"HAAAAAA!"
Lily's dramatic outburst echoed through the house as she flailed on the couch, arms and legs in the air. Shaun, standing nearby, forced a smile, watching his girlfriend throw a tantrum like a child, her dark hair splayed messily across the cushions.
"Why aren't they back yet? We've been waiting for four hours, and they still haven't come back with breakfast!"
Lily's frustration had been building for the past half-hour. She dashed between the kitchen and the sofa, her agitation growing with each step. "There's no snacks, no signal, and no car! What if they forgot about us? We'll starve!" Her resemblance to a certain cursed hobbit from The Lord of the Rings losing the ring was uncanny.
At times, her thoughts switched from desperation to pure bloodlust. "It must be Michael's fault. Eating so much must have made all the stores nearby run out of food," she muttered, strangling a pillow while pummeling it with her other hand, her almond-shaped eyes gleaming with murderous intent. "And Catherine! She thinks she can keep eating without consequences because she's skinny. We'll see how I pull the fat building on her waist when she gets back."
Another fifteen minutes passed, and Lily's hysteria reached new heights. Shaun decided it was time to intervene before people at the bottom of the hill thought a kidnapping was happening up here. As he walked into the kitchen, Lily suddenly turned around, spreading her arms across the kitchen table like a cornered mouse facing a cat.
"It must be you! You planned all this to starve me and sap my strength. Then, when I'm too tired and fall asleep, you'll unleash your carnal desires and devour me!" she declared, dramatically placing a palm on her forehead and slumping to the floor. "Oooh! This great me is finally overcome not by might, but by the schemes of a lustful young man."
Shaun's wide eyes narrowed slightly in exasperation, a visible vein throbbing on his forehead. "This girl, why not just go to Broadway if you want to play so many parts," he thought to himself.
Lily clutched her pillow to her chest, looking at Shaun with embarrassment, as if she were naked behind it. "Haaa..." Shaun sighed, glancing up before shrugging. "Well, I'm planning to marry you someday anyway, so it'll be the same either way... if you insist then..."
"Wa... Wa... what? Huh?" Instantly, Lily's face turned a deep shade of red. "You shameless... PERVERT!"
"Who's the pervert!?"
"That's what you're angry about?! How can you use that word to justify your actions!?" If this were a cartoon, both of Lily's eyes would be swirling right now.
Snapping out of it, Lily became even angrier. "How can you use that word for this situation!? And so plainly!? As my future husband, you should... pah! pah! ptui! Who would want a future husband like you!"
"Oh! So you reject the proposal?"
"Of course I reject it!"
"You better not regret it! If next time you suddenly feel like it, I'm not going to be the one doing the proposing!"
"You... what...?" she stuttered.
"That's right, next time, you're going to be doing the proposing. I want a nice candlelight dinner in a fancy restaurant and a big diamond ring. None of that cheap zircon stuff. Also, I want a heartfelt speech."
"YOU! Shameless!! You're not even doing all of that and you demand I do it?" Lily couldn't hold her anger anymore. "What candlelight dinner!? We don't even have a bag of chips here to keep us from starving."
Finally, Lily stormed out of the house. Shaun, feeling a pang of guilt, decided he might have teased her too far and went to look for her. It didn't take long; she was standing by a railing overlooking a cliff's edge, her back to him. He approached slowly, his footsteps light on the gravel path.
Turning around, she held her head high, her raven-black hair catching the light as she said, "Fine, I accept!"
Shaun stopped in his tracks, eyes wide open. "Wha... Ha?"
Lily had a visible smile on her face, enjoying his shock.
He stared at her, speechless for a moment. Then, with a grin, he said, "What accept? You already rejected it, so my proposal no longer counts. Now it's your turn."
Lily, remembering their heated exchange, looked helpless for a second. "Fine... will you..."
"Ask me nicely."
She glared at him, gritting her teeth and forcing a smile. "Will you..."
"Wait! Wait!"
"What now!?"
"You haven't gotten down on one knee," he said, suppressing a mischievous grin.
"Haaaa... fine, shameless bastard."
"OMG!! Every girl dreams of this day. I never thought mine would come so quick!" Shaun said, fanning his face and jumping on the spot, the perfect image of a girl being proposed to.
Lily smiled, thinking of how she would beat him mercilessly after this was over. "Shaun," she began, slowly bending down, her heart pounding in her chest. The anticipation was palpable, the tension between them electric. As she knelt, she locked eyes with him, the world around them fading away.
"Will you.."
Suddenly, the earth shook violently. The sky, once bright and clear, vanished into inky blackness almost as if the day had been ripped away in an instant. A deep, ominous rumbling emanated from every direction.
"Shaun!!" Lily screamed, panic etched across her face as she took a few hesitant steps towards him. Fear filled her dark eyes, and her heart pounded wildly against her ribcage as she desperately tried to comprehend what was happening. The ground beneath her feet felt like it was dissolving, shifting uncontrollably, and her instincts screamed at her to run—to find safety—but her legs felt rooted to the spot, paralyzed by terror.
"Don't move! It's going to be fine," Shaun shouted, trying to reassure her, though doubt gnawed at him. But how could it be fine? How could anything be fine when the world was literally breaking apart?
The ground between them split open with a thunderous crack, pushing both sides further apart. "Lily!" Shaun screamed, sprinting towards her. Everything was happening too fast—in the mere seconds it took him to reach the edge of the widening chasm, the gap had already expanded to at least 15 meters and continued to grow, tearing the lovers further apart.
"Lily!" Shaun's voice cracked with desperation. He reached out, but she was slipping away. "No! No! Stay with me!"
Lily felt the chasm pull at her, as though it had a life of its own, a monstrous force determined to wrench her from Shaun's side. She fought against it, arms outstretched toward him, her mind a blur of fear and disbelief. "Shaun!" she cried, her voice breaking as she tried to resist the inevitable. Her vision blurred with tears, and for a moment, all she could see was his figure fading into the distance.
The ground beneath them heaved and buckled. Mud, earth, and rocks poured forth like a raging river from the chasm, swallowing everything in its path. It was as if a portal to the underworld had opened, spewing massive amounts of debris in all directions, breaking and burying everything in its way.
"Lily!" Shaun's voice was raw with fear and desperation as he watched the flood of earth pull her away. "Lily, hold on! I'll find you! I promise!"
Lily's mind raced, grappling with the reality that she was being pulled away, that she might not survive this. But in the midst of the chaos, Shaun's voice was the only thing keeping her tethered to hope. "I'll wait for you, Shaun! No matter what!!" she screamed, her voice barely audible over the cacophony of destruction. Her heart ached with the thought of losing him, of being lost herself.
A deafening crack sounded from behind Shaun. He whipped around just in time to see a section of the villa's second-floor balcony breaking off. He had no time to react as the mass came crashing down.
"Shaun!" Lily's scream was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.
Shaun lay on the ground, struggling to open his eyes. Blood streamed down his face, blurring his vision. Through the haze, he could see Lily, now a distant dot, being swept further away by the chaotic flood. Desperation filled his mind. "I will find you. I will find you. I will fin..." he thought, his consciousness slipping away into the darkness.