Omega: the Sequel

Epilogue

“Thank goodness,” I breathed, falling face-down on the ground. “I am never, ever doing anything like that again.”

Charlie stood next to me, shaking his head. “You realize you’re going to have to go back down there.” And when I buried my face in my arms, “You can’t live up here, Astrid; I think it’s illegal or something. Besides, what would you eat?”

“You,” I snapped, rolling over so that I was looking up at him. He grinned, extending a hand to pull me to my feet. I took it reluctantly, clutching at his shoulders as we leaned precariously close to the edge of the cliff. “Let’s not,” I said, trying to move away, but he caught my arms and dragged me closer as I screamed at him.

“Stop being such a baby,” he told me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Look, I’ve got you. Now just look over the edge – oh my gosh, stop – just look. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Another reason I hadn’t wanted to go on this excursion was that he had it planned at a ridiculous hour of the day: an early one. We left for the rock-climbing place when it was still dark, and as soon as it was light enough for it to be legal, we had started climbing. I had complained about the earliness to no end, but then, as I stood at the top of a cliff in Charlie’s arms, a gentle wind blowing our hair, I saw why he had picked that particular time.

The sun was breaking over the east horizon, half of a golden ball peeking out from behind the shimmering blue lake we were near. Clouds dotted the sky above, tinted shades of pink, gold, and purple from the sun’s rays as slowly it rose. A shining halo seemed to surround the sky, throwing a golden glow on the water as it lapped against the sun’s surface, and a single bird flew across its shining surface.

“Wow,” I breathed, forgetting the altitude momentarily.

Charlie rested his chin on the top of my head. “See? It was so worth it, wasn’t it? You never believe me.”

I smiled, still captivated by the glowing sunrise. “You’d better have something this good to show me on the bottom to get me back down.”

“How ‘bout breakfast?”

Laughing, I turned around carefully, his arms sliding around my waist as I stepped away from the edge of the cliff. “I love you,” I whispered, putting my arms around his neck, and he kissed me, the wind swirling around us as he held me steadily. As we broke apart, he stepped backwards, one hand reaching into his pocket as he released me. I watched him in some puzzlement, my nerves suddenly jumping as he pulled out a little box and the pieces clicked together in my mind.

“Astrid,” he began, his eyes warm and smiling and pulling me in as my palms began to sweat. “You know I love you and you’re the only one for me, and so I want to ask you…” He bent one knee, started to lean towards the ground, but then his ankle twisted awkwardly and he tripped a little, sprawling forward. The little box slipped out of his hand, bouncing on the hard ground, and then, as Charlie lunged in its direction, it fell off the edge of the cliff.

Charlie collapsed on the ground, one hand extending over the face of the cliff as if he expected the box to fly back into it. When it sunk in that it wasn’t going to, he pounded the ground with one fist, swearing and shouting, his words garbled by furious disbelief: “TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS OFF A FREAKING CLIFF!”