Third one of these. I'm definitely enjoying writing them, as it's always better to think of pleasant things. A fantasy of what might have been if events had allowed, this one set between the first two installments. Another dedication in this one, too, maybe I should go back and dedicate the first one to my mother...
by Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
This didn't happen. The real story is much more painful, but really... this is what might have been in different circumstances. There's a kernel of what really happened here, but...
"Ungh!" I complained, hanging on to the bed as Jenni pulled the laces even tighter.
"Hush, you," my best friend scolded -- and I could hear her grin. "You knew I'd have no sympathy for you as your Maid of Honor, and you knew I'd pull you in tight!"
I giggled as much as I could, and let my mind wander back over the preparations for the park Handfasting. I would be entering from the North, and Amy from the South, meeting in the middle as we would be throughout the rest of our lives. Our gowns were made identical except for size and color. She was a 4, and I an 8. Hers was Royal Blue with White trim, and mine was Forest Green with Canary Yellow trim. Juliette sleeves, lace-up bodices, soft leather dyed-to-match flat-heeled ankle boots for both of us. It was the wedding I'd dreamed about.
Jenni was trying lifting the dress up to go over my head and avoiding messing up my hair and makeup. The flowers she'd woven into my hair I had no doubt were done like Amy's as well.
We hurried now, and I hugged her again as she ran out to take her place near the priestess and Ariana. My twin sister being my soon-to-be wife's Maid of Honor was a bit boggling. She and Jenni had made sure that I... and I guess Amy, too... didn't have anything to freak out over. I stepped out of the changing tent, and smiled up into Uncle Ben's beaming face as he stuck out his arm to walk me up the aisle and give me away.
March fifteenth, 1998. A day I'd been waiting for and looking forward to for over a year, now. Heck, if I let myself admit it, over a decade now. It was finally here, and as the musicians began to play the song written for our wedding, I paused where I was supposed to and saw my beautiful soon-to-be wife standing in my mirrored spot across the clearing, smiling at me brightly as she clung to her father's arm. She looked as near to happy tears as I was.
I'd be lying if I said I remembered every detail, as I was too caught up in staring into her eyes and she mine. But I do remember the priestess wrapping the silk ribbon around our clasped hands, binding us before everyone there as we both knew we had been since we met all those years ago.
"You are now handfasted, partners and wives, in all that you may do from this day forth," said the priestess.
Grinning as broadly as anyone else there, she finished, "You may each kiss your bride."
Neither of us waited until she finished the sentence.
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I don't really know you
I mean, I do, but reading these, I don't!
Anja Kobayashi
You know
These "could have beens" of yours kinda remind me of the drabble Heather Rose did a while back. Short Flashes of memory of the past or daydreams of what should've been maybe. What all of them have in common, besides of course having a kernel of truth, is this power behind the words. It's like the emotion is hiding on just the other side and you can almost just reach out and touch it. Like a "Wild" magic you don't really know what it is until the end.
Hugs!
grover