It was summer 2009, as the hot July sun beat down on us, I almost regret letting you talk me into to this senior class trio to Hawaii. But when we reached the top of the Mauna Lao volcano, and saw the beautiful blue ocean I immediatley remembered why I paid one thousand dollars to come here. You. With your eyes as blue as the ocean below. It has always been you.
"Wow, isn't this a great view?" You sneak up behind me. "Yes," I reply, as you smile that little half smile. If only you knew I wasn't talking about the ocean. You catch me staring at you so my eyes rapidly look for a distraction, flustered. I spot a shiny penny postioned heads up on the dusty Hawaiin ground. As I rush to pick it up you laugh at me. "You really are a character you know that?" You said, shaking your head in amusement. "They are good luck," I respond weakly, a blush peeking across my face. "You know..." you say, pausing for a long time to study me. (Can you hear my heart pounding?) "I also heard you get one wish for having enough faith to stop and pick up that penny. So, what will it be?".
I think for a minute, knowing exactly what I'd wish for. But instead hand the penny over to you, "I'm in a giving mood today," I tease, "so you can have the wish." I look to you, your eyes dancing. As I try to hand you the coin, you don't take it. Instead your hands stop on mine, holding them tight. Butterflies take over my tummy by storm. You inch closer and closer to me and my knees start to wobble. "Is this a dream?" I think to myself. But before I can make sure, you kiss me. It was the perfect kiss. The kiss I had been waiting for since freshman year. The kiss I never thought I would get.
You pull away from me just enough to whisper, "I have everything I could ever wish for."
It is summer 2011 now. We're both sophomores in college, Tennesse University. After saving up for our first real vacation, we decide to go back to where it all began. Hawaii. As we leave the hotel you seem a little jumpy, but I think nothing of it. We're going back to Mauna Loa today, just for old times sake. As we climb up that long trail, I am again out of breath, but I don't mind. Because this time I got to hold your hand the entire way up.
When we reach the top you put a blind fold on me. "I don't want you to see our view until we're all the way up there," you explain calmly. But when you take my hand to lead me there I notice you are shaking.
When we get to the view, our view, you take the blind fold off me and I find myself facing the breath taking ocean once more. "Do you remember what I told you when you handed me that penny?" You ask, seriousness threaded in your voice.
"Yes, you kissed me and said you had everything you could ever wish for," I say. A smile creeping onto my face. You look down and laugh, "Well I lied, I don't have everything I could wish for." My smile instantly fades and my eyebrows crinkle in confusion. What are you saying? Did you take me all the way here just to tell me its over? You sense my doubt and grab my shoulders, "Turn around," you whisper, reassuring me.
When I turn around I see one hundred shiny pennies covering the ground. And spelled out in the pennies are the words "Will you marry me?". I am more shocked and even happier than I was that very first day when you kissed me in this exact spot. I turn to you and you're down on one knee with a ring on your hand, staring at me.
I am at a loss for words. As tears stream down my eyes, I manage to nod and mouth the word "yes". You stand up, tears flooding your eyes as well, and slip the diamond ring onto my finger. Then you kiss me. And I feel as much magic as I felt that very first day.
We both pull away and smile at eachother, at a loss for words. Finally, you wrap your arms around me and whisper in my ear, "All those pennies are heads up, aren't you going to take them?". I smile so big that my cheeks hurt and say, "No. With you by my side I am the luckiest girl in the world."
