The Ball

Word count 300

The Ball

         Natalie turned, seeing it plummet through the air directed at her seven-tiered wedding cake. She tried to outrun the ball as it locked on target. A giant splat thudded like someone slugging a watermelon.

         The ball landed amid the second layer, obliterating the first by the velocity of the throw. The cake-topper, representing the couple, lay broken. She picked them up, cutting her finger with her fiancé’s headless clone.

         “Mom!”

         “What is it Nata…oh my.”

         “He did it on purpose.”

         “Who?”

         “My brother! How could you let him play ball in the backyard on my wedding day?”

         “Roger’s in the house. It couldn’t have been him.”

         “Look at my cake! It’s ruined, and, the figures of Stanley and I are broken. It’s bad luck!”

         Lois looked at her daughter’s distraught face. “Your aunt will fix the cake. Why don’t you go change, Stanley will understand.”

         “Did you see my ball?”

         Natalie glared at the figure who’d jumped the fence. She ran at him as if she were on fire. “You ruined my wedding and you’re concerned about your ball?”

         He removed his baseball cap and stared at the damaged cake. “Wow, that sure hit the target.”

         “You were trying to hit it?”

         “Well…yeah, this was my last chance, been trying to get your attention for weeks.”

         “Last chance?”

         “Natalie, don’t you remember me?”

         Natalie stared at green eyes that haunted her dreams since breaking their engagement years ago. “Ryan?”

         Relief flooded Ryan’s face. “Yes.”

         “But why?”

         “I love you Natalie, can’t you give us another chance?”

         “The wedding’s tonight…”

         “Postpone, give me a chance.”

         Natalie gazed from Ryan’s eyes to her bloody fingers holding her smashed fiancé. Was this really bad luck? “Alright, we’ll talk.”

         Ryan grinned. “While we talk, why don’t I put a band-aid on that ring finger?”