Mountain Scene

Prompt: In 500 words (or less). Write a romantic story with a sad, unhappy, or tragic ending.

Diana turned off of the iced highway. This was a happy day; her second anniversary. She couldn't help but think about her fairy tale romance with Jared and the bond between them. It was wonderful to have everything in a relationship; a best friend, a lover, a spouse, and a soul mate all rolled into one.

She turned again, and slid a little as she headed through the mountain pass that would take her toward home. The pass was steep in places, but she and her four wheel drive Jeep had made the trip hundreds of times, and she would reach home before the real danger even as light snow fell.

She let her mind wander back to their wedding, and the small mountain chapel. The acoustics were wonderful in the room when Jared surprised her and sang to her after their vows. He'd been a semi-professional singer, but she hadn't expected anything so romantic. It caught everyone so off guard that there hadn't been a dry eye in the church. Then there were the roses that Jared had given his future mother-in-law, twenty-seven red roses in a vase laced with baby's breath to commemorate each year her father and mother had been married! How did he think of such--

Diana jerked the steering wheel to the left as she forced the Jeep to recover from a large iced rut. "Wow... close one. That one could've taken me over the edge. I need to pay more attention to the road!" Then her mind reflected on the wonderful three-month old son Jacob, and all of the extra joy it had brought into the family, both to them as a couple and the four grandparents.

The snowfall increased and Diana turned up the wiper blades a notch to keep her windshield clear. What was it that she loved best about Jared? Was it the tenderness in his voice, the way he always opened her doors and helped her into her coat; was it his intimate touch, the way he fathered his new child? No... it was this and a million other things, she would never understand. The untold gifts and blessings God had given her through Jared were mind-boggling.

She rounded the last bend and noticed tire tracks in the fresh snow. "Did Jared plan a surprise for our anniversary?..." She drove across their one car bridge and glanced to the west to see the reds of the sunset... this is a snow storm there is no sunset!

Diana's Jeep cleared the row of pine trees that veiled her home and saw flames that stretched toward the base of heaven itself. Her face changed from excitement to shock. She stopped the car screaming, "No! It can't be!" She exited her car. A fireman approached. "I'm sorry madam, you can't get any closer, there have been two explosions. There are no survivors."

A dim Diana looked to the side and saw body bags on the ground, one large and one very small.

(500 words)