Third one of these. I'm definitely enjoying writing them, as it's always better to think of pleasant things. A fantasy of what might have been if events had allowed, this one set between the first two installments. Another dedication in this one, too, maybe I should go back and dedicate the first one to my mother...
by Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
This didn't happen. The real story is much more painful, but really... this is what might have been in different circumstances. There's a kernel of what really happened here, but...
"Ungh!" I complained, hanging on to the bed as my best friend pulled the laces even tighter.
"Hush, you," she scolded -- and I could hear her grin. "You knew I'd have no sympathy for you as your Maid of Honour, and you knew I'd pull you in tight!"
I giggled as much as I could, and let my mind wander back over the preparations for the park Handfasting. I would be entering from the North, and Lisa from the South, meeting in the middle as we would be throughout the rest of our lives. Our gowns were made identical except for length and color -- I'm taller, and hers was Royal Blue with White trim while mine was Forest Green with Canary Yellow trim. Juliette sleeves, lace-up bodices, soft leather dyed-to-match flat-heeled ankle boots for both of us. It was the wedding I'd dreamed about.
My mischievious Maid of Honour was trying lifting the dress up to go over my head and avoiding messing up my hair and makeup. The flowers she'd woven into my hair I had no doubt were done like Lisa's as well.
We hurried now, and I hugged her again as she ran out to take her place near the friend conducting the ceremony and my soon-to-be wife's Maid of Honour who was out there waiting for us. They had made sure that I... and I guess Lisa, too... didn't have anything to freak out over. I stepped out of the changing tent, and smiled up into Uncle Ben's beaming face as he stuck out his arm to walk me up the aisle and give me away.
A day I'd been waiting for and looking forward to for over a year, now. Heck, if I let myself admit it, ever since the day that first message arrived for me online. It was finally here, and as the musicians began to play the song written for our wedding, I paused where I was supposed to and saw my beautiful soon-to-be wife standing in my mirrored spot across the clearing, smiling at me brightly as she clung to her father's arm, dapper Dutchman in his suit. She looked even nearer to happy tears than I was.
I'd be lying if I said I remembered every detail, as I was too caught up in staring into her eyes and she into mine. But I do remember the wrapping of the silk ribbon around our clasped hands, binding us before everyone there as we both knew we had been since we met years ago.
"You are now handfasted, partners and wives, in all that you may do from this day forth," she intoned.
Grinning as broadly as anyone else there, she finished, "You may each kiss your bride."
Neither of us waited until she finished the sentence.
Comments
I don't really know you
I mean, I do, but reading these, I don't!
Anja Kobayashi
You know
These "could have beens" of yours kinda remind me of the drabble Heather Rose did a while back. Short Flashes of memory of the past or daydreams of what should've been maybe. What all of them have in common, besides of course having a kernel of truth, is this power behind the words. It's like the emotion is hiding on just the other side and you can almost just reach out and touch it. Like a "Wild" magic you don't really know what it is until the end.
Hugs!
grover