Thursday, November 18, 2010

Happy Again




Today's muse: Three Word Wednesday

Today's words: clutch, delight, happy

* * *

Happy Again

The look on her face was raw delight as she snatched the solitaire from my hand and thrust it onto her third finger. She twisted her hand in the air, bouncing refracted colors off the living room wall. She laughed—a high-pitched squeal—then took my face in her hands and pressed a noisy kiss on my mouth.

“Yes!” she shouted, dancing around the sofa. “Yes! Yes!”

I thought my heart would burst.

Now, facing the stained glass windows, hushed voices behind me, my tuxedo compresses, squeezes air from my lungs. Misgivings rush at me in fast-forward; a Charlie Chaplin film of what my life will be, highlighting all the reasons this is a mistake. But I don’t have the balls to stop it. My heart pounds, chases sweat down my back. My bowels liquefy. I thrust my sweaty hand into my pocket, searching for a handkerchief to mop my face. Or hide it.

There is frantic movement in the pews behind me as a vicious game of Broken Telephone ripples through the crowd. At once, the voices are silent.

My best man clamps a hand on my shoulder. His voice breaks. “Hey, man…”

I shake my head. This is a happy moment and I don’t want him to mar it. I clutch the crumpled piece of paper in my pocket where my linen handkerchief should be. I don’t have to read it—I know what it says.

It makes me smile.



5 comments:

Catherine Denton said...

You kept me guessing. Well done.
Catherine Denton

Heather said...

Monica- First, thanks for the shout out.

I liked this. In the very short time it took to read it, I was both sorry for the man and relieved in the end. Very well done!

Charley Robson said...

Very nice! I love the twist at the end - and I really want to know what that note says now!

Jae Rose said...

Perfectly crafted...Like the others when you went into such great descriptions of physical fear I wondered what he had done..I loved that he was doing something that made him feel so happy..Nice perspective..thanks for your visit..Jae

Anonymous said...

...life is a wonderful experience... changing constant..