Only she remembered what happened on her wedding. Which was weird. Even weirder was the fact that she was the only one who remembered the wedding at all. But the weirdest of all was that she was a bearded 37-year-old introvert, named Anton, who struggled with ADHD, his stressful design job, lonely life, and and a mum who always called him at the wrong time. Yep.

Every night Anton went to bed, rolled in it like a hot-dog sausage on a frying pan, trying to get rid of the painfully strong desire to quit his high-paying job tomorrow. Then he calmed himself thinking about the money he’d spend on a new video game. Yeah… the second part of Hogwarts Legacy, or some new shooter…

Slowly, his life stopped bothering him with its uselessness and he steadily drowned into his own fantasy world.

Well, it used to be a fantasy world, where he traveled at lightspeed and made wonders. The colors were splendidly neon and every night he felt like he was in one of Dali’s space-wrapping paintings.

He usually discovered something inside the liquid clocks or moved drawers in giraffe-long necks. He loved dreaming; he hated going to bed though… FOMO, you know, and the overall stress of sitting in the same office day by day. He knew that this rolling-in-bed struggle was his payment for the ticket to this dreamworld. Here he lived to the fullest. Since childhood, this was his asylum. His safe and ever-changing universe created totally for him.

He turned to the right side, to the left, then again, again, and again and finally, he opened his eyes.

“What a lovely dress, Princess,” chirped a young lady in a crisp, yellowish-green summer dress, her sister. “look at you!”

Anton, now Princess, turned to the shimmering mirror. A lovely pale face, strawberry-shaped, with huge brownish-green eyes and an unusually small mouth looked at him. Princess blinked and long eyelashes tickled her cheek. Such an eerie feeling… Anton shuddered, shot a snort, and he was she, on the beautiful clearing, full of moonlight. Tents, campfire, and Todd, smiling, giving her the biggest ever marshmallow. Warm, sweet and burned smell, soft tissues and the marshmallow-shaped box inside. She hesitated.

Will you? His sparkling black eyes smiled, dimples danced on his chocolate cheek. Her heart danced underwater rumba, when the breath was caught and the full camp looked at her. She adored artistic swimming… and camping and… Todd.

How everyone laughed then. Imagine, having a marshmallow half the size of her head… She was on a strict diet then, but who cared when HE was proposing so instagramly!

Her post caught like 13,500 likes before vanishing, buried under millions of other stories about cats, dogs, and never-ending Chinese inventions.

They chose everything together. The church, the cake, even the wedding dress! She remembered how they discussed the guests they wanted to invite and those they kinda should invite.

“Man, I hate her. Imagine having an aunt named Amaras. All the kids made fun of me, every birthday. They called her Todd’s Pokémon aunt.”

“Why Pokémon aunt? Because of the unusual name?”

“Sure, and because of her never-ending hat gallery, and word-a-fall.”

“Word-a-fall?”

“Family slang — waterfall of words. Loud, senseless, mercilessly inevitable. Imagine her saying birthday wishes. What a shame it was!”

“Oh, honey? Sounds dreadful… Should we forget about her, maybe?”

“I wish, but I can’t. She’s mum’s only sister.”

Princess rolled her eyes.

“Sure! Your Pokémon aunt should be there, but we only have like a 50-guest wedding.”

“Can we please-please-please invite her? And Uncle Jim?”

“But Todd, honey, we already have 37 guests from your family!”

“Mousey, Princey, but this is your family too! And you also mentioned that your family doesn’t want to come all the way from Alaska!”

She nodded. How complicated was the life of a bride-to-be. Some days the stress was so intense and the risk of making a bad choice so big, she felt like a frozen hedgehog was crawling inside her body. She wanted to scream and stop the wedding. Once she even shouted out loud in the night:

“Stop! Stop that! It’s too much!!”

Todd woke up, hugged her, and murmured:

“It’s a bad dream, nothing more. Probably the silly trinkets of yours…” He yawned, smiled, showing her the dreamcatchers, bells, butterflies hanging around her bed.

She remembered clearly looking at the “trinkets” around her bed and thinking: Silly… they are not silly. They are magic… and me…

Todd hugged her and gave a fat smooch.

“Silly trinkets indeed.”

She closed her eyes and dove into Todd’s waterfall of warmth.

The wedding day neared. Days sped up, hours shortened, Princess felt the pull of destiny, so strong it felt like doom.

They bought a PS5, and baseball gear, and a big basketball stand, and a special drawer for PS5 games. Soccer and FIFA, Counter-Strike, The Last of Us. Todd’s world succumbed to Princess, shaped her more and more, groomed her to be the Perfect Todd’s Wife.

Princess hid her magic. She placed it into the box and closed it in the wardrobe.

Here Anton usually woke up, to drink and to check social media. He loved those YouTube shorts with slime ASMR, but an hour later he usually got back to sleep.

Every time he returned it was the wedding day. She and Todd, together walking down the aisle in church, in woods, on the seashore, in the zoo and many, many, many other locations, but they never ended up married.

Todd’s dead body, covered in blood, was always laid there. Anton could make a real horror game if he wanted, with the many ways a groom could be killed.

Ruining city hall tower? Yes. Falling big church bell? Yes. Jumping killer whales, a very selective tornado, rotten tree and… you name it! From aliens to Robin Hood’s arrow, Todd ended up dead. In every bloody dream something killed him.

Here Anton usually tried to wake up, but he only woke up the next day of Princess’s life.

She distinctly remembered every detail of Todd’s sudden deaths. Police, sirens, and this scary hollow feeling. But, as soon as she tried to discuss the wedding, everyone — sister, mom, friends and even her dog — looked puzzled.

“Princess, darling,” mom patted her back. “Come on! There was no dead body! We have no idea what you are talking about! No body, no Todd and definitely no wedding day. What a strange fantasy!”

She was lost, she felt like she was going mad;  after all, only she remembered what happened on her wedding.

Anton heard the alarm and woke up. Always with this scary and eerie feeling.

Hot coffee, hot shower, another try to start making morning gym. No. Not this time again. Anton hated his office. All these dreams started when he got back to the office. His psychologist suggested he should get back. She believed his solitude made his ADHD symptoms worse. 

He didn’t want to, but then she brought 12 mystery boxes. Each box was full of random things for each month spent in the bloody, annoying office, when he felt suffocated.

“One box left,” he murmured, “one single box, and I am free. I have to talk with HR. I’ll explain my productivity issues, and the nightmares! They started like a month after he got back to office life. I... I need to be home at least 4 days a week, better 5.”

He looked around. A cozy, cluttered one-bedroom apartment with 11 opened boxes. Figurines, games, souvenirs, dreamcatchers, feather butterflies … Was this chaos worth one year of his life? He didn’t know the answer. Maybe the last box, the one he was about to get right around Christmas, is going to make him a healthier and more social person after all. 

This thought made him smile. He took his bamboo cup, filled with americano, and started his way to the office.

“Todd! You idiot! What have you done!” a very common woman's voice shouted out loud. Anton turned around as swiftly as he could.

There she was! It was the Princess herself, and Todd, who seemed to be very much alive.

Anton blinked. “Princess?”

She turned around, angry. Her face was red and her fists clenched.

“Who the hell are you!? One of Todd’s friends? Maybe you took my stuff? You?? Was it you?”

Princess’s voice was low; she was furious. She jumped to Anton, pointing her finger at him.

“Was it him? Yes, Todd? He took my stuff?”

Todd stood there, a crooked smile on his face. He rubbed his fists and tried to hide his eyes.

“Princess…” Todd started.

“Shut up! Shut the hell up! I didn’t sleep for almost a year! It’s your fault! I hate you!” She looked at Todd, trying to put him down to ashes.

“And you!” She pointed her finger at Anton. “Who the hell are you! And how do you two know each other??”

“Anton… I am Anton… and I don’t know him…”

“Wait a minute…” It looked like Todd got a stroke. “You called her Princess? How the hell could you know her name? So you’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?”

Todd’s big black eyes sparkled. His fists were ready to hit and his muscles were too impressive to ignore. Well, his overall appearance was definitely far more impressive.

Anton smiled, nodded, and jumped back into his house. He closed the door and in two jumps he was on his second floor, hiding in the bathroom. His heart was ready to run further.

The drama on the street got even louder. Anton heard an explosive crack and a scream. It was Princess.

“Let me go, you idiot! It’s all finished! Let me go!”

Introvert or not, Anton was first of all a man. Having no idea what he was doing, he crawled out of the bathroom, took a plastic Superman figurine, half his size and heavy as hell. He looked out of the window. Todd was surrounded by some teenagers, throwing petards at him.

Princess was standing near the door, miserably crying. In a blink Anton jumped down, half-opened the door, and pulled Princess inside.

“What…”

“Tshh. Hush. I am not a maniac, don’t worry. It’s just I overheard everything…”

She started crying. Big tears flowed down her cheeks, creating tear rivers falling from her chin. This was strikingly beautiful.

“Tea?” he said.

She nodded, sobbing.

They witnessed from the window how Todd left, humiliated by the teens and utterly furious. She calmed down, silently slurping hot and sweet tea. She tried to smile. She couldn’t.  

Anton nodded and went to the balcony. He needed to call the horror of his life. He dialed the office.

Understanding how the story should sound, he still wanted to tell the truth, although a migraine or sudden illness could do the thing way better.

When he returned, Princess kneeled before one of his secret boxes. She sobbed and hugged a big plushy unicorn. She hid her face into the toy and her shoulders only gave the sign of an unstoppable tearfall.

Anton coughed politely.

She lifted her face, still in tears.

“The Uni… I thought I lost him… And there are all of them! My friends…” She took small nice things out and greeted them like old friends. “Todd,” — she sobbed — “he hated them. I packed them all, you see…” sob “…and then… then he simply gave them away! Not even asking! I couldn’t sleep since! They are all my life, I gathered them. And the dreamcatchers! My grandma started this collection, they are so dear to meeeeee…” She started crying again.

“There, there,” Anton patted her back, sitting close to her. “There there, Princess.”

“Tea?” she asked, wiping her face with her hands.

“Oh! Tea! Yes! Sure!” He ran to the kitchen. Damn! How could he forget the tea!

She was looking at the peculiar dreamcatcher on the wall at the head of the bed. He caught her eye.

“Sure! Sure, it’s yours! Take it, of course!” Anton nodded. She smiled. He got such a good, warm feeling inside his chest.

“It’s my great-great-great-grandmother’s. She was a Sami from Alaska, and she learned to craft them. This one is very special. She said that this is a destiny catcher.” She smiled. ”See, it has very intricate weaving, as if two faces are looking at each other…”

Then they slurped the tea, and chatted, and smiled, and shared stories. She hugged the unicorn and patted the precious talisman from her great-great-great-grandmother.

“May I have your number… just if I find some more of your things?” Anton asked, trying not to look too straightforward. He had never asked a girl for a number. Definitely not after like one hour of meeting.

“Sure!” she smiled. “Call me even if you can’t find anything else.”

And he called. In a week. After he stopped seeing the weird dreams.

She answered, she was happy to hear him. By the way! The day she brought the box home, she slept soundly, like her French bulldog does, she laughed.

It was next year when they were on vacation and saw the news:

“Groom was killed by a falling ship, which was lost by an eagle flying over the wedding venue.”

“Oh! My! God!” she screamed, as the camera showed the groom lying there. “It’s Todd!”

“Anton bit back a chuckle as Todd’s many deaths flashed before his eyes. ‘How unexpected,’ he murmured. ‘Must be destiny.’”