What she saw ...

Let's go for something short and sweet this week. 

Prompt:  "He handed it to her, but when she looked inside, she dropped it ..."

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My response:

It might not have been such a bad thing, except ... well, it was. 

The St. Louis Cardinals were his favorite team, and they were playing the Yankees on home ground in Busch Stadium.   He'd been looking forward to the game for weeks.  She'd bought him the tickets for his birthday, and that seemed to him a sign that she got him ... really got him ... and he'd be stupid if he let her go.

He hadn't planned on proposing that night.  He had bought the ring, figuring eventually the moment would feel right, and he would ask her to marry him, but he didn't feel like it had to be right now, either.  Their seats were in the nosebleeds, but that didn't bother them.  They both had good eyesight, and the night was warm.  They'd eaten hot dogs and downed a few beers while cheering his team on to win.  It was a long game, his stomach was full of meat, and his brain swimming in beer when he recognized his own face on the jumbo-tron.  She sat next to him, Cardinal's hat over her brown hair and a white tank top.  She was the image of perfection.

Suddenly, his moment was there.  He put down his beer, dropped to one knee, and handed her a blue velvet box.  She took it, glancing around nervously, and pried it open.  Then her eyes went wide.  One hand flew to her mouth, and the other, trembling, dropped it.

The oohs and ahhs from the stadium crowd turned into gasps as he launched himself forward onto the seats beneath them, arms flailing, and his face smashing against an armrest as he tried to catch the box.  She fainted dead away, and it was lucky he was already sprawled on the chairs to break her fall.  They lay there in a lump as the box continued, bouncing daintily along.

The cameras followed its course to the bottom of the stairs, where it rolled to a stop.  Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the ring had become dislodged.  It was no where to be seen.

Up on top, the unlucky couple came to, struggling to regain their feet.  A few moments of agonizing awkwardness and they managed to stand.  She had pressed her elbow into his ribs to stand up, and he tested them gingerly to make sure they were still whole.

A boy, about ten years of age, wearing a Cardinals hat and jersey joined the search for the ring and was the lucky one to find it.  With a shout and a flourish, he held it high over his head and, to the thrill of the crowd, dashed up the stairs towards the couple.

Again, he took a knee.  Again, she looked like she might faint.  Then, with their faces displayed larger than life on the big screen ... she shook her head no.  And turned.  And ran up the stairs and out the gate.