Into the Sunset

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Not a sound was heard. It almost felt creepy. Andrea waa used to the sound of her refrigerator humming, of her furnace kicking on and her water faucet dripping. In this house she felt like she was in a morgue.

She wanted to turn on the lights but knew she may wake Garret if she did that. He was a light sleeper.

Finding the candle and matches had helped to cheer her on this dreary night.

Why was she here? Garrett had made it sound so exciting. An amazing adventure he had called it. So far, there had been nothing amazing about this adventure of theirs.

A mansion cabin he had called it. Andrea was thinking a king size bed, silk sheets and the kind of mattress that made you feel like you were sleeping on a cloud.

Instead they had a double bed, and the mattress felt more like sleeping on a board rather than a cloud.

Thoughts of spending time at a mansion had filled her mind with bright images of the interior. She hadn’t been prepared for old, torn wallpaper that was taped together by masking tape!

What really had shocked her were holes in the floor covered with canned soup lids. The soup lids had been nailed down. Whoever thought this was a mansion cabin, was quite mistaken on the definition of mansion.

Poor Garret had felt so bad, but had insisted on staying. Said they would still have fun and make memories. That was Garrett, the eternal optimist.

Andrea sighed, she would do her best to not complain, but she had never wanted a weekend to go so fast before.

She blew out the candle and then she heard it. Something broke the silence. It sounded like something scurrying…Andrea jumped, as something furry ran across her bare foot. She bit her tongue hard, holding back a scream.

“Good Morning Sweetheart! I hope you are hungry.” Andrea handed him a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs.

“Thanks! You are my favorite wife, you know.”

“Keep it that way!” She retorted, with a wink.

After a good breakfast they decided to go hiking and explore the woods around them. It had been dark when they arrived last night. Later in the day they would head into town.

The air was still a little cool, but they would rather be on the cool side when hiking than too warm.

Andrea saw a note lying on the picnic table. “Don’t let food outside, there are bears. They have come to the porch before.”

“Maybe we should head into town now instead of hiking in bear country!” Andrea said to Garrett, shoving the note in his face.

“We can go into town, no problem!” Garret said holding up his hands.

Andrea ran back into the cabin to get her purse. Today would he a good day she kept repeating to herself. At least it would be if she could forget about the threat of bears.

The town wasn’t big, but Andrea liked the cobblestone roads, and there were several unique shops. She found lots of little treasures. They grabbed a late lunch at an outdoor cafe and listened to live music. A guitarist and a singer. It was relaxing, sitting in the sun, eating good food with some wine.

“Any requests, feel free to shout it out.”

Andrea beamed when Garret shouted out their song. The one they had danced too at their wedding. Afterwards he surprised her with a horse and carriage ride through the town. She leaned her head against his shoulder as the horses trotted along.

“Thanks, you were right. This is turning out to be a wonderful day.”

He kissed her and said, “The best is yet to come.” His smile gave her goosebumps. What did he have planned? Her mind started whirling. Where was the horse and buggy taking them?

They stopped in an open field and Andrea couldn’t believe her eyes. There was a huge hot air balloon waiting for them. It had been her dream to take a ride in one!

“I am so sorry about the cabin. I had heard about the Hot Air balloon rides being offered here and all the lodging in town was reserved. There is a Hot Air Balloon Festival tomorrow that we can watch, but today we get to soar into the sky on our own two hour ride. I hope that makes up for the Not a mansion cabin! “

“It does, my dear. This is amazing and so thoughtful. I love you!”

The view was unbelievable! She must have squeezed Garrett’s arm so many times due to her excitement. It really was happening, she wasn’t dreaming. The perfect fairytale. The gorgeous sunset gave Garrett’s wavy, luxurious hair an orange glowing tint to it. Perfect fairytale ending thought Andrea as they flew into the sunset.

Tragedy had struck. It was on the 11 o’clock news. A young couple’s Hot Air Balloon had gone up in flames.

**I had given this a sweet, Hallmark style ending …. but my evil twin took over. **