A short story by Shaina Simpson
It was another one of those evenings. Elena had settled down in the usual café she would use at this time, accompanied by her boyfriend Ralph. The sun was disappearing now and the sky turned to beautiful gradients of different purple and pink hues.
The moonlight illuminated their wine glasses perfectly and showed Elena a different glow in Ralph’s eyes tonight. She could see something beyond the white shine in the centre of his eyes. Ralph showed no intention of getting up and leaving, instead he stood up and looked not just at Elena but at the soul inside of her.
With everything in him, he knelt down on one knee and pulled out a beautiful diamond encrusted box from his pocket that glowed brighter than the moon in the sky.
His voice shaky, “Will you marry me?” he said, just murmuring the confidence.
Elena froze. Her heart was pounding harder than it ever had. Ralph put the ring on her finger and the diamonds stopped blinking. Her heart stopped racing. Ralph stopped shaking.
The diamonds dissipated right on her hand and Ralph faded to black along with the sky and the café around her.
“Elena?” a voice cried out, she turned around to find nothing.
She was surrounded by an empty pit that stretched on for miles, every sound seemed louder, every thought felt closer, and the absence of light wrapped around her like a heavy silent blanket.
“Elena, can you hear me?”
The voice echoed through the darkness.
Suddenly, a crack split the air.
The darkness around her fractured like glass, she opened her eyes and as she felt a rush going over her body suddenly, she heard –
“Elena!”
Silence.
She looked down at her hand.
The ring was gone.
