falling.
I scream your name.
I close my eyes.
And I see that red dress.
For the last time.”
posted by Ron Wertz at
2:26 AM
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