Stephan and Marie: the perfect pair. They’d met in a coffee shop. Stephan had bought a cup of coffee and the newspaper, only to realize there was nowhere to sit. He saw a woman was sitting at table all by herself, and decided to ask if he could sit with her. She was pretty: wavy, black hair, blue eyes, and a soft face. The woman said he could sit at the table, and he noticed she was reading a book.
He learned her name was Marie, and after a little while, they both started having a conversation. They’d exchanged phone numbers, and then they both left. After that, it hadn’t taken long for them to begin dating.
That very day, Stephan had invited Marie to a picnic in a nearby park. He was planning on proposing to her; they’d been dating a whole year now. Before the picnic, though, Marie wanted to go for a stroll with Stephan. It was fall, and the trees in the park became vibrant during that time of year. He had his phone on vibrate in his pocket, and Stephan was really enjoying his walk with Marie.
Bzzzzz. That was his phone. He didn’t want to interrupt their date by reading the message, but he was an important business man. This message could be important. He gave Marie an apologetic look, then read the text message. There was only one word: “Duck!” Naturally, he looked around to see who’d sent the message… and didn’t even see what hit him in the head.
He was knocked out for only a few seconds, and he saw Marie had gotten hit by something too. He looked on the ground for what had hit them, but found nothing. Marie woke up a little bit later, and Stephan said he didn’t know what happened. He found his phone again, and replied to the text by saying “Who is this?” He waited for several minutes before he got a response. But it was not a reply from the sender. It was an error message: “ERROR! This number has been disconnected.”
“What?” Stephan said, a little agitated. They hadn’t seen anyone in the park. It was a weekday, and he’d taken the day off just for this little picnic. Everyone else was at work or at school, he was sure. So who had told him to duck? And who had thrown whatever hit him and Marie in the head?
It was the greatest mystery in Stephan’s and Marie’s life because, to be honest, they never found out. Stephan didn’t propose that day, but he did propose the next time they went to the park. They spent a fair amount of time wondering what had happened, but then they decided to forget about it. The question was never going to be answered. Or would it?
Bzzzzzz. Now both 35 years old, Stephan and Marie looked at their phones. This time, they both got the same text message. Only this time, it was “Run!”
Awesome story Katie! I loved it!