Sometimes an Angel shows up and really fucks up your plans. There I was, about to marry the love of my life. We stood on the rocks in the beautiful gardens of the museum. Stone looked up to see something floating down from the sky. He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Tempest. There’s something flying our way. What is that?”
I looked up. I half expected to see fireworks set off by one of my drunken uncles. Imagine my surprise when instead there was a flame haired angel descending from the heavens. He floated down with his arms spread wide and his eyes closed. I let out a stream of curses.
The angel landed beside the justice of the peace. The officiant backed away slowly and started running as soon as he was clear of the crowd. All of our gathered family and friends gasped in wonder at the beautiful face now radiating love and light at them. I swatted at the Angel. Everyone went dead silent. “Dammit Dad. You promised!”
The Angel folded his wings over his shoulders and a middle aged average looking man stood in his place. The crowd looked in shock at him but their memories soon began to fade, most humans can’t process the supernatural even if it shows up in the middle of a wedding ceremony. My dad took my hand. “Tempest. I told you I would be here. I apologize for being late. I was off squashing monsters.”
I rolled my eyes at him and pulled my hand away from him. “There are always monsters to squash through the mirror. You have never been on time for a single thing in my life. This is my wedding dammit. Do you always have to make such a dramatic entrance?”
Stone watched the heated discussion between my father and I with the same calm demeanor he always wore. He took my hand in his. “Tempest. It’s alright. If your Dad doesn’t mind hunting down the officiant, we can start over. Your Dad can even walk you down the aisle like you had hoped.”
I smiled at the amazingly patient man who was never fazed by anything. “Alright. But if he starts shit because of Mom, I will run him through with his own damn heavenly sword.” Stone kissed my cheek. I turned to my father. “You are lucky your future son in law has more patience for your bullshit than I do. You heard him. Go find the officiant and heed my warning. Stay away from mother.” My father bowed and hurried off to find the fleeing justice of the peace.
Stone began addressing the crowd and I slipped through a side door into the museum. The air was much cooler and it helped me calm down. I walked to the ancient greek temple that had been rebuilt stone by stone inside the large atrium. My mother stood trapped inside its marble columns. She had been freed from her prison hundreds of years ago when an earthquake had caused the temple to fall down. Three years ago some well meaning archaeologist had unearthed the temple. The museum had paid for the dig and decided to create an entire exhibit around the lost temple of Iris. When the last stone column had been raised into place, my mother disappeared from the kitchen table where we had been planning my wedding. It took me nearly six months to find her. Several stories in the local paper talked about the haunted temple. I found her by accident while scoping out places to have our wedding. I turned the corner of the museum and found my mother floating helplessly inside the temple. The humans couldn’t see her, but I had never been human. Now she was still trapped here. The exhibit was only due to run for another three months or so. Until then my mother was forced to watch my wedding from a distance. I could not get the museum directors to agree to a wedding inside the temple. Not gonna lie. There were long nights of crying over that refusal. The garden was the closest I could get.
My father walked in and stared in disbelief at the temple. “How? Ugh. Stupid humans. Do you know how much work it took to create the earthquake to free her in the first place???” He put his head in his hands for a moment. “Hello Iris. I see that damn curse is still alive and well.”
My mother nodded to him. “Yes. Well. That’s what I get for refusing to deliver divorce papers for Zeus. I still think it was worth it, but this imprisonment bullshit is getting old.”
My father sighed. “Well. I’m sure there’s a way to dismantle this thing again. Maybe some well placed C4?”
I cleared my throat. “Maybe after the reception? I’d like to marry Stone today before he turns back into a gargoyle, ok?”
My father nodded and bowed to my mother. “Lady Iris. I know we’ve had our difficulties. I promise to free you once again. First, let me escort this beautiful child of ours to her beloved.”
Mother smiled. “Thank you. I accept your promise.”
Father escorted me back out to the garden. I married Stone without any further delay. Once the guests departed from the reception, the sun was nearly setting.
Stone took me in his arms. “I apologize for you having to spend our wedding night alone. Someday I will get to see your beauty under starlight.” He kissed me until all thoughts left my mind. Then he pulled himself up onto the pedestal in the garden. As the sky darkened, he posed himself once again. As the last rays of the sun sank below the horizon, he turned to stone. His gold wedding band glinted in the twinkling lights of the garden. I turned to my father.
“Well. Let’s see about freeing mother and then maybe we can take this stone skin curse off my husband next, ok?”
My father chuckled. “It’s never a dull moment with you, Tempest.”
The prompts for this short story:
The Lovers
Fireworks
Squashed Monsters
On the Rocks
Through the Mirror
The Tempest Stone
Copyright 2020 Klaudia Grady