The Waiting
by Yiwen Wang
On the dining table, three white candles were placed in the center. A gust of wind from the window made the candles flare. The wax oil rolled down along the candles silently. The room was filled with darkness except for the candlelight.
With the flickering light of the candles, the dining table was faintly visible. The dishes on the table are hearty and varied: Greek salad, chicken breast fettuccine with creamy mushroom, homemade cake… Apart from the dishes, two delicate goblets of red wine were standing next to the silverware quietly. A lady’s two fingers were holding the foot of the goblet firmly. She then poured some wine into the goblet and drank it up quickly. She was dressed up-- black dress with the shiny necklace. However, no matter how shiny the necklace was, it couldn’t even compare with the one-carat diamond ring on her left ring finger. That’s her wedding gift from him.
The clock ticks louder and louder. She turned her head back and looked at the time from time to time.
Several hours ago, she just finished cooking all the dishes. “Hope he will like it!” She murmured and tasted pasta sauce again to make sure the flavor. She knew that he didn’t like salty food. She took off the pink apron and went to the bathroom to shower and get gussied up. When showering, she was picturing the scene in which he presented her a bunch of roses when she opened the door like before. She likes roses. Everyone knows that. “Roses make me happy” she always said that to him. When she got out from the shower room, she started dressing up and putting on make-up. She picked the black mini dress that he bought for her birthday last month. She still remembered what he said to her when she was trying the dress on. “Black represents elegance, you are as elegant as my stars, honey” he smiled and embraced her to his chest. At that moment, she believed she was the happiest woman in the world. Even though they have been married for 10 years, he still loves her like she does.
She went back to the sitting room. She turned on the music and poured some wine into her goblet. She faced towards the window and enjoyed the sunset for a while. “So pretty”, she sighed. She sat back to the table, pressed the “home” button of her iPhone, “19:38pm” appeared on the screen. “He should be back at this time”, she thought, “Shall I call?” It was meant to be a surprise. She stopped her finger at the “contact” button and locked the screen. It went back to darkness again. She lit the candles since it was getting dark outside. The candlelight faltered in the wind.
It’s completely dark outside. She sat by the table and started drinking wine. She held her head with her left hand and started “playing” with iPhone. She pressed the “home” button and stared at the time waiting till the light faded away. Then she pressed it again and repeated the movement. She turned back and checked the clock occasionally. Her eyes were almost filled up with tears. She tried to take off the wedding ring but it took her a while to take it off. He put this ring on her finger ten years ago and she has never taken it off. After a while, she took it off and played with it. It’s a ring with the shape of rose.
Rose. That’s her favorite flower. On the day he proposed to her, he presented her with 999 roses. She was the envy among her workmates and girlfriends. All her friends kept saying that she found her Mr. Right. She smiled and nodded.
She drank another glass of wine, shook her head slowly. She went into the bedroom and looked up at the wall with the goblet holding in her right hand. That’s their wedding photo. He was kissing her left shoulder and she smiled like a rose.
It was a nice day in May when they went together to take the wedding photos. She knew it was going to be a tiresome day. Within expectation, she tried on at least ten dresses and got extremely tired after one- day shooting. In order to fit in the skinny dress, she barely ate dinner for weeks. It wasn’t easy to be a bride. She sighed. Fortunately, he was considerable enough to prepare a delicate dinner for her. She felt so lucky to have him, always.
Staring at the photo, she couldn’t hold tears any more. She finally let the tears drop down disregarding the make-up and the pretty dress. She went down at the edge of the bed and lowered the head. It’s approaching the midnight, but he’s still not coming back. Desperate and dismay came up to her mind altogether.
Suddenly, she stood up and walked straight to the inner bathroom on bare foot. Her smoky eye blurred with her tears, her mascara made her look like a witch. She stopped at the door and started trembling as if she realized something. She looked into the mirror on the wall, she was in a mess, looked like an ugly witch. She turned on the tap. Water kept flowing out and out; flushing the bloodstain remained in the lavabo. She kept washing and rubbing her hands together, it seemed that she forgot to stop. She finally turned off the tap and looked to her left. He was sitting on the floor and staring at her directly. A dagger was stabbed in his stomach. She walked towards him, took out the dagger, and washed it over and over.
Oh yeah, she now remembered! It was her who stabbed the dagger into his body this morning before he left for work. She pulled him out, “Gosh, you need to lose weight honey!” she used all her strength and placed him on the dining chair. After putting his hands on the table, she went back and sat on her chair.
“See, I made a cake for ya!” she was as happy as a child, “You like it?” she was waiting for his reply. Endless silence filled of the room. The candles were almost done. She threw the cake to the floor and screamed out “Why don’t you answer?! …Why?! Why?!” She cried out till the last candle died out.
With the flickering light of the candles, the dining table was faintly visible. The dishes on the table are hearty and varied: Greek salad, chicken breast fettuccine with creamy mushroom, homemade cake… Apart from the dishes, two delicate goblets of red wine were standing next to the silverware quietly. A lady’s two fingers were holding the foot of the goblet firmly. She then poured some wine into the goblet and drank it up quickly. She was dressed up-- black dress with the shiny necklace. However, no matter how shiny the necklace was, it couldn’t even compare with the one-carat diamond ring on her left ring finger. That’s her wedding gift from him.
The clock ticks louder and louder. She turned her head back and looked at the time from time to time.
Several hours ago, she just finished cooking all the dishes. “Hope he will like it!” She murmured and tasted pasta sauce again to make sure the flavor. She knew that he didn’t like salty food. She took off the pink apron and went to the bathroom to shower and get gussied up. When showering, she was picturing the scene in which he presented her a bunch of roses when she opened the door like before. She likes roses. Everyone knows that. “Roses make me happy” she always said that to him. When she got out from the shower room, she started dressing up and putting on make-up. She picked the black mini dress that he bought for her birthday last month. She still remembered what he said to her when she was trying the dress on. “Black represents elegance, you are as elegant as my stars, honey” he smiled and embraced her to his chest. At that moment, she believed she was the happiest woman in the world. Even though they have been married for 10 years, he still loves her like she does.
She went back to the sitting room. She turned on the music and poured some wine into her goblet. She faced towards the window and enjoyed the sunset for a while. “So pretty”, she sighed. She sat back to the table, pressed the “home” button of her iPhone, “19:38pm” appeared on the screen. “He should be back at this time”, she thought, “Shall I call?” It was meant to be a surprise. She stopped her finger at the “contact” button and locked the screen. It went back to darkness again. She lit the candles since it was getting dark outside. The candlelight faltered in the wind.
It’s completely dark outside. She sat by the table and started drinking wine. She held her head with her left hand and started “playing” with iPhone. She pressed the “home” button and stared at the time waiting till the light faded away. Then she pressed it again and repeated the movement. She turned back and checked the clock occasionally. Her eyes were almost filled up with tears. She tried to take off the wedding ring but it took her a while to take it off. He put this ring on her finger ten years ago and she has never taken it off. After a while, she took it off and played with it. It’s a ring with the shape of rose.
Rose. That’s her favorite flower. On the day he proposed to her, he presented her with 999 roses. She was the envy among her workmates and girlfriends. All her friends kept saying that she found her Mr. Right. She smiled and nodded.
She drank another glass of wine, shook her head slowly. She went into the bedroom and looked up at the wall with the goblet holding in her right hand. That’s their wedding photo. He was kissing her left shoulder and she smiled like a rose.
It was a nice day in May when they went together to take the wedding photos. She knew it was going to be a tiresome day. Within expectation, she tried on at least ten dresses and got extremely tired after one- day shooting. In order to fit in the skinny dress, she barely ate dinner for weeks. It wasn’t easy to be a bride. She sighed. Fortunately, he was considerable enough to prepare a delicate dinner for her. She felt so lucky to have him, always.
Staring at the photo, she couldn’t hold tears any more. She finally let the tears drop down disregarding the make-up and the pretty dress. She went down at the edge of the bed and lowered the head. It’s approaching the midnight, but he’s still not coming back. Desperate and dismay came up to her mind altogether.
Suddenly, she stood up and walked straight to the inner bathroom on bare foot. Her smoky eye blurred with her tears, her mascara made her look like a witch. She stopped at the door and started trembling as if she realized something. She looked into the mirror on the wall, she was in a mess, looked like an ugly witch. She turned on the tap. Water kept flowing out and out; flushing the bloodstain remained in the lavabo. She kept washing and rubbing her hands together, it seemed that she forgot to stop. She finally turned off the tap and looked to her left. He was sitting on the floor and staring at her directly. A dagger was stabbed in his stomach. She walked towards him, took out the dagger, and washed it over and over.
Oh yeah, she now remembered! It was her who stabbed the dagger into his body this morning before he left for work. She pulled him out, “Gosh, you need to lose weight honey!” she used all her strength and placed him on the dining chair. After putting his hands on the table, she went back and sat on her chair.
“See, I made a cake for ya!” she was as happy as a child, “You like it?” she was waiting for his reply. Endless silence filled of the room. The candles were almost done. She threw the cake to the floor and screamed out “Why don’t you answer?! …Why?! Why?!” She cried out till the last candle died out.