green wedding

In between the ceremony and the reception, she places carefully her white shoes on the green couch and then she lies down on the nuptial bed. She is incredibly weak, and the intense medication makes her feet swollen, and standing on heels during the ceremony puts a toll on her feet. He looks at her and follows her eyes when her eyes wander toward the pitch of ice-cold lemon water.

She always loved the sea. She used to take him for long walks on the sand and she would love to skip the breaking waves reaching the shore. “My heart skips a beat when l look at you” he said once. She asked him if a feeling could be physically stored; then he decided to store all his feelings for her in little notes and display them in glass bottles for all to enjoy in their wedding day. This wedding –this green wedding he has been pulling together all by himself, all out of his love for her.

Green is hope –and hope is the only thing he hopes for.

Her stomach requires special food after weeks of intense chemotherapy, but since she loves soy burgers, light vegetarian canapés are served – so light and delicate but she feels nauseated enough to refuse to eat. Nauseated enough that agrees to some outdoor pictures just with the condition that her tired and thin face doesn’t show up.

He hopes with all his heart that they will survive the curse of this bitter and ruthless sickness, he says on his vows, and snatches a smile on everybody when instead of a soft, while pillow he presents the wedding rings on green bitter limes.

He lies spooning her, and he spoons her tight, and a gentle breeze surrounds the room through the open-wide balcony doors. She turns her head and smiles weakly at him while they entangle their fingers in a knot –fingers wearing one more invisible knot made official now by their rings.

“How little water do you think they need to survive?” she asks him pointing the desert indoors plants. “How far do you think they can go on basically nothing?” when he turns her head to kiss her, his fingers feel wet around her eyes. “Far” he kisses her, “so strong, they survive anything and everything” he pauses “ just a little water, just a little hope, and see how beautiful and green there are”.

She contemplates the pale green shade of the leaves and she knows she is as pale as the pale shade of leaves and she wonders silently how far can she also go, on little hope. So she closes her eyes for the last time with that thought on her mind, with his hand entangled on her fingers, and with his tears kissing her neck…

—

Light breeze dances through the nuptial table. Time lies still and nothing moves. Today, the glasses will remain empty, the napkins will remain clean and the candles will remain unlit.

Light breeze leaves as it entered -this time stealing the remains of any green hope.