Edward Bartlett tightly clasped his hands in front of him as the doors opened and revealed the bridesmaids in their pastel blue dresses, Zia's favorite color. The band then started to play the song I Choose You by Ryann Darling. And even as the song was in the Blues genre, an EDM was playing inside Edward's stomach. His heartbeat rose to his throat as nervous sweats dripped down his forehead. Excited, overwhelmed and ecstatic.
"You're my always, you're my forever, you're my reality..." As the singer began to sing the first verse, the twelve bridesmaids started to walk down the aisle in pairs.
"...you're my sunshine, you're my best times, you're my anomaly..."
And as the wedding planner had not seen the maid-of-honor in sight, she sent the little boy in. The little ring bearer walked in with light careful steps, so as to not mess up his role with the rings.
"Best times," Edward thought to himself and suddenly reckoned about the time they first met. The five years old Edward had just moved to the outskirts of town due to his father's job relocation. And their house was just next to the Scotts. At that time he was infuriated not being able to get in touch with old friends in the city.
Never knew that that day would change his life forever. And there he was, about to slowly witness his life changing with his first and probably the last love of his life.
"...and I'd choose you, in a hundred lifetimes I'd choose you, in a hundred worlds I'd find you..."
Seeing the flower girl had already reached the front, Edward's heart skipped a beat. It's time to finally see his bride--his future wife and the mother of his children.
"...and I'd say "I do"..."
The doors finally reopened and everyone focused their eyes in anticipation, Edward was no exception.
"...for the rest of my life, with all that I have, I do..."
Edward gulped in nervousness as a woman's figure flashed in the scorching sunlight.
However, instead of a woman in a wedding dress slowly walking down the aisle, it was Gray Stewart in her casual shirt and cargo pants running towards him with a piece of paper in her hand.
"...and I will, when the sky is falling, I promise you I'm all in, no turning back..."
The guests were baffled, with only one question in mind.
Where is the bride?
With Gray running towards him, Edward already sensed a terrible news coming.
As she finally stood before him, she passed on a piece of paper to him. "I'm sorry." She panted.
With trembling hands, he reached for the paper.
"...every day, every moment, every breath you take...I choose you..."
And as he read the note, a tear escaped from his eyes and dripped down to the paper. The paper read:
'I will be back. I promise. Wait for me.'
-Zia
He turned to her. "W-when w-will s-hhe be b-back?" His voice broke.
"I-I don't know, I'm sorry." She tried to avert her eyes.
Clenching the piece of paper in his hand, he sprinted outside the church. "Zia! Zia!" He called out to her name, but to no avail, no woman in a wedding dress appeared.
He started running around the empty road back and forth. "Zia! Please tell me you're here! Zia! Baby!"
And as if heaven felt a sense of sympathy towards him, heavy rain started to pour down unbidden.
"Zia! Zia!" he continued to shout amidst the loud noise of raindrops hitting the damp pavement. The coldness from his wet tuxedo had started to reach his body, leaving him totally soaked.
"Zia! Z-zi...Zia..." His voice cracked as he knelt down on the ground and clutched on his heart as he felt excruciating pain. His incessant calling for her name seemed to have never reached the bride-to-be. All his efforts proved futile.
He eventually caved in, his head on the ground. clutching on the note with both hands over his head. Was the liquid dripping down his face from the rain or his tears, he couldn't tell. Were his shoulders shaking from the cold or his crying, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that at the very same day he thought his life would change forever, a nightmare occured that he will always remember for the rest of his life.
"Y-you...you could ha-have written d-down when y-you'd be b-back, idiot," he uttered as he sobbed.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to his knowledge a little girl with sapphire eyes and loose shirt was witnessing his demise from a distance, under the pouring rain. She so wanted to comfort him but she could only watch from afar in despair. She knew it wasn't the best time to walk up to him and say, "Hi, it's me, your bride. Oh, I don't know but I suddenly turned into a child. So yeah, shall we continue the ceremony?" She knew it would confuse and break him even more, seeing that he was already in a state of anguish. She wanted to relieve him of his pain but all she could do was to also cry in isolation.
"Man, that's painful."
Zia felt an umbrella over her head and when she looked up, it was Gray.
"Yes, it is painful. And you're not even fazed, you apathetic psycho." Zia wiped her tears and hugged herself, trying to get every ounce of body heat she had to warm herself up.
"You're soaking wet, little kid." Gray dropped a towel above Zia's head and crouched down beside her, still holding the umbrella. "And why would I cry? It's not like you both stopped loving each other or that someone died."
Zia took the towel and wrapped it around herself. "I knew it was a dream when I saw you crying." She scoffed.
"Dream?"
"Yeah, last night I dreamt about getting married and it felt so real."
"I think it's bad luck to dream about your wedding right before your wedding."
"No, I think it was bad luck when I saw you in my dream," Zia sneered.
"Yeah?" Gray raised an eyebrow. "Then good luck finding a place to stay because I'm sure you don't want to spend another second with this bad luck."
"Aww~ Come on, my best friend for twenty years~" Zia puffed her cheeks and pouted. "Can your conscience really take it if you leave a homeless little girl on the cold streets?"
Gray looked at her unfazed. "You do know I can kick a kid and not feel an ounce of guilt, right?"
"Fine. Leave me and I'll tell everyone you know that I'm your secret child that you abandoned because my father is an alcoholic and you couldn't stand seeing my face that resembles his." Zia smirked.
Gray palmed her face. "This is why I don't like kids."
"So what is your plan now?" Gray sipped on her morning dairy. Zia forked the omelette that Gray cooked and brought it to her mouth. "What plan?" "A plan, missy." Gray put down her cup on the counter, glaring at the little girl sitting across her. "You can't spend your life freeloading in my apartment with your little butt." "Chill down, mommy." Zia grabbed Gray's cup of milk and drank it in one gulp. "Even if I want to turn back to my original body, I don't really know why this is happening to begin with anyway." "Mommy?!" Gray raised an eyebrow. "Yes, woman." Zia pointed the fork at her. "The moment you kick me out the door, that's what your neighbors are gonna know. But I think I have a plan though."
"I'm not her kid." Zia crossed her arms. "She's keeping a kid in her house who is not her child?!" The man gasped, all the more surprised. "I'm her..." She stared hard at the floor as if searching for the answers on it. "Niece, yeah, I'm her niece...uhh...her father's cousin's wife's niece's father's mother's son's daughter." She smiled awkwardly. "She's babysitting a distant relative's child?!" He gasped again with hands still covering his mouth. "Tell me, what should I say so you'll stop getting surprised?" "Oh, sorry." He chuckled and crouched down to level with her. "What's your name, darling?" "I'm Zi--" She was shocked how she almost blew her cover.
A week had already passed since the day of the wedding and also the day that Zia had mysteriously turned into a child. "Ugh..." Zia grunted as she lay down on the sofa with the laptop on her lap. "As I thought, I can't find anything on the internet." She brought her left arm over her head, covering her eyes. "My head hurts." As her thoughts wandered on the countless possibilities, the door clicked open and out came Gray. Zia sat up and moved the laptop beside her. "How is your exploratory military survey of the enemy territory, brave soldier?" She folded her arms acting tough and lowered her voice to sound like a grown up. Gray dropped the car keys on the bowl atop the countertop beside the door and headed straight to the kitchen with a plastic bag in hand. "Did the
3:30 PM. The gates have opened for the dismissal of the primary school students. Edward Bartlett, a first grader teacher, had just walked out of the building to monitor the school gates. On his way to the gate, a little girl who was sitting alone on a bench caught his attention. The little girl was in a frilly blue dress staring down at her swaying little legs with matching blue doll shoes, and a blue sling purse beside her. He approached her. "Hello, little girl, where are your parents? Why are you alone?" And the blue hues of her eyes met his. Zia Scott's eyes quivered as the man she had been longing for two weeks had appeared before her. "E-ed...ward...?" His forehead wrinkled for a second but it then vanished and got replaced with a sweet smile. "You know me? I haven't seen you around before though. Can I sit
As the rising sun casted a rosy hue across the morning sky, golden fingers of sunlight lit up the city. The just-risen sun shone softly on the streets, bringing with it a flurry of early-morning activity. As the light of dawn seeped into the cracks of the blinds on Gray's window by the living room, it touched Zia Scott's eyes awake who was sleeping on the sofa. "Arghh," Zia yawned as she rubbed her bleary eyes. "Time..." She turned to her side to reach for her phone on the coffee table but to her surprise, Gray Stewart was sitting on the coffee table with her knees open, arms crossed and an annoyed expression. Zia stared at her for seconds, then she covered her eyes with both hands. "This dream is too scary." She rolled over to her side, facing the sofa's back. "I need to wake up," she yawned, then closed her eyes again, encouraging herself to sleep.
After dropping Zia Scott off her apartment and sending her to the door, Gray Stewart went back to her car parked right in front. However, as soon as she grabbed the door's handle, her gut grumbled. "I'm hungry." She looked around with her hand on her stomach. Walking a few steps on the right, she found a convenience store. She entered the store and grabbed a bottle of water and a tuna-flavored sandwich. As she made her way to the counter, a five feet blonde woman in a red fitting dress cut past her in a hurry. The woman placed her hand cart on the counter. Inside it were a few boxes of band-aids, elastic bandages, adhesive tapes, gauze pads and rubbing alcohol. When the woman handed her card for payment, the cashier swiped the card on the payment terminal; however, the machine made a beeping sound. "I'm sorry ma'am, your card was declined," the cashier said to her. "W-what? Why?" Contrary to the woman's bold clothing, her voice was surprisingly soft and a little bit high-pitched. "
"Take care on your way home, kids," Edward Bartlett said as he waved the students goodbye by the gates. Then, he walked back inside the building. As he went back to his classroom, Belinda Cogzell was sitting on his chair behind the table. "Oh, hey, Ms. Cogzell," he called to her as he approached her. "Hi, Sir Bartlett," she replied with a smile. He grabbed a spare chair and sat by the table, minding a safe distance from her. "Can I help you with anything?" "Yeah, you see…" She leaned on the chair with her legs crossed, exposing her perfectly tanned thighs under her bright red pencil skirt. "I've already been working here for a week but I'm still confused on some stuff." "Oh, sure, what is it?" He genuinely asked as he looked into her eyes. "I'm still vague on what we, teachers, do aside from teaching." "Hmm." He leaned back on his chair as if he was thinking. "In a nutshell, as primary teachers, we are responsible for teaching them the national curriculum subjects. We're here t
"But I still owe you a proper apology," Belinda Cogzell uttered as Edward Bartlett headed for the door. "Yeah, why don't I treat you for dinner, how does that sound?" "Dinner?" he replied. "Yes, please, I really feel bad about what I said about your fiancee." She slowly approached him. "Just a light dinner between co-workers, what do you say?" "I'd love to but I already made plans, Ms. Cogzell, maybe some other time." Her face contorted. All her life, no man had ever resisted her advances. She would make even the toughest man with the highest pride beg on all fours just to make her stay. She had taken pride in her beauty and irresistable bombing hourglass body. With that weapon she was able to sabotage relationships and families. Men were at her mercy. And she merely thinks of them as her source of money and fun, mere tools for her entertainment. She is like a viper that captivates men and wraps them around her little scheme before inflicting her veno