Illustration by Steph Story written by God

Once upon a time, Kevin Chen went to Stephanie’s house and picked her up. He drove to Akron and parked in a wooded area. Then, he gave her a present! It was a picnic blanket that folds into a bag, and heal so brought food. Stephanie said it was the best day of her year. They had a wonderful picnic. A sandwich, vitamin water, cider, and yogurt were enjoyed after a walk to look at a dam. Stephanie wore girly shoes that gave her blisters.

There were a lot of beautiful blue dragonflies there. There was also a man who brought his dog to play. It was rust-colored and Kevin liked it a lot. The man said it was the Serena Williams of all dogs. It ran all over the picnic blanket to show off its tennis ball.

Kevin and Stephanie went to McDonald’s to get a snack. Kevin had a Mocha drink and Stephanie had an ice cream sundae with fudge and peanuts. They watched a man who was alone, staring into the parking lot where his wife sat alone in the back seat of their car. Then they continued to another wooded place to have a new adventure. This time, they got a little lost. So they used Kevin’s cool keychain compass. And Stephanie borrowed Kevin’s flip flops because of the blisters.

Kevin and Stephanie walked along paths and saw fascinating rock formations. They talked about manna, lichen, and native americans. The path wound around and around, up and down, until they finally arrived…

…to a place with a lovely view! They could see white and gold clouds covering the sun, and a blonde girl showing some pictures to a man with dreads down to his waist. It was a little dangerous – the view was over a cliff with no fence.

Suddenly a zillion children came running out of the woods and onto the lookout rock! Stephanie was afraid that they would die. Kevin was afraid that they would ruin the experience.

It began to rain.

Because of the rain, everyone left except for Kevin and Stephanie. It was only a light drizzle, and they could still see the sunlight.

Stephanie knew that her parents might be worried (they liked to worry) and so she asked Kevin if she could borrow his phone, to call them.

While Kevin rummaged around in his back pack in search of a phone, Stephanie noticed a new box in there. She grabbed it to see what was inside, thinking there would be a cool beetle toy that moved its legs. Before she could open it, Kevin snatched away from her and opened it.

Stephanie was flabbergasted

Time stood still.

Also Kevin didn’t say anything for a long time, which made things really awkward.

After Stephanie realized that the ring was not intended for Kevin’s mother or as a joke, Kevin proposed to her. She accepted. They weren’t sure what to do after that, but decided that Kevin was probably supposed to put the ring on Stephanie’s finger. The size that he had guessed was right, and it was very shiny and pretty. Kevin realized that he hadn’t kneeled when he proposed, so he asked her again, kneeling.

“Stephanie, will you marry me?”