by

Pepper L. Bauer

The pale light from the late afternoon winter sun slanted through the stick figure trees, creating prison bar shadows on the leaf-strewn path that led to the river. Melinda slowly made her way towards the flowing water, her feet crunching down on the dried leaves. With bemused satisfaction, she watched them disintegrate into dust: just like her dreams.

At the edge of the river, she stopped, and shivering, shoved her hands deep inside her coat pockets. On the right side, Melinda's frozen fingers brushed a small, hard object and instinctively jerked back as if burnt. Tears filled her eyes as she deliberately reached back into her pocket and pulled out a golden ring with a large, perfect diamond set regally in the band. It transformed the weak sunlight into dazzling rainbow prisms.

Wiping her sleeve across her eyes, Melinda sighed and thought of her fiancé, Steve; or should she say ex-fiancé. This engagement ring was perfect and unique, a symbol of what their love was supposed to be. That's what she thought anyway, until she decided to surprise Steve with a romantic dinner last night. A spasm of pain crossed her face as the memory played itself out in her mind once again.

Melinda left work early to prepare her special feast. She shopped, and then knowing Steve wouldn't be home for a couple hours yet, let herself into his house with the key he kept hidden under the mat.

The first thing Melinda noticed as she entered Steve's living room was a woman's coat and purse casually thrown on the couch. Curious, she stopped and peered at the coat. That was when she heard the sound of intimate laughter coming from the upstairs.

Melinda froze. Steve's chuckle was unmistakable, but she could also distinguish an unfamiliar woman's giggle.

Suddenly, she couldn't breath. She wanted to run out of the house, but her feet were glued to the carpet. So Melinda just stood there, a big pillar of salt listening to the noises from above, like Lot's wife peeking at Sodom and Gomorrah. "Run," she silently screamed. She didn't want Steve and the tittering woman to come down the steps and see her; she would be humiliated.

Unfortunately, Melinda's body wouldn't obey her commands fast enough. The smiling couple reached the head of the stairs and saw her staring up at them, like a deer caught in headlights.

The scene that followed was almost too excruciating to think about. After the initial confrontation, Steve told Melinda that he had never loved her, and was only marrying her to make his parents happy. He said that he was happy she caught him cheating; it let him off the hook. Then, he demanded his ring back.

The sheer meanness of Steve's order finally snapped Melinda out of her daze. Dropping the bag of groceries and his key on the floor, she told him he would get the ring back over her dead body. She turned and fled the house, his angry shouts ringing in her ears.

Melinda spent the first half of the night lying on her bed crying; then, exhausted, she curled up on the couch and pondered her next move. She really didn't want the ring; at this point, she wanted nothing from Steve. Nevertheless, she would not give him the satisfaction of getting the ring back, so he could give it to someone else. "Probably that giggler," she had thought bitterly.

Now, staring out across the river, Melinda could see the moving water reflect the waning sunlight in cascades of glittering gems, rivaling the stone in her hand. She thought of cliches and religious axioms learned at her mother's knee: "Every cloud has a silver lining," "When God closes a door, He opens a window," "All things work for good for those that love the Lord," "At the end of the storm is a golden sky." She could go on and on.

Melinda held the ring up and took one long, last, lingering, look. "You want your ring back you lying little creep?" she muttered. "Swim for it." Then she threw it with all her strength into the middle of the current. It made just a tiny splash, the ripples dissipating as fast as they formed.

Her step a little lighter, Melinda turned and headed back the way she came. Rubbing the ring finger on her left hand, she whispered aloud, "I don't know how you will work this situation for good Lord, but I have faith you will."

**********************************

The sleek bass slid through the chilly water with ease. He was a good-sized male, the king of his own tiny world, and life was good. Suddenly, a vibration in the water caught his attention, he changed direction to check it out, and seeing a small object sinking from above he grabbed it and gulped it down.

The fish started to head back to his original course, but he felt another vibration several feet upstream, and saw something promising. Increasing his speed, he zeroed in on the potential meal, and struck.

****************************

Mark jerked out of his stupor and grabbed his rod and reel when the big bass struck his line. The unexpected force almost yanked the pole out of his hands, but he managed to gain control, set the hook, and reel the fish in. He smiled for the first time in days. It was a nice one. He and Annie would eat well tonight.

Packing up his gear, Mark put his catch in a bucket and headed for home. As he walked the mile to his and Annie's little house, he planned the special meal he would make for his precious wife.

Annie was at home, in her bed, where she had laid for a better part of two years. Her illness was devastating, but recovery was conceivable. At this point, the doctors had done everything possible; they said it was in her and God's hands now. She needed the will to live, a fire in her heart to go on fightng. Mark could see that fire of life dwindling down to embers and it broke his heart.

He tried everything to fan the flames, but the spark of life in Annie's eyes never rewarded him. They were dull and empty, like her essence was already in another place.

Mark worked hard at his job, and took all the overtime he could and still take care of his wife, but without health insurance, he was wiped out financially. Every penny of their savings was gone, and his "barely-above-minimum-wage" salary went to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

It was a bare existence, and hard for Mark to find ways to bolster Annie's will to live. He tried to make things special; to lift her spirits, but his were so low, it was difficult to maintain the charade of happiness. Tonight, with the help of this fine fish, he would prepare her a romantic meal.

Later, Mark sat on a low stool in his garage and started cleaning his fish. He slid the knife into the underbelly. Ever since he was a child and found a lure inside a fish, he always looked at his catch's stomach contents to see what interesting thing they might have eaten.

He stuck his hand into the belly and fingered the guts. Something hard was in this big guy. Mark pulled his hand out, clenching something small and round, covered in gunk. He reached over to the bucket of water at his side and swished it back and forth. As he pulled the object out of the water, the bare garage bulb reflected off it causing a brief spark of light. "Oh Lord," he breathed with awe.

Mark stared at the ring for a long time, a million thoughts swirling in his mind. Then, as clear as if a voice had spoken, he knew what he was going to do. Carefully putting the ring in his pocket, he finished cleaning the fish and went inside.

A couple hours passed. Mark served a wonderful meal, the bass serving as the focal point. They ate at Annie's bedside, the atmosphere brightened with fragrant candles and music on their old turntable. He cleaned up the dinner remnants, put on a John Denver album, turned down the lights, and returned to her side.

Annie's head was turned away from him. Mark took her frail, cold hand in his, raised it to his lips, softly kissed it, and laid it against his cheek. He started talking very gently.

"I love you Annie. I've loved you since the first time I saw you. There has never been, and never will be, another woman that I want for my wife. I know I haven't been able to give you all that you deserve, God knows you deserve more than me, but I've tried to make up for lack of material things with love."

Annie turned her head back towards him, her eyes searching his. "The thing is," he continued. "I can't imagine living without you. I want to grow old with you, cuddle you in my arms at night for fifty more years, have my soul warmed by your smile once again. Please my love, don't let yourself die. You can fight this. With my help, with God's help, we will celebrate our golden anniversary with our grandchildren."

The record on the turntable started playing "Annie's Song". Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring, candlelight mirroring in the stone. He kissed the inexpensive gold-plated wedding band on Annie's ring finger, then slipped the freshly polished diamond ring up next to it. Her eyes widened.

Mark leaned forward and touched his warm lips to hers, then caressed her cheek. "I want to be with you forever," he breathed as he kissed her again.

As he held her in his arms, Mark noticed that the tears in Annie's eyes were reflecting something else besides candlelight. There was a small fire returning; one he would nourish until it became a blaze.

He looked at the ring, sparkling on her hand. "God truly works in mysterious ways," he thought. He tried to remember what his mother always said; then it came to him. All things work for good for those that love the Lord. "Amen," he breathed.