Their first date was to the park.
it was a sunny, warm day. On the verge of too warm.
He brought her an ice cream.
Vanilla was her favourite. She likes things simple.

They walked hand in hand around the park,
shy little things they were.
But they never stopped talking, laughing.
They found they had more in common than they thought.

She wanted to feed the ducks.
He told her it wasn't good for them, but went along with it anyway.
She nearly fell in, but he grabbed her in time.
They laughed a lot.

They went to the playground,
He challenged her to a competition.
Whoever could swing the highest bought lunch
(they both wanted to buy lunch for them both)

She won.
They walked to a small hot foods trailer.
She brought them hot chips and medallions
Secretly, he bribed the seller
to bring it out to them with a lit candle.

The seller didn't have a candle,
but he did have the ability to set the food on fire.
So he did that instead.
He was horrified, she was delighted.

Seeing her laugh, he tipped the seller five dollars.
They walked to the soccer field next.
A group of six year olds were playing.
They leant them a spare ball.

She accidentally nailed him in the head
He chased her,
They were a giggling blur of happiness
He tackled her into the grass

After they stopped laughing,
She wanted to watch the clouds.
He went along with it, making jokes
they both knew it was stupidly cliche.

Afterwards they walked through the mall
He brought them some milkshakes
Hers was chocolate, his was choc-banana
They started holding hands again.

He walked her home
They hugged at the door,
Said goodbye
And promised a second date.

Their third date was their first kiss.
They went on a drive
To the country side
They didn't have a destination.

They pulled over,
She wanted to go for a bush walk.
They ended up staying in the car,
They danced in the back of his Ute.

Their first kiss happened then.
as the day faded to night.
They kissed as they danced
To the radio.

Their fifth date was to a restaurant,
They looked fantastic.
She ordered chips, steak and salad.
He ordered a burger.

He told her,
about that time he nearly broke his leg
She told him,
about the time she ran from the police 

They told silly stories
Always learning new things
About each other.
Hours passed,

Little did she know
he had ordered them dessert.
They brought out a single vanilla cupcake.
The words, be my girlfriend?

She cried.
He cried.
She dragged him onto the dance floor
Their first dance as an official couple.

They got engaged when
She was 21 and
He was 20.
She proposed.

He cried. A lot.
He nearly tackled her from the boat
From how excited he was.
She told him that she wanted to spend her life with him.

They were set to marry
Two years later.
A long time coming
They were excited.

She picked out a dress
It was gorgeous.
She joked that she wasn't sure if
she loved the dress more than him.

His tuxedo was spectacular
He felt like a movie star. He wanted
a fancy matching cane to swing at their piñata.
Yes, they were having a piñata.

Their families weren't
Invited to the wedding.
This was their love,
No one else's.

A week from the wedding
Their world fell apart.
Doc said it was terminal.
She had only a few months.

How could this happen? How was
This fair? They wanted it to be a joke
It wasn't. He was distraught. She was
Heartbroken.

He knew her better than anyone else
He was gonna give her the best damn
Wedding and weeks following
The best weeks of her life.

Death would do them part,
But it wouldn't sever the
Love and passion they
Felt. Their vows beautiful.

The wedding was the
Big and magical. With
Fairy lights, an ocean view
They danced to Change My Life and All I Need.

They hugged, they danced, they kissed.
Passion and desperation
flared between them.
Neither wanted to admit what was coming.

They danced on
through the night
From the dance-floor
To the bedroom.

Together in love. Just the two
of them were all the needed.
They were happy.
He lost her a week later.

——————————————-

I'm not crying.
You are.

(Published 6th/August/2021)