Mark had been impatiently checking his watch every few minutes. He was waiting by his car in front of his best friend Jane's house. She was supposed to have come out fifteen minutes ago, but there was still no sight of her. It wasn't entirely unusual for her to be late, but that didn't make it any less frustrating for him. He sighed and leaned his head back looking up at the sky as the clouds drifted by. His thoughts wandered at the same pace as the clouds as he fiddled with his keys.
"Sorry I'm late! I had to clean up after my cat," came Jane's voice as she burst out of the front door of the house and rushed over, startling Mark out of his thoughts and back to reality. He looked down at his shorter friend with a smile.
"It's fine, let's go. Today's the last day of the fair," Mark reminded Jane and he turned to his car to unlock it. Jane pressed her lips together and fidgeted a moment, causing Mark to stop.
"What?" he asked as he had looked over his shoulder at her.
"Can we walk? It's so nice out today, I'd really like to enjoy the weather today. It's supposed to be one of the last nice days of the season," Jane requested sheepishly. Mark raised an eyebrow perplexed, but then pocketed his keys with a smile.
"Okay, sure, let's go then," he agreed heading toward the fair with Jane in tow. She grinned wide and had an extra spring in her step to keep up with Mark.
It didn't take them long to reach their destination. It was quiet at the fair due to the time of day, but that didn't deter Jane. She still dragged Mark all over the grounds and insisted on him going on rides with her. At least there weren't any long lines to slow them down.
Slowly the sun set along the horizon and the first streetlights lit up along their path. Finally Jane and Mark left the fair to walk back to her home.
Jane looked up watching the first stars appear in the orange sky tainted by city lights. Mark glanced at his friend a short moment before joining her in gazing upwards. A cool breeze blew about them as if carrying a whisper upon it. Jane closed her eyes and faced down a moment.
"Shall we continue on home?" Mark asked after a few more moments of silence. Jane opened her eyes again and looked at him with a nod.
"Yes, let's go. This was really fun!" she admitted with her usual smile. The two walked away from the dimming fair grounds.
Gradually the sun disappeared fully along the horizon, leaving them with no illumination but the city streetlights. One by one the shops closed up for the day as they passed them, it had gotten rather late by that point. Jane hummed a tune only she knew as Mark walked with his hands in his pockets. They passed only very few people on the sidewalk. The air felt heavy with the promise of Autumn, as the breeze played with Jane's hair.
"You know what's been on my mind lately?" Jane's voice cut through the silence, her eyes gazing up into the sky as her steps slowed.
"What?" Mark answered absentmindedly as he fiddled with his keys in his pocket once again. Jane was no stranger to sudden insights, no matter whether the depth of them.
"Marriage."
Mark froze on the spot and stared at Jane surprised. Never in the years they'd been best friends had he ever seen even the slightest hint of her wanting to ever settle down. Jane walked a few more steps, finally stopping when his footsteps no longer echoed hers, her eyes still cast upwards at the emerging stars.
"What brought that on? Didn't you always say you never wanted to be tied to just one thing, but rather be free as the birds?" Mark spoke softly, unmoving from the spot where he'd been surprised by her statement.
"I know, but… wouldn't it be nice?" Jane sighed, lacing her fingers together behind her back.
"I guess… but-"
"I'm just saying, it would be nice to get married someday, you know?" Jane continued, interrupting Mark before he could finish his thought.
"I know what you mean, but who would we marry? It's not like either of us are in a relationship, nor have been for a while," Mark added with a sigh of his own. His last relationship hadn't ended too well. He couldn't even remember the last time Jane had been in one, and even when she had, she usually ended up by herself again. Honestly, Mark had been convinced she preferred it that way.
"True… how about this; if we can't find anyone in the next ten years, we marry each other?" Jane suggested, catching Mark off guard again. He stared at her in surprise, mulling over her words in his mind before a smile grew upon his face.
"Really?" he asked carefully, stepping up beside Jane to see if she was truly being serious.
"Yes, really," Jane confirmed, finally shifting her focus from the sky to Mark with a smile. He knew that smile well, it was one she didn't share often with anyone other than him.
"Okay, sounds gr-"
Mark's sentence was abruptly interrupted by a strike to the back of his head. He fell to the ground with a groan passed out. Jane jolted with a horrified shriek, but she didn't get far when she was grabbed from behind.
"MARK!!" she screamed struggling against whoever was holding her. Out of the shadows stepped several hooded figures, one of them holding a bat. Jane's heart was racing in her chest and in her desperation she stomped on her assailant's foot, digging her heel into his toes. With a yelp he let go of her and she shoved him away, but before she could do anything else she was struck with the bat and her world turned black.