Year 8 short story

Doves

Alice and Peter sat in a field together in comfortable silence, watching the sun lower upon the horizon. The sky was a beautiful blend between a soft orange and a dazzling pink; the air was perfectly warm. Alice loved sunsets, with their beautiful and calming peacefulness. She especially enjoyed them on a night without clouds trying to block out the light from the setting sun, as it was then.

“Look at those doves over there.” Peter was pointing to one of the nearby trees that surrounded the small field they were sitting in.

Alice followed the direction Peter was pointing at with her eyes, spotting the two doves nesting together in the tree. Their wings were soft and feathered, their beaks not too sharp or too blunt. The light shone in their small eyes as they huddled next to each other. Alice knew Peter loved doves. He would always be talking about them in school, chattering on and on about the beautiful little birds in that charming voice of his.

She smiled a bit, feeling Peter lean his head on her shoulder.

They stayed like that for the next few minutes, before Peter sighed and sat up straight, seemingly searching for something in his pocket. He held whatever it was in the palm of his hand. Alice tilted her head to the side a bit. What was he doing now?

Peter cleared his throat, his hands shaking slightly. He turned to directly face her, his beautiful blue eyes seemingly sparkling from the light of the sun.

“Alice, I know we’ve been friends for a long time since we met in school, and-” He paused for a second, taking a deep breath. “And I was wondering if you would – well - marry me?”

He opened his fist, revealing a simple golden wedding ring. The same one that had caught Alice’s eye in the shops the other day, when she and Peter had gone shopping together. She had been dreading Peter asking her that question since her family had never liked him. She would even say they hated him. He wasn’t rich, like her parents wanted, and he wasn’t the most handsome, like her grandparents wanted, but she loved him.

A million thoughts began to race through her mind. What would happen to their relationship if she said no? How would her family react if she said yes? Would they hate her? Refuse to call her family?

She thought back to when Brandon, the man her family wanted her to marry, had proposed two weeks ago. She hadn’t say yes or no, just that she’d think about it. She had seen the wedding plans her family were already making - her wedding dress, the venue, the decorations - all for a marriage she hadn’t even approved of yet, a marriage to a man she hated.

Alice stared into the hopeful look in Peter’s eyes. The beautiful light blue was like the colour of one of the incredible, sparkling seas from the country she called home. The silence felt heavy, weighing her down alongside the idea of losing the man she had loved since childhood. She watched as one of the doves passed overhead.

Alice lost herself in the deep, scary sea of thoughts. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe under all the pressure from her family, the marriage she was being forced into, and rejecting the one she loved for another she hated.

Suddenly, a thought appeared in her mind. She could just say no and stay friends with Peter - they didn’t need to get married to be around each other. Then everyone would be happy, except her.

But why did that ever matter?

Alice looked down at the ring, refusing to meet his eyes any longer. “I’m sorry, but no,” she said, her voice somehow calm after all she had thought about. “We could still be friends though, right?”

She looked up, meeting Peter’s eyes again. Surely, he would understand.

He almost instantly looked down, away from her eyes. He closed his hand around the ring and put it back in his pocket.

“Right. Just friends,” he mumbled, his voice shaking slightly.

Alice hugged him, a single tear running down her cheek. She loved him, and nothing could change that.

He simply patted her back.