She left the office, her step lightening as soon as she hit the pavement. It was Friday; at last. Another long week in the office, watching the beautiful sunshine through her window, had taken its toll. Working in central London was fun, frenetic, exciting; but it was hot and confining and claustrophobic.
When the temperatures rose, tempers frayed. The streets steamed and pollution and fumes seemed to hover like a cloud. The tube became an oven; unpleasant at the best of times, the summer days resulted in hot, sticky, grumpy people. She pitied the men in their office suits, at least she could wear a dress and sandals.
She had left work early; she and her boyfriend were escaping the city for the weekend. Making a break for the hills, or in this case the flat, of Cambridge! Over the course of this long, hot summer they had discovered a gem of a campsite; small and friendly and a cycle ride away from Cambridge itself.
As she skipped down the steps into Euston Square tube station, her thoughts were already on the weekend ahead. Ignoring the heat and the press of sweaty bodies; personal space an alien concept on rush hour tubes; she remembered their first camping trip.
In the early days of their relationship, when all was new; and the fear of doing or saying the wrong thing was still a vague niggle in the back of her mind; she had agreed to go camping. This man was special, and if he loved camping well, she’d give it a shot. The thought of a night under canvas on hard ground, having to navigate a field in the dark to go to the loo (campsites with facilities being her one demand!) had initially filled her with, not dread exactly, but certainly not joy!
She had not been prepared for the freedom of finding a campsite, pitching a tent and breathing in the fresh air, surrounded by silence. She hadn’t expected the joy of cooking pasta over a camping stove, or how much better it would taste eating it under the stars. She had almost forgotten what a starry sky looked like after too many years in London, where streetlights obscured even the brightest of stars.
Arriving home, the camping gear was already packed in the car; a quick change out of her office clothes and into walking trousers and a t-shirt and she was ready to go. They left London as soon as they could and she felt the stresses of the week lift with each mile they put between themselves and London.
The campsite was as wonderful as always; the tent was pitched and dinner made. Sleep was quick to follow as darkness descended. She was always surprised by how well she slept when camping; a small part of her still expecting it to be uncomfortable and cold.
The next day was glorious, a perfect summers day where the heat shimmers over the fields and the air smells clean and fresh and full of promise. They cycled and walked, enjoying the busy streets of Cambridge and the quiet lanes around the campsite. They talked and laughed, and London seemed very far away.
She was aware of a feeling of distraction through the day, of him being somewhere else at times. She put it down to the simple act of processing and switching off from a busy week. As they meandered back to the campsite that afternoon carrying their picnic dinner; fresh bread, wonderful cheeses, salads; gooey chocolate cake and wine; she was conscious of the silence.
As she prepared their perfect picnic, soaking up the last rays of sunshine, she heard a cork pop. A surprise, a treat! A bottle of fizz to share and what’s more, proper glasses. Slightly taken aback, she accepted with a smile: a lovely end to the day. As she went back to her dinner preparations she was aware of movement and turned to see her boyfriend dropping to one knee. Many thoughts swirled and came out in a stream of garbled chatter as nerves and surprise and anticipation got the better of her. While she babbled, he tried to finish his question. An important question, the most important question: will you marry me?
You can find this weeks linky here.
I can’t tell you how much I’m hoping this is your real proposal experience! It made me all goosey, I’m such a softie! :-D
It is absolutely what happened :)
I remember you mentioning in a previous post that you were proposed to on a camping trip. What a beautiful way to tell the story my lovely xx #ThePrompt
Thank you very much x
Ah that’s beautiful Sara, I’m such a sop it nearly bought tears to my eyes! Lovely and well written. Is it true? Xx
Thank you Caroline x It is true :)
Ah what a lovely and beautifully written story, so evocative of a hot summer in England! I went on a camping trip around Scotland one August with my ex-husband and the experience was amazing.
Thank you :) We’ve done a tour of Scotland camping too, it was wonderful x
Excellent piece of writing Sara – you really drew me in and at the end I wanted there to be more. Well done :-) xx
Thank you, I was a bit nervous writing it as a story… haven’t done that before!
Adorable Sara. How unexpected was that! I’m a sucker for a happy ending! x
Thank you, it was a very happy ending x
Fantastic
Thank you :)
awww… really unexpected! So sweet!
Thank you :)
That’s such a lovely proposal story! What a great moment, and really special and thoughtful! Love that he popped the cork before popping the question! :)
Thank you, a very special moment x
Brilliant that your husband caught you by surprise! Beautifully written too.
Thank you :)
That was really unexpected! You really told your story in a beautiful way. I could not stop reading and was really surprised by the proposal at the end. I love the new look of your blog, too! Mel
Thank you Mel x I was nervous about posting a ‘story’ so I’m glad you like it x
And, thank you for the comment on the blog; still playing around, but I’m happy to have a little colour there now :)
Oh, what a lovely romantic surprise! And extra nice that it was unexpected!!!
Thank you, it’s a lovely memory to have x
aw so lovely x
Thank you x
What a lovely story – beautifully written and totally awesome that it’s actually true! I’m sat here really wanting to go camping now. I love sleeping under the stars xx #theprompt
Thank you! We haven’t been camping for ages, this summer it’s top of our list :)
What a special way to document your proposal! I really enjoyed reading this!
Thank you :) I wanted to try something a little different x
This is a beautiful story. Great work.
Thank you very much x
Oh wow this is so lovely, and a really brilliant proposal. Congrats both of you :) , for back then!
Thank you Tas x
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Aww how romantic, a really lovely romantic novel type post, brilliant!! I have to say I have never been camping, never fancies it….. but now this has given me a little bit of inspiration :) xx
Thank you x Camping really is far more fun than I would have imagined… unless it rains!
WOW this is amazing! i really hope this is your proposal. I am soooo jealous as I never got one. Just the threat of deportation instead. This is beautiful and so wonderfully written. I almost thought it might be a start to a chapter you are writing for a novel! Beautiful! very unexpected to you and to me as the reader! Double points there my lovely. Sorry I was so late to the prompt just made it on the last day. ;)
Thank you so much Jenny, it is indeed my proposal story :) I can’t believe you didn’t get your proposal, I see a big ‘moment’ for a significant wedding anniversary in your future… drop hints! Can’t wait to read yours, will be over soon x
Wow! What a wonderful proposal – lucky you! Lovely way to tell the tale too! #prose4T
Thank you very much x
I love the way you have turned your real life proposal into a piece of creative writing. This is so beautiful. What a lovely way for it to have happened. Thank you so much for linking up to Prose for Thought lovely xx
Thank you x It was fun to try something a little different :) Thank you for hosting x
That made for wonderful reading. Is that how it happened? #prose4t
Thank you x It is indeed how it happened :)
Fab story and I was on the edge of my seat. It was so romantic – I didn’t want it to end :) #prose4t
Thank you so much x
I don’t know what it says about me, but when I ‘heard’ the champagne cork and ‘saw’ him fall to his knees I thought he’d been shot! TBH I don’t do many happy endings myself, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with ’em! Here’s to the happy couple – chin chin! #Prose4T
Best comment ever! This actually made me snort. That would have made for a very interesting story :)
Thank you :)
What a sweet story. Very well written too. So glad it’s true too – romance isn’t dead!
Thank you very much :)