The Other Side,

“… You lost your job again?!”

“But honey, you don’t understand. I-“

“I’ve had enough, WE’RE THROUGH.”

“But honey, I’ll-“

“ENOUGH! I’ll pack up and be out by the time you wake up.”

I awoke in the morning to find my bed, the bed that I share with my wife, half empty, as well as the entire room. “I have to get her back,” I kept on thinking to myself. I can honestly say this is the worst 4th of July I’ve ever had, spending it without my wife of 14 years. Well, I figured that I wasn’t gonna fix anything by merely laying on my bed, so I got ready and left to think of a solution.

Walking through the park, I notice this man lighting some suspicious object on the ground. A few seconds later, I see sparks on the ground and hear a crackling sound. And then it hit me: fireworks. I could ask my best friend to help me save my marriage since he’s a fireworks specialist. I ran over to his workplace in order to ask for his assistance.

“What’re you planning to do?” he asks.

“I’m trying to save my marriage. Weren’t you listening?”

“Oh. Well, how should I design them?”

“Do you think you can do this for me?”

I take out a drawing and show him how I want the explosion of lights to look.

“Hmmm…” he says after staring at the drawing in lost thought.

“What’s the problem?” I inquired of him.

“I can do that, but it’ll cost you quite a lot.”

“How much?”

“$73,000 at the most.”

“Hmmm, it’s okay. I’m willing to sacrifice every single penny I have to my name if it means I can have my woman, no, my world back.”

“Alright then,” he says, “I’ll have it done in 4 hours.”

“Okay. I can’t thank you enough my old friend.”

At 10pm, everything was ready. The sky was dark and clear, perfect for a barrage of fireworks. I quickly dip my hand into my pocket and grab my phone. “I hope this works,” I think to myself as I hastily dial my wife’s number. The phone rings 4 times before leading me to her voice-mail. “No, please pick up, please,” I repeatedly say in my head as I try to call her again. No response. I quickly become substantially apprehensive as I make another attempt at trying to reach to reach her. As I hear the sound of her voice through my phone, I exhale a heavy sigh of relief. I must be feeling very tense if I forgot that I was holding my breath.

“Hi honey.” I nervously say.

“Oh, it’s you.” she coldly replies. “What do you want?”

“Are you still in town?”

“Yes, my flight leaves in 20 minutes.”

“WAIT!” I exclaim at my wife. “Before you leave, can you look up at the sky?”

“What is it this time?” she impatiently retorts.

“Just watch honey.”

I give my friend the signal to start the fireworks. As he lights the fireworks up, they shoot to the sky and burst into a beautiful display of colors, with the sparks looking like stars falling from above. Three minutes pass as the fireworks discharge in the sky, and then the grand finale comes: an explosion of fireworks in a soft tone of magenta, her favorite color. Then the last of it erupts into a cloud of colored smoke. When it clears, the words “Darling, will you please come back to me?” become visible in cursive. Hoping it worked, I speak into the phone with a lot of enthusiasm.

“Well honey, will you?” I ask her after the fireworks are finished.

Silence. I wait for her voice for a few seconds before looking at my phone, realizing that she had hung up. “How could I be so stupid?!” I think to myself.

I walk around in a melancholic stupor for half an hour before sitting at a park bench. “Well, I tried my hardest. Can’t believe it was all for nothing.” That one thought kept plaguing my mind. Memories of my wife and I started racing through my mind. These memories gave me a sentimental, yet bittersweet, feeling. I had really lost the best thing in my life. Suddenly, the sky became bright with colors. Looking up from the ground, I noticed that the sky had erupted with silver and blue, my two favorite colors. I saw many fireworks shooting into the sky before I noticed something peculiar.

It was faint, but in the sky, the words “Yes I do” shone brightly in the sky.