A Beautiful, Terrible Love

Chapter 25

The Grand Finale!! Please enjoy:)

It was finally Sadie's wedding day.

As I drove my rickety old car down the rough and cracked road, I looked at the sky, hanging so precariously above me. Clouds floated in the mysterious realm above us, a world we could only look at, much less experience on our own. Birds flocked above me, provoking my envy, for it was always my wish to fly by their side. To feel the cold, rushing air as I soared through the blue, never to return, suspended in happiness forever. The vast expanse above almost felt like the ocean to me; with the way you could almost grasp it, but it always just escaped your reach.

Kind of like the pursuit of true happiness. It was so hard to attain, so hard to snatch for your own... fate twisting your life and throwing in a few more surprises merely to make you stumble. Happiness was a dream for adults, a nirvana they could never achieve. A pure fantasy.

But you couldn't help but wish for it.

The thinly cut green-brown grass slowly progressed into healthy stabs of emerald blades as I drove closer to the church, the trees growing trim and covered with flowering buds. The road suddenly became cobblestone, signaling a sudden change in my surroundings. I looked up, observing the beauty around me, and smiled.

Flowers erupted in little bursts all around the premises, a spectrum of colors that delighted my senses. A huge church stood magnificently before me, pure white, the doors twice as tall as I was. The sides of it were shrouded in thin carpets of ivy, trees framing the church also. The crystal clear lake, the one I enjoyed every morning, was right beside this splendor, the sun catching the water's gaze and making it shimmer in pleasure. Not a single ripple raced through the lake's surface, transforming the surface into a giant mirror, one that reflected the serenity above.

It was pure beauty.

Not many cars were parked in the gravelly road, but that was to be expected. I was six hours early, after all. I told Sadie that I would help her with her dress, hair, and makeup. I was a fan of staying all-natural, but to help Sadie, I had been practicing how to apply makeup. Also, I tried to learn how to curl hair into ringlets, and I had slowly started to improve.

I exited my car, stepping across the brief expanse of gravel, heading towards the open doors. The sun glinted at me, as if it was angry at my presence, lashing me with its whip of golden light. However, I managed to barely escape it, rushing into the air-conditioned church before the heat baked me to a crisp.

The inside of the church was just as beautiful as the exterior, with creamy white walls and a high ceiling. It wasn't huge, but not really small either, seating probably around one hundred people. A colossal chandelier dangled, crystals suspended by tiny wires, catching the light and reflecting it in little bursts along the walls. There were rows and rows of pews, then a spectacular display of beautiful, blooming flowers. There were hundreds of them, the multicolored beauties that were stacked up upon each other until the whole wall facing me was covered with them. Directly in front of that was a beautiful array of the very midnight glories that our town was so proud of... but they did not bloom like the others. I frowned as I surveyed them. Why would Sadie put midnight glories in the church when it wasn't nighttime?

I walked down the hall, not half as elegant as the grand room, and knocked cautiously on the designated door. A nervous, frazzled cinderella opened it, garbed in pure, snow white. Sadie smiled, though her eyes unveiled her true emotions of disconcertment. I had never seen her like this before.

"It's eating at me," she said anxiously, shoving me inside the room and slamming the door shut. Scared, I backed away from her nervous walk, full of frenzied and robotic movements. "What is this?" she asked me, "this terrible feeling?" Her eyes were wild, her hair in a rough ponytail, garbed in her wedding dress.