One Look

I saw a girl once. She was the most beautiful girl of them all. She had no hair, but she didn’t need it to be beautiful. Her skin was pale and translucent, but radiant with happiness. I stopped in my tracks and beads of sweat made their appearance on my forehead. Something deep inside told me to introduce myself. I walked over to her timidly and a smile tugged at the edges of her pale pink lips. I stuttered as I told her my name and reached out my hand to shake her frail small one. She let a small giggle escape her lips.

All it took was one look.

One look, and I knew she was going to be mine.

One look, and I knew that I would be hers.

As she approached me one day in the fall she told me that her sickness had gotten worse. I knew it had. She was tired more often and she felt more pain. My heart ached for her as she spoke the words and tears trailed down her cheeks.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you left. I don’t deserve you. And I’m only going to cause you pain. I’m leaving this terrible world and leaving you behind me.” She said as she held back her tears. I held her in my arms as she cried.

“Sweet, girl. I know you’re leaving. I know you’re leaving me behind. But I love you too much to let go of you while you’re still here. You make my life bright and happy when it was gloomy and miserable before. You give me purpose. I will never ever leave you.” My heart ached.

I never wanted to imagine her leaving. It hurt too much. My shirt was stained with her tears mixed with a few of mine. I couldn’t help it. I tried to stay strong for her, and pretend like she was never leaving and that she would grow old and gray and that we would get married and have beautiful children that looked just like her. But that was a lie. She wouldn’t even make it to her twentieth birthday.

My tears stopped as an epiphany struck me. I could marry her and make the best of her last days. My heart was beating out of my chest, a lump in my throat formed making it impossible for me to speak. I slowly got up and went down on one knee.

“My love, I know I don’t have any ring for you or anything to give you to profess my love for you. But there’s something that you’ve had of mine for a long time now. And it will always be yours. My heart. Marry me?”

She looked at me with tears in her eyes that were as blue as the deep blue sea. She covered her mouth in shock with her tiny frail hand. She looked at me unsure of what to say for a moment. Then took my hand and shook her head ‘yes’ frantically and kissed my lips.

The drive to her parents house was terrible. My hands were shaking and I was so nervous I was stuttering.

“Relax,” She said as she placed her tiny hand on mine, and flashed her beautiful, heart stopping smile.

Her touch calmed me. My anxiousness, gone. My stuttering, gone. I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it gently.

We stood at the front door for two agonizing minutes.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” She asked.

“Positive. You?” I asked with a smile.

She nodded and returned the smile.

I took a deep breath and knocked twice on the door. Her mother greeted me with a peck on the cheek and a hug, and her father, with a firm handshake. Her mother hugged her for few minutes and kissed her on the cheek.

“Good to see you sweetheart.” her mother said with a delicate smile.

“Daddy!” She exclaimed and wrapped her skinny arms around his neck.