Running frantically deep in the woods, jumping over branches and leaping over puddles of water.
“Spencer! Where are you!” Mason hollered.
Mason nervously spins around in a circle, feeling hopeless and wondering how it came to this then continued dashing through the forest.
The day before.
“Ew! Spiders freak me out so much,” Spencer replied then took a bite out of her warm homemade panini.
“Oh I know, and getting lost scares me too,” Mason noted after taking a big gulp of his soda.
“Yeah! That’s probably one of my worst fears, along with spiders of course,” Spencer responded.
“So do you have any plans for tomorrow?” Mason asked after chewing a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“No, I’m probably going to chill at home, maybe read a book,” said Spencer hoping he was going to offer an idea.
“Why don’t we go on an adventure to that forest that’s about a two hour drive away? We are both athletic enough for the terrain, you little runner, and I know you love nature,” Mason imposed while cleaning the plates in the sink in his kitchen.
“That sounds like a great idea Mason! I can’t wait! I admire nature’s beauty, it’s so calming,” Spencer answered as she pushed in her wooden chair into the table.
“Perfect! So I’ll pick you up around nine tomorrow morning and we can come back home around seven or eight at night,” said Mason very pleased with himself for such a fun adventure he thought they were going to have.
“Okay, I gotta go home now, my mom wants me to meet her friends from work,” Spencer recalled after looking at her phone to check the time and see that it was almost two in the afternoon.
“Alright Spence, tell your mom I said hello,” Mason said sadly because she had to leave.
“I will. You know she loves you, but not as much as I do. Oh and thank you for the delicious lunch, I didn’t know you were quite the chef now,” Spencer pointed out as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, grabbed her light jacket, and walked outside to her Ford.
“Anything for you,” Mason said quietly to himself. Then he heard another car pulling into the driveway, after looking out the window he realized his father was already home from work for the day.
“Hey Mason! How’s your day going? Aw man, did I miss Spencer visiting? She’s such a lovely girl. I’m so happy you’re going to pop the question soon, can I see the ring again?” Ryan Stover anxiously and excitedly greeted Mason entering through the front door in his black suit and tie wiping his shoes on the carpet.
“Hi dad. My day is going well, yeah you just missed her. And to be honest I’m pretty nervous for tomorrow. What if she says no? What if I lose the ring? What if I stutter while proposing so she can’t understand what I’m trying to say? What if a bird comes and takes the ring out of my hand then poops in her hair?” Mason said while he gradually grew more and more panicky.
“Whoa whoa son, you need to calm down and get real. You will propose just fine but that's not what I'm worried about. Not only do you need to make sure you're ready, but you need to also make sure Spencer is ready. That's very important. If I knew Natalie wasn't ready… I wouldn't have given her everything I had at the time.” Ryan voiced. As you could tell he doesn't bring up Natalie often.
“I know dad. I'm about 97% sure we are ready, I'm just getting nervous, like I'm about jump off a cliff with a questionable harness. Ha! That wouldn't be fun. Well, thanks for the encouragement, I have to go get packed for the big day!” Mason exclaimed in an excited and nervous way. He put the ring in his backpack that he will be taking on their adventure. The rest of the day went by very fast for Mason, after he called on his old and not working well anymore cell phone Spencer to tell her goodnight.
The next morning Mason woke up ready to tackle the day. He ate his cold cereal and a large glass of milk for breakfast. Then he did a light workout, exercising his biceps and abs, to give himself a little confidence. Mason constantly checked every twenty minutes to make sure the ring was still in his backpack, it hadn't moved since the last time but he could never be too sure. He said goodbye to his dad and asked him for good luck today. Mason left his house quarter to nine, then arrived to Spencer’s home about ten minutes later, anxious to get going.
“Hey! You ready? I have a feeling today is going to be life changing.” Spencer declared as she grabbed her black and aqua backpack with water canteens on the side.
“Yeah, ha, me too. Alright, you can take your stuff to the car, I'll be right there.” Mason said to Spencer while he approached her parents with an uncontrollable smile.
“Oh my goodness! Today is, or could be, such an incredible day! Yay!” Amanda Lexin whispered with excitement to Mason and her husband, Toby.
“Would ya keep it down lady? You're gonna spoil the surprise! Good luck Mason, treat her like the princess she is.” Toby responded to both of them. All three of them could barely contain their joy.
“I will sir, thank you for giving me permission to ask for her hand in marriage. Okay, bye!” Mason said as he began calming down. Then they hugged and he went to the car under the bright sun where Spencer was patiently waiting.
“Let's go!” Spencer shouted reaching over to beep the horn from the co-pilot seat. Mason smiled and hopped in the olive green Jeep with the roof off because it was the end of July. On the road Spencer put hair in a ponytail because it was windy without a roof on the car.
“Do I look ok?” She asked while getting her sunglasses out of her bag.
“Always have, always will.” Mason replied without any hesitation. Spencer rolled her eyes and giggled. She looks at outside the car at the trees and the different shades of green.
“Wow, I love the outdoors. Ah! Everything is so pretty!” Spencer said in awe. Mason took and held her hand the rest of the drive to their destination. Once the two arrived, they walked about 5 miles to find the perfect place to rest for a few minutes.
“Oh! Let's go look for rocks that match each other’s eye color!” Spencer mentioned while standing up and walking somewhere several feet away under some thick branches.
“Sounds good.” Mason answered jumping up and wandering in another direction. Neither of them noticed but they slowly drifted farther and farther away from each other, they didn't bother speaking because they were so into finding the right rock for the other person’s eye color. By the time Mason asked Spencer if she was hungry, it was too late.
“You hungry yet? I could go for a snack. And I think I found the perfect rock.” Mason said without looking up from the rock, his plan was to get down on one knee while she was inspecting it.
“Uh, Spencer? Hello?” Mason asked looking up this time and now he was wondering why wasn't she responding. After a minute of looking around and calling her name, he began to get nervous.
“Spencer! Where are you? This isn't funny! Please! You're scaring me!” Mason cried and starting running in different directions. It was very loud because of the chirping birds, running water, the wind breezing on the leaves, and the crunching and crackling noises underneath every step he took. His head began to hurt due to the stress of losing of possibly future wife. Gaining speed quickly Mason ran up down and around obstacles in his way. He felt hopeless, she was gone. “How did it come to this?” A question that kept going through his mind. Mason stopped for a second to try to calm down, but nothing worked. He was gasping for breathe and getting light headed from the adrenaline kicking in.
“How am I supposed to ask Spencer to marry me if I don’t even know where she went? How did this happen? What went wrong? Did she leave me on purpose? No. Dad told me not to freak out like this, he would want me to stay calm. But I don’t even have a cell phone that works well, and there’s no way it’ll work out here with no service. Did we have a place to meet if we got separated? Nope, of course not, I’m not that prepared. I need to remember every hint or clue she could’ve said before that may help where she is.” Mason said to himself while pacing back and forth along the dirt ground. Then he remembered something.
“I love stepping back to take all the beauty in. Ah ha! The beauty! The nature! Of course! I’m coming Spencer, I know where you are!” Mason exclaimed while leaping into a full on sprint towards the top a hill. There Spencer was standing, facing downhill with a tear falling down her cheek.
“Spencer.” Mason shouted calmly, she turned slowly then ran to his arms.
“You found me! I don’t know what happened. Maybe I wandered too far and forgot where I was. I know it was only two hours I couldn’t find you, but it felt like a year.” Spencer cried in his arms sniffling and squeezing him very tight.
“I’m never letting you go Spencer.” Mason answered as he got down on one knee.
“Spencer Lexin, the love I possess for you is deeper than any ocean and greater than any mountain. I would give my life for you to be treated and respected like the princess you are, and  if you let me, I would like to spend the rest of my life caring for you. It would be my honor to ask you to be my wife.” He said, getting teary eyed.
“Of course Mason! I have loved you more than anyone has ever loved!” Spencer shouted with joy. He gently put the ring on her finger and they kissed. Then they began their journey back to the car. The sun was beginning to set on this scary but beautiful and memorable day. Once they got in the car and started driving home, Mason held Spencer’s hand again and she fell asleep in her seat. She was completely out of it because she exhausted from the stress. Mason looked over at her sound asleep and thought about how beautiful she was with or without makeup, and with or without extravagant clothes. Then he smiled and said,
“I’ve been ready for this since the day I met her.”