Mary Orleans has dreamt of a white Christmas since she was a child. Every Christmas they spend at home in Australia, between sheep and heat. Just one Christmas in New York, that's all she wants.
Lenny Darwin hates Christmas. The cold, the family, th...
When Carol knocked on my room door, I knew instantly that something bad was going to happen. I felt a pressure on my chest and it felt like I had a lump in my throat. "Yes?" I asked. "Mary, dear, I must take you away now." I gave Carol a slightly confused look. "Is this a Christmas tradition?" I asked skeptically. "If you want to call it that, go ahead," Carol smiled mysteriously. Reluctantly, I got up from bed and went to her. Sina also appeared behind her by now and smiled, somehow very happy. Carol showed me the way into the hallway and I followed her instructions. I gave her many inquiring looks, but nothing could be seen in the expression on her face. My host mother gave me my jacket and opened the door. She and Sina also put on jackets. Carol was ahead of me, Sina was behind me. We climbed up the old stairwell. "What are we doing up there?" I tried again to get an answer to my question. But Carol remained silent. Why the hell did we go to the roof?
When we reached the door that led to the roof terrace, Carol pulled a blindfold out of her jacket. I moaned. "Really, does it have to be?" "Yes, it has to be!", Sina shouted in her place – and two seconds later I couldn't see anything. Instead, I heard the door open and felt a cool gust of wind blowing in my face. Sina took me by the hand and dragged me a bit with her. I had completely lost my orientation when we ran twice to the left and then again in the other direction. Carol was standing in front of me, which I noticed in her voice, which was very close to me. "Okay, ready?" "I have no idea," I returned. But Carol had already begun to remove the blindfold. I had to close my eyes for a moment when the dim light of the evening blinded me. When my vision became clear, I saw a long path of candles on the ground in front of me. I looked at Carol, who was standing next to me. I followed the path with my eyes, but it disappeared behind the wall of the house from which we had come. "Come on, go!" So I began to follow the path, fearfully. I ran between the two rows of candles until I could see around the corner.
The sight I saw there made me stand still. Behind the wall of the house the candle path ended in a heart of candles. In the middle of the heart lay some roses next to a white cloth. But when I read what was written on the balloons, which were lined up next to each other, I almost lost my composure. "Will you marry me?" My mouth opened and I finally followed the path until I reached the heart. When I heard the voice behind me, I slowly closed my eyes. "We've known each other since you were sixteen. We've been through so much and long-distance relationships for many months. But, Mary, I love you. With all my heart and soul. I want to be with you for the rest of my life." Slowly, I turned to Josh and looked at him. The jacket he was wearing was neatly ironed and his hair was ironed. The bouquet in his hands consisted of all my favorite flowers. This was perfect, just perfect. Josh came up to me and got down on his knees in front of me. He took a box out of his trouser pocket and revealed to me a beautiful ring. It glittered and was silver. I wish I'd seen it on my hand. "Marriah Orleans, will you be my wife?"
I looked down at Josh and felt a tear running down my cheek. "Josh – I..."
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