"The difference between you and me is that when you wake up, your nightmare ends"
When I'm about to open the door, I find a red rose, and paper stuck to it with tape. With a smile, I peel off the tape so that I can take the rose and the paper. I keep thinking of the possibilities of today's speciality, but nothing strikes me. I have no idea why he's doing this. But, I'm glad he is. Just because we got married, he doesn't stop trying to woo me. He even asks me out on dates, though he knows I would say yes. In most marriages, the couple drift apart because they stop showing their love. But, my Max never fails to show me that he's still as crazy of me as he was before marriage.
I open the folded piece of paper, and realize that he has planned a treasure hunt for me. Dana, Nat, he and I always played it when we were little. We sucked sucked at it because Dana and Nat hid the clues in the most difficult spots for us 12 years old children, but liked he to pretend that he played amazing.
'Surprise! I know you're breaking your head to find out what's special today. It's not a day in history, but is indeed a special day. In fact, every day is a special day in my life, now that I'm your partner in life. Follow these clues to find my gift to you on this beautiful day.
Clue #1: Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.'
I smile as I immediately understand where the next clue is. That quote from one of our several favorite novels is written on the coffee mug he bought me after our wedding, like a little gift. We read Wuthering Heights together, when we were just fifteen and fell in love with it. We read it every night in my bedroom, before going to sleep. I wish we could do it again, sometime. But, we don't have as much time as before. The cons of being an adult. I open the door, lock it behind me after entering and then walk to our kitchen for the coffee mug. Just like I guessed, there's another piece of paper in side the coffee mug. I unfold it and read the next clue.
'The second clue for my beautiful wife is:
First thing ;)'
Our first date was when we were twenty and it was to a fair. We went there just to make out in the Ferris wheel when we reached the top. Yes! Ferris wheel! We have this showpiece of a Ferris Wheel that we bought on our first date. It looks a mess, and the top broke before we reached home. But, it's special to us. He insisted on buying it because it was sold by a poor girl who seemed to need the money. It's the first thing we bought together for our house. I go to our living room and open the doors of our glass showcase. Just as I predicted, there is a piece of papers ticking out from under the showpiece.
'Clue #3, love: Kissing in the rain was fun until I caught the flu. But, I loved that you were there to take care of me. I wish I pretended to be sick for two days, even after I got well, but work stood amidst the idea. I can't think of more hiding places, and clues. So, this is the last one.'
He really does suck at this game.
We kissed in the rain because he wanted to show me how good kissing him in the rain would be. I wrote in my novel 'Plastic Hearts' about a not so romantic character, who criticized kissing in the rain. When we were coming back from the press meet for the book, it rained and he wanted to prove me and my character wrong. We did enjoy kissing in the rain, and he enjoyed proving me and my character wrong, but he didn't seem to enjoy sneezing, the next day. On that day, he wore his black suit that I love a lot. Maybe, that's where my treasure is hidden.
I walk to our room and open the closet with curiosity about what the gift could be. I open the door slowly, and an unexpected weight falls on me. When I completely open the door, something heavy falls to the ground and I hear a loud, raw scream of fear from myself. Lying on the floor, in front of me was Max's dead body. My body drops to the floor, and I look at my immobile husband in fear. I continue to scream and scramble away from his body that is covered with blood. His dead eyes are staring at me, and send shivers through my body. I cover my ears, close my eyes and scream.
I open my eyes, wishing that I wouldn't see it. When I do, the room is dark and I'm lying on our bed that isn't covered with sheets. I switch on the lights, and look around frantically to find an escape from my room. If I see that sight once more, I wouldn't live. I look at the direction of our closet, and a small shriek escapes from my mouth to see that his dead body is not here, anymore.
I raise from the bed and move to our closet. I open the door with ease and walk in. There are no traces on his body, in here, only our clothes. Realization hits me that it was all a nightmare.
It was the result of me not seeing his body, after he died. His body was wrecked after he ran his car down a mountain. His friend Reagan saw his dead body after the police called him, and pleaded to me not to see the same. He said I wouldn't be able to live if I did. I followed his advice, and didn't see his body. I want my last memory of him to be a good one, with him smiling and telling me goodbye, not his body that was damaged beyond recognition. From that day on, I keep imagining what he looked like after dying, leading to this nightmare.
With fresh tears in my eyes, I take one of his shirts from the clotheshanger and hug it to myself. I breathe in whatever is left of him, and sob louder. My tears stain his shirt, as I'm reminded of his scent that I miss. I miss wearing his shirt after we made love, and him telling me that I looked better in it than he did. I always wore his shirt to bed when we were away from each other, so that I can feel his presence with me. I always knew that it was temporary and we would come back to each other, soon. But now, I know that he isn't coming back at all. He isn't going to surprise me by coming home when I'm sleeping, and later tease me about how happy I was to see him.
I sit against the wall silently, hugging his shirt to my chest as though it is him. I wish irrationally that he would come back, tell me he is sorry for going away, and that he promises to stay forever because he couldn't see me hurting. With such thoughts, I slowly drift off to sleep. Maybe, sleeping on the floor would be regular routine, now. I don't mind sleeping anywhere, as long as I get some sleep and the nightmare doesn't come back.
A/N:
What do you think of this chapter?
Oh, and how many of you all are watching the Cricket World Cup? Which team do you all support? Leave your comments below. :)
The story had a ranking, and it was #574, yesterday. Now, it's not in the what's hot list *sad face*. Thanks for taking the story there, though. Hope it gets a ranking, again.
The next update will be on Tuesday. If I get a ranking, I'll update earlier, maybe. *wink* *wink*
Have a great day!
-Awkward Penguin
