she always dreamed of having a wedding in white and gold
to make her grand entrance in a shower of sparklers
so the woman planned accordingly
and scheduled the wedding
for new years' eve
her fiancé was
a simple man with a
fascination with the ordinary
drank his coffee black and studied the market
couldn't wait to buy a house on the same street his friends lived
the suburbs never quite summoned her like the glittering city did
but for devotion she put her urban fantasies aside
chose a quiet life as a preschool teacher
so she could be a worker
and a mother
he worked
out in the oil fields
off the coast of the silent little town
where they would carve their names into the cement
around the house that he dreamed would be their forever home
at the wedding she stood with a glass of champagne in hand
swirling it around, watching the bubbles float
she twirled her ring around her finger
wondering if anyone noticed
she was alone
the party
was far more elaborate
than what she anticipated from
her and her husbands' farm-raised families
but when you have a donor willing to pay, things get done
her husband had a brother married to a famous celebrity
and suddenly her special day revolved
around someone unrelated
to the ceremony
at hand
her cousins
crowded her sister-in-law
dancing with her and laughing excessively
blaming it on the wine and liquor and excitement of the night
hiding their hopes of being etched in the memory of the hollywood queen
she tried to swallow her ever-growing bitterness as the music swelled
wondering if her husband would ever cut the cake
she twisted her ring once more
as she checked the time
it was 11:45
at once
the brother came
perched at the edge of the table
he lit a cigarette and sighed as he watched
his wife steal the hearts of all the ones he held closest
the two exchanged a glance of silent exasperation
with a glimmer of sadness and hurt
and she passed him a sparkler
that he lit with the tip
of his smoke
it exploded
in an arc of raw gold
then fizzled into a globe of light
and the two locked eyes with it instead
as the gastby-grade party raged on around them
when it finally fizzled out, it left a stain in their eyes
but once it faded they fell upon a scene
that no amount of champagne
could have prepared
them for
the brother's wife,
her hollywood hands were
wrapped around her groom's waist
and they lingered precariously in a position
dangerous enough for their wine-stained lips to meet
if they did or not, she nor the brother would ever know
because the crowd fell into uproar
as they realized the treachery
that nearly occurred
that night
they ripped
hollywood and the groom apart
but the bride and best man still felt the carnage
of their two picture-perfect marriages now shattered,
how a simple moment can destroy everything she'd ever known
in that heartbeat all the chaos in the room ceased to a painful halt
and the fawning eyes she'd prayed for all night
finally made their appearance
but fawning gave way
to pity
the girl slid
her ring off her finger
with one traitorous tear escaping her eyes
and dropped it in her half-finished glass of champagne
she grabbed the firm hand of the brother and made her own escape
as they stood in the garland-adorned doorway, glitter dusting their heads
the child in her compelled her to clutch the brother's face
and pull him in for the most passionate kiss
and as she pulled away
she cried
and pulled
another sparkler
from a small table beside her
and lit it in the bewildered brother's cigarette
and sang "happy new years!" as the clock at last struck twelve
after plowing through filthy back roads, she turned onto the freeway
the soda cans clinking on the getaway car behind her
she realized she never had her sparkling entrance
but instead left that hateful town
in a blaze of glory