Poetry

He Asked, She Said

A story of a proposal, and an answer

Author’s Note: This was originally published on August 1, 2017 on my personal blog. Small edits have been made since.

— Clink, clink, clack — Went the monotony of silverware on china It was a din so loud and constant, not a second did it slack

She sat still, her mouth stuffed with food Beads of perspiration rolling down her forehead Eating kept her mood in check, as it always did

— Chomp, clink, chomp, clink, chomp, clack — “Will you marry me?” — Chomp, clink, chomp, clink, chomp, clack —

Suddenly, realizing the echo of chewing filled her ears to deafness: “Ahem, will you marry me?” came the voice, a little louder, with a little more boldness — Clink, cli………..silence —

— Chomp, chomp, chomp — Went her jaws with years of practice and resilience

The swoosh of sharp neck turns echoed around the hall Miraculously louder than the grate of teeth on food in her mouth It still took her a while to look up, five minutes and 8 seconds overall

It wasn’t a hundred pairs of eyes that caught her attention But the piercing pair that stared back from right in front of her Expectant, hopeful, heart racing, and with palpitation

“Huh?” she said “Oh,” he said “What?” she said “Gasp!” they said

Necks and eyes turned away faster than light Filled with pity and sadness at witnessing his plight “What did she say? No? But WHY?” were the whispers that filled the air that night

“No really, what? You know I can’t hear when I eat,” she said, annoyed “Oh I know damn well, but I just asked you to marry me!” he said, annoyed “What! She didn’t hear him? Oh man!” they said, annoyed

“Oh…oh, uhm, oh really?” she said all shy Gazing around surreptitiously, she averted all eyes Embarrassed and irritated at herself, she let a moment go by

“Yes, so…..well….?” he said, filled with a little hope and a lot of fear Silent went the room again, not a single breath to hear A lot of eyes around, though, held equal fear, and some, let roll a tear

“Of course, I’ll marry you silly boy!” said she, and paused to finish her chew Just long enough for cheers and claps to fill the air, louder by the second the sounds grew And just long enough for him to stand up and reach out for her, and kiss her a few!

“BUT….” she said, quieter and solemnly Almost in unison, silent went the resurrected — clink, clink, clack — frozen with time “Gasp!”, “Not again”, “Oh no!” they said, unbelievably

He spoke no words for a while, waiting for her to finish, knowing (accepting) her quirkiness And then, as she smiled, he knew

“40 lbs to lose before I marry you,” said she at 5.02 pm “40 lbs to lose before you marry me,” said he at 5.02 pm “She said YES!” he bellowed, at 5.03 pm And stood grinning at each other like idiots, until 5.05 pm

And then, laughter SO loud filled the air, piercing the quiet “HAHAHAHAHA,” they went, joint in voice — Clink, clink, clack — the crowd went, confused and miffed, trying to drown out the noise

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Preeti Ramachandran writes personal stories about her wonderful life and extremely normal mental health. She believes she is funny, tags her articles with “Humor” and also dabbles in fiction. P.S: She finds it weird to refer to herself in the 3rd person.