Chain of Hearts

While shoveling a fork full of syrupy waffles into her mouth, Stacey noticed a strange man walking toward her in the diner. It was a dingy place but she couldn’t resist the buttermilk Belgian delights. The stranger moved closer, clearly leaving the restaurant.

Stray dribbles of syrup made Stacey reach for the napkins. The man was passing as she set her fork on the table. When the fork dinged on the surface, Stacey heard it echo.

Looking down, she saw a bright red keychain in the shape of a heart. It wasn’t a romantic heart that people often association with Valentines and cartoon drawings of love. It was a miniature replica of an actual heart, painted bright red, with a small chain twisting out of it like a worm leaving an apple.

At the end of the chain was a clasp, but no key.

She started to speak but was choked by her food. The coughing drew attention from Ethel, the stale waitress that she never liked to be seated with. Her own waitress, Connie, finally appeared.  “You okay, hon? Here, I’ll get some water.”

While Connie was gone, Stacey managed to work through her problem. Finally standing up, she turned to look at the exit and the parking lot beyond, but saw no one driving away or walking down the sidewalk. Replaying the events as best as she could remember, Stacey recalled the man was wearing a dark trench coat and a fedora. Classy attire, mister.

“Hey,” she said the Connie while grabbing the warm keychain. “You see that guy who dropped this?”

“What guy?” she said while setting a glass of water on the table, spilling some onto the straw paper-nest she’d constructed while waiting for her food. It spread and distorted itself, becoming a flat melted face looking up at Stacey from the table.

“The trench coat guy. He dropped this… heart… on my table. Then left.”

“I don’t remember seein’ no trench coat guy, but when someone gives someone a heart, that means somethin’ special.” She winked, making Stacey feel a little sick.

“It’s not exactly something that inspires romance. Look, it’s a heart heart.”

Connie squinted, reminding Stacey that the waitress should be wearing glasses but never did because she thought they made her look old. “Oh, wow. That’s bright.”

“Yeah. Kinda creepy, too.”

“Stace, I’m sorry. I just don’t remember a guy in a coat like that in here.”

Confused, Stacey slowly unfolded money from her clasp. Should I leave it here? The idea made her skin crawl that someone left this for her and she didn’t know who he was or where he’d gone. Curiosity made her keep it.

*          *          *

She turned onto King Street and stopped at the sign, letting cars cross Spade Avenue. Stacey pulled her thin, brown hair up quickly and into a ponytail, letting the breeze cool her neck. Pulling forward, she stopped at the sign for Heart Avenue.

“What the…” she started, stunned. Dangling from the reflective green sign was another heart keychain. A horn blasted behind her, making her jump and accidentally make a beep come from the steering wheel.

On impulse, she turned right onto Heart Avenue. Having never been on the street, she drove slowly, looking at each house. After a handful of seconds, she stopped abruptly.

Hanging from a mailbox was another fiery red heart.

Stacey was mesmerized and confused. Should she leave the car and follow the heart trail into the house? Should she call the police? And say what? That I found a bunch of hearts hanging around? They’ll lock me up!

Steeling her nerves, Stacey left her car and stood before it, staring at the house the mailbox belonged to. It was run-down, abandoned. Notice papers were taped to the windows. The door had a bright sticker in the center.

Inside the door’s lock, Stacey easily saw a bright red heart hanging from a key.

Without thought, she rushed across the yard to retrieve the only key and heart set she’d seen all day, but the door swung wide open. Before her was the man in the trench coat, the fedora. His face was half melted and Stacey immediately thought back to the straw paper-nest Connie had ruined at the diner.

“Stacey! My love! It’s been so long!”

Her mind buzzed. My love?! “Why are you doing this?!” she all but screamed. “I don’t even know you!”

He looked hurt, pained, and Stacey wondered if it was more than just his half-melted face causing it. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her nerve.

“Who are you?”

He explained.

In another universe, Stacey had been a child prodigy and became a heart surgeon in her early twenties. She’d saved the life of a man and he’d fallen completely in love with her. His name was Earnest and he became Stacey’s husband.

But Stacey was killed in a car accident, leaving Earnest devastated.

“That is, until I discovered the multiverse!”

“The what?”

Earnest told Stacey how alternate realities were on different frequencies of existence. “It took a while, but I finally found a world where you’re still young and we can have another chance.”

“And your face?” she asked, feeling guilty almost immediately.

Earnest blushed. “’Tis but a side-effect of traveling too much between the realms. But I’d melt my whole face if it meant I’d get even one more day with you. My love.”

Stacey was stunned. She didn’t know what to think.

Holding up the heart-shaped key chain, she asked, “Why the realist hearts?”

Earnest smiled. “You always said you hated the fake ones. That I had better present you with accurate representations of the aortic pump if I ever intended to woo you.”

Feeling a smile start to build, Stacey slowly nodded. “Okay,” she said. “One day. But if I’m being punked, I’ll cut your heart out!”

Earnest smiled, his blue eye glistening. “Oh, how I’ve missed you!”



Word Count: 987