Popped

By: Ian Byrne

          So, there I stood, the sun beating down on my head with Kim looking down at me with her mouth slit open slightly and a constriction around my heart that stung nearly as bad as the pavement digging into my right knee. Actually, it wasn’t a constriction, it was a death grip. A death grip followed by a punch in the gut that came right after a kick to the head which was delivered by hearing the worst two words anyone could ever hear in this situation.

          What the fuck?

          Seriously, what in the actual fuck was happening right now? How did I get here, on one knee, in front Sleeping Beauty’s castle with a crowd of, at least, thirty strangers and Cinderella staring at me and Kim, while she stared down in horror and- I hope to Christ- guilt.

          All in God damn silence. What do you think the odds are that this will be a meme by tomorrow morning? I can picture the entire world laughing at this one moment, all of Facebook and Twitter getting a kick out of me and Kim until the next poor sap does something even worse.

          And Kim… oh, Kimmy. Why did you do this to me? On today, our anniversary, of all days! Why? Haven’t the last three months been fun? They have been for me…but apparently not for you.

          I could feel just how red my face was, red like Kim’s hair band. The one that keeps her golden locks back and out of the way so I could see just how bad a mistake I made.

          There’s a slight crackle from my now cramped up knee as I rise back on to both feet and slide the small felt box into the pocket of my cargo shorts. There’s laughing in the background, and I want to scream, but losing my remaining calm would just make it worse.

          So, I step to the side of Kim and I take her gently by the hand and right before I lead her out of the park I work up the nerve to tell her “We’ll talk about this in the car.”