Love Story

Once upon a time, there was a loving wife named Crystal who got a special fortune in her fortune cookie. "Keep your plans secret for now," it read. There was also a husband named Justin who was having a birthday in five days. Being the loving wife that she was, Crystal was planning something special for her sweet husband, something that she had wanted to do since before they got married, which at this time was more than three months ago.

You see, Justin and Crystal had a lovely courtship, full of significant events that led up to their recent marriage. Some of their late nights together--when they got the chance to be together during their extended, long-distance courtship--were spent reminiscing about how they met and all of the wonderful happenings that played a part in their relationship. Crystal wanted to compile all of these events in some printed form to give to Justin to forever remember how it all began. She decided to put all of these events together with pictures in a calendar. This would not be a normal calendar of future dates as most people use, but a calendar of the past. It would spread from the first day they saw each other (April 14, 2008) to their wedding day (April 25th, 2009) and cover every significant event in between.

Crystal had been working on her project for weeks already, and now, more than ever, was determined to make it a great birthday surprise. It had begun slowly at first. She had been fitting it in here and there when she had the time. When Justin would come home from work and asked what she had done that day, she sneakily left out all of the details. ". . . and some other projects," she would add when she felt the need to fill in the gaps. However, the day of Justin's birth was quickly approaching and so first thing Monday morning when Justin went to work, she went to work as well. It was now just a few short days before the due date (and her gift was most likely going to arrive late as it was), so she spent all day finishing the work she started weeks ago. Every picture had to be in place and all 365+ days had to give an accurate account of their love story.

It was nearing five o'clock and Justin would be home soon. She had to finish those finishing touches and make the order now if she were avoid letting another day pass by. That's when the call came. Justin was on his way home. She made her order with one click of the mouse, and then it was out of her hands. She waited, fretting that her beautiful calendar wouldn't finish uploading by the time the unsuspecting Justin walked in the door, and that the evidence would be out in plain sight on the computer screen to ruin the surprise. It was a race. She felt like she was in a movie scene. The status bar was loading and the bad guys were coming. . . But just like in the movies, the order was completed just in time.

Upon arriving home from a hard day at work, Justin got a glass of ice water and sat down at the computer to check up on things in cyberspace. Crystal was in the next room gleaming with triumph over her secret online purchase when she heard a shout from Justin. "Oh, did you order that book?" With a hint of confusion in her voice and panic in her heart she replied back, "No, not exactly. . . " He was referring to a book that they were planning to order in the same fashion as the calendar. But did he figure something out? How could he have known? As she peered around the corner to the computer screen she saw what she could not hide. An email had just popped into her inbox in plain sight stating that her order had been received and Justin was unknowingly reading all about it! By this time he must have seen that it was a calendar and like a dear in headlights Crystal froze and could not think of a way out. "It was supposed to be a surprise!" she blurted out. If he didn't know before, he knew now, and there was no recovering.

Justin, tried to console his wife who was kicking herself for not coving all of her tracks, while at the same time sinking deeper and deeper into the depths of despair. He didn't even remember his birthday was coming up! It would have been such a perfect surprise. As he held her in the living room not knowing what to do, he innocently let his hand slip into the back pocket of her jeans. There was something in that pocket. Something that had been put there and then forgotten a moment later. It was the fortune from the fortune cookie she had serendipitously received a few days before.

The morning after Justin's birthday, the package came and of course he loved it. Although the calendar was expected, each page was a surprise to see the many significant events as they really happened. Then they both lived happily ever after.