she always dreamed of having a wedding in white and gold

to make her grand entrance in a shower of sparklers

so the woman planned accordingly

and scheduled the wedding

for new years' eve

her fiancé was 

a simple man with a

fascination with the ordinary

drank his coffee black and studied the market

couldn't wait to buy a house on the same street his friends lived

the suburbs never quite summoned her like the glittering city did

but for devotion she put her urban fantasies aside

chose a quiet life as a preschool teacher

so she could be a worker

and a mother

he worked 

out in the oil fields 

off the coast of the silent little town

where they would carve their names into the cement

around the house that he dreamed would be their forever home

at the wedding she stood with a glass of champagne in hand

swirling it around, watching the bubbles float

she twirled her ring around her finger

wondering if anyone noticed

she was alone

the party

was far more elaborate

than what she anticipated from 

her and her husbands' farm-raised families

but when you have a donor willing to pay, things get done

her husband had a brother married to a famous celebrity

and suddenly her special day revolved

around someone unrelated

to the ceremony

at hand

her cousins

crowded her sister-in-law

dancing with her and laughing excessively

blaming it on the wine and liquor and excitement of the night

hiding their hopes of being etched in the memory of the hollywood queen

she tried to swallow her ever-growing bitterness as the music swelled

wondering if her husband would ever cut the cake

she twisted her ring once more

as she checked the time

it was 11:45

at once

the brother came

 perched at the edge of the table

he lit a cigarette and sighed as he watched

his wife steal the hearts of all the ones he held closest

the two exchanged a glance of silent exasperation

with a glimmer of sadness and hurt

and she passed him a sparkler

that he lit with the tip

of his smoke

it exploded

in an arc of raw gold

then fizzled into a globe of light

and the two locked eyes with it instead

as the gastby-grade party raged on around them

when it finally fizzled out, it left a stain in their eyes

but once it faded they fell upon a scene

that no amount of champagne

could have prepared

them for

the brother's wife,

 her hollywood hands were

 wrapped around her groom's waist

and they lingered precariously in a position

dangerous enough for their wine-stained lips to meet

if they did or not, she nor the brother would ever know

because the crowd fell into uproar

as they realized the treachery

that nearly occurred

that night

they ripped

hollywood and the groom apart

but the bride and best man still felt the carnage

of their two picture-perfect marriages now shattered,

how a simple moment can destroy everything she'd ever known

in that heartbeat all the chaos in the room ceased to a painful halt

and the fawning eyes she'd prayed for all night

finally made their appearance

but fawning gave way

to pity

the girl slid

her ring off her finger

with one traitorous tear escaping her eyes

and dropped it in her half-finished glass of champagne

she grabbed the firm hand of the brother and made her own escape

as they stood in the garland-adorned doorway, glitter dusting their heads

the child in her compelled her to clutch the brother's face

and pull him in for the most passionate kiss

and as she pulled away

she cried

and pulled

another sparkler 

from a small table beside her

and lit it in the bewildered brother's cigarette

and sang "happy new years!" as the clock at last struck twelve

after plowing through filthy back roads, she turned onto the freeway

the soda cans clinking on the getaway car behind her

she realized she never had her sparkling entrance

but instead left that hateful town

in a blaze of glory