So I decided that I'd ask her to marry me.

Or ask her if she would marry me.

Or say that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

Or tell her I loved her, and that I wanted her to be with me forever.

Or give her a ring -- a big, huge diamond ring. Or just get

down on my

knees and let my eyes say it all.

Well, I had reached a decision. What exactly I was going to do about

it, I didn't know -- at least not yet.

It's now exactly one year since the first time I had started talking

with

her-- an anniversary of sorts. I remembered, because that

first time was

New Year.

And tomorrow it's New Year again.

And we had become close friends.

And I had fallen in love.

And since I am a simple-minded sort of guy, I have decided I want to

marry her.

But How to tell her, though, was a bit of a problem.

There were so many ways to do it and choosing the right one wasn't

easy. And I had no idea how she'd react.

Would she think I was moving too fast?

Was it too early to suggest marriage?

Was she even interested in me in that way?

Surely, the best way to find out was to tell her how I felt, and ask

her

if

she felt the same.

And if she did, then we could get married. Right?

These thoughts had been in my head from the moment I had

woken up that

morning. And I'd only been awake a few minutes. As I finished

brushing

my teeth,

the

phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi!" It was her.

The sound of her cheery voice took my breath away. "Hi!" I replied,

almost whispering.

"Listen," she said, sounding very excited. "I'm having a

party at home

tonight. Be there at eight."

"Sure," I replied.

"Ok, bye!" And she put the phone down.

I stood there for almost a minute, staring at the phone in my hand.

And then I stupidly said "Bye" to it.

I would have to reach the party early, to tell her in private. Or

should I say it right there in front of all the guests? Or after the

party, when we were cleaning up after everyone was gone?

And what was I going to get her? Should I get her anything at

all? How

about flowers? Roses? Or was that too clichéd?

Orchids sounded better.

Or bluebells.

Or tulips.

Or cauliflower.

I checked my thoughts. No. Not cauliflower.

It's New Year.

A gift was definitely in order.

I could get her that moonstone pendant she liked so much.

But then it was a little flimsy as a gift.

It was really a toy more than a piece of jewellery.

But did it matter if she really liked it?

Should I get her a book instead?

Or a CD?

Or an earring?

Or should I make her something?

I thought about my artistic skills and decided that that was probably

not

a

good idea.

I spent so much time looking for a suitable gift all day that by the

time

I

decided that flowers would be a better option, all the florists had

closed.

And it was also too late to try to get to her house early and

catch her

alone.

So I decided I'd tell her after the party when everyone was gone. And

that I wouldn't get her anything -- more because I couldn't, than

anything

else.

Feeling like a fool, and extremely nervous, I reached her doorstep. I

was on time, but there didn't seem to be any noise coming

from inside.

Maybe no one had turned up yet. After all, who came to a

party on time?

I stood there and composed myself for a minute.

Then, reasonably confident that the turmoil I was going through

wouldn't show, I knocked.

She opened the door, but only a fraction.

She slid out without opening the door completely, handed me a

piece of

cloth, and told me to tie it around my eyes. "We're playing

Blind Man's

Buff," she said.

Meekly, I put the blindfold on, and she led me into the house. There

was silence, and no one was making a sound. Quite sneaky of

everyone, I

thought to myself.

She spun me around a little, and then made me stop.

She backed away, and then said from somewhere behind me, "Ok, you can

take it off now."

Though a little confused as to what version of Blind Man's Buff was

played after taking the blindfold off, I complied.

And as soon as I opened my eyes, I froze.

I was standing in the middle of her empty living room, and the lights

had all been turned off. But the room was brightly lit with dozens of

candles.

And on the wall in front of me, was a big poster with the following

words on it:

One year ago, this day we met.

There was an arrow pointing to the right, beside the poster.

So I turned. On the next wall were the words:

One year of friendship

One year of joy

One year of laughter

between a girl and a boy

One year of comfort

One year of closeness

One year of peace

and a whole lot of happiness

On the third wall, was:

One year or Six,

a lifetime it seems,

And yet, it feels just like yesterday

I turned to look at the fourth wall, and there, standing in front of

it, was she, holding up a poster in her hands that said:

I want to be this happy forever

Will You Marry Me?