The Church

It was a beautiful summer day, possibly midst of July, by feel of the temperature.  The surroundings were very surreal, quite dream-like. There was a beautiful church, must’ve been hundreds of years old, although it looked surprisingly new.  The stained glass windows appeared very realistic, putting in great detail to each person’s facial features and overall structures.  The church was surrounded by trees, short and tall, all beautifully green and blowing very faintly in the wind which contrasted quite nicely with the ice blue, cloudless sky.  As she approached the church more, she noticed something weird about the windows.  The people painted in the glass were not religious figures, but her self and the ones she loves.  The first appeared to be her parents holding her after birth, in a very comfortable and warm looking hospital environment. As she circled around the church observing each detailed window carefully, they seemed to stop halfway. Only half of the church had these carefully stained windows, maybe because she was still young?  The last one, though, was strange.  It showed her at an alter, holding the hand of a man, about to kiss for what seemed like the first time since they were pronounced man and wife.  What was odd about that was the man seemed oddly familiar, yet very hard to recognize, but who was he?
         After studying the window for at least a few more minutes, examining whatever parts of the face of the man that were shown, she found herself inside the church.  Shocked, she looked around to find all of her friends in dresses, but hers was different.  They all wore a very deep blue dress, sort of the way a bridesmaid dress was made.  She looked down, only to find herself in a white dress, similar, if not the same, to a brides dress.  Things were moving at a very rapid rate, before she had the chance to run to the mirror to have a glance at her self; she was no longer in the room.  Someone gently placed their arm in hers, and said, “I’ve been dreaming of this day my whole life, I’m so happy for you.” 
She turned to her left and, as she recognized the face, her heart began to palpitate.  It was her father; a tall, caring man whom she had barely any recollection of, since he had died when she was only two years old.  She knew this was not possible, “Father?” 
He merely smiled at her, turned his head, and began to walk her down the aisle. She had so many questions to ask her father, this was no time to get married, this was the first time she can ever remember seeing or being with him.  She wanted to ask what she was like as a baby, what had really happened to him, can he stay with her a little longer?  She felt sick, and wished she could just sit down and talk with him.  But wait, she was about to be married, but she had not the slightest idea who she was about to marry, “Hopefully I’ll see soon enough, I’m almost to the alter. I wonder if it’s-”
         Her thoughts were cut short. The time came, her father let go of her arm, smiled and kissed her forehead, “I love you, Regina, you’ve made me so proud all these years, remember that,” then took his seat. 
For a moment she was frozen where her father had left her, she didn’t know whether to go up to the alter or go and ask her father all these questions that had made her head feel as though it was going to bust.  “If I’m about to marry who I think I’m about to marry, I... guess…I want to do this.”  She walked slowly, but surely, with a faint smile on her face. This was the moment of truth, she turned around to see who this mystery figure was, and as she turned, the picture of the stained glass window appeared in front of her.  The unclear man in the picture became clear to her now.  After a few seconds, she could recognize the face, and placed the identity.  “Nathan,” she whispered softly to herself.  The image vanished, and there he was. 
         “Wait, so he’s the one I’m supposed to marry?”  She didn’t know what to think, she was overwhelmed with happiness, and tears began to slowly roll down her cheeks.  She stood in front of him, and they faced each other.  He looked into her eyes, took her hands, and smiled, “I knew we’d make it.”  She smiled back at him and they both turned to the priest.  Suddenly, a flash, and it was now time for the vows, “Nathan will now exchange his vows.”
         He looked very nervous, and she saw he was a little sweaty.  And finally, after clearing his throat once or twice, he said, “Regina, from the day I met you, we had a lot of things in common. And, I guess it was through us sharing our same pains, where we came to realize there was something more between us, and, over time, I’ve come to realize that you’re the only one I truly care about or will ever love.”
         She looked into his deep, beautiful blue eyes, and smiled at him as he wiped the tears away from her face.  They gazed passionately into each others eyes until, “Regina will now exchange her vows.”
         Her heart was now beating even faster, she had no idea what to say, or how to get an idea of what to say.  But, suddenly, it came to her. To her, he was the inspiration of what she does, and the reason for her to continue on with life.  She just looked at him smiling at her, and it just came to her, like it would in a dream, “Nathan, you made me realize that it's ok to be afraid after something bad happens, because the future will be better. I overcame my fears of another bad ending, and wound up in the best relationship a person could ever ask for. What we have in common, what we we’ve both been through, just makes us stronger. I'm looking forward to our future together forever.”
They continued to just hold hands, and smile at each other with tears every now and then, “Nathan, do you promise to help and stay and always love Regina through sickness and health, through good times and bad times, until death do you part?”
         He looked at her, smiled even more this time. “I do,”
         “Regina, do you promise to help and stay and always love Nathan through sickness and health, through good times and bad times, until death do you part?”
         She still didn’t believe what was happening to her, it was all very surreal to her, this was the happiest day of her life, and she never wanted it to end, “I do,”
         After a minute or so, Nathan turned to the ring bearer who she was now just noticing, got a ring, and said, “I love you Regina, let this be a symbol of my forever true and eternally lasting love for you, and our life together as one.” With this, he took her hand, and gently placed a ring on her finger. What a beautiful ring it was; a silver ring, that consisted of a set of diamonds, forming a heart shape, and in the band there was an engraving that said ‘I will love you forever – Nathan’.  Wait, she had no ring to put on his hand, what was she going to do? Someone tapped her back, their face sort of a blur and identity unknown, and stuffed a ring in her hand.  Maybe her father? “Well that works,” she thought.
The ring was similar to that of the one Nathan had just given her, minus the heart shaped diamonds.  This, too, had an engraving. This one said ‘I’ll love you forever. Two hearts, one love.’ “You may now kiss the bride,” with this, everyone in the church stood up, applauded and cheered.
With this, another flash, he placed one hand on her back, and another on the back of her head, and kissed her.  Not like any old kiss at the mall, or at home sitting and working on some projects. This wasn’t just a kiss on the cheek or a short kiss on the lips, this was different.  He kissed her more passionately than she’d ever seen or could ever have predicted.  She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him just as intimately. She loved this feeling, and wanted it to last forever.  She held Nathan as tight as she could, and never in her life wanted to let go.  They turned to the crowd, hand-in-hand. The first place she looked was to her father, who was now crying, he smiled at her approvingly, and that’s all she needed. She turned to Nathan for one final kiss, and when they had finished, she noticed something very strange.  Her father, in front of her eyes, vanished.  Soon, one by one, the whole crowd began to disappear.  This frightened her; she turned to Nathan, who had also vanished.  All this just to have it be some hallucination?  She loved the feeling she got looking into his eyes, kissing him that passionately, and thought it to be real.  Why did it have to end? Suddenly, and oddly enough, she heard birds chirping, and… someone snoring? This was extremely confusing for her, there was just a huge ceremony going on.  No more church music or delighted cheers from a crowded church, just those regular sounds she was used to hearing as she woke every morning.  A final flash and she opened her eyes. 
She felt someone’s arms wrapped around her, she glanced over her shoulder and it was Nathan.  She heard the sounds of his light snoring, and laughed quietly to her self, “It was all a dream.” 
After a few minutes of analyzing the situation, and contemplating the dream, she turned over and kissed his lips very gently.  After rolling over a bit and unwrapping herself from his lock, she turned to see that it was indeed their house.  They were in a big room, which she came to remember was their bedroom, painted an off-white color, and consisting of pictures of her and him on the walls.  “Maybe some day.”
With this, she wrapped her arms around him and placed her head in his chest.  He stirred, and cuddled her very closely, and fell back to sleep.  In this comfortable position, she remembered how happy she was when they had kissed.  This dream made her realize how she truly feels about him, he really was the love of her life, and she knew now that she’d give up anything, even talking to her own father, knowing she’d never get that chance again, just to be with Nathan.  She thought a little more, and eventually drifted off back to sleep.