make a wish!

they do come through

Ada lit the sparkler with the lighter from the kitchen drawer, the one Chi kept saying would set the curtains on fire one day.

While searching for her paprika, Ada had come across sparklers from last Christmas in the cupboard.

"You love to play babe" Chi said.

"It's just a sparkler."

"Even though."

It caught with a hiss, throwing sparks across the tiles, and the smell hit first— that sharp tang of scorched metal and burnt out matches, cutting clean through the smell of smoke grilled beef still drifting up from the seller across the street.

"Make a wish," Ada said, holding it up between them like a torch.

"On a sparkler? Ah, since when?"

"Since now. I just decided."

Chi laughed, as the light threw rays of gold across half her face.

Ada kept watching her instead of the flame, lost in her eyes.

"Fine," Chi said. "I wish—"

"Don't say it out loud, you'll jinx it."

"You literally just told me to make a wish."

"Inside your head. God! you ruin everything, who are you?" she laughed as she said it mockingly.

Chi rolled her eyes, smiling anyway, while the sparkler spat its way down the wire toward Ada’s fingers.

"Five seconds," Ada said. "Hurry and wish."

Chi closed her eyes. Smoke curled past her face. She opened them just as the flame reached the end and Ada dropped to one knee.

"Ada—"

"Wait — no — fuck! I dropped it—"

Ada was looking into the pot of freshly cooked sauce, not proposing, just hunting for something before the last of the light went out.

"What are you doing?"

"There was a — I had a—"

The sparkler gave one last violent spit and died.

Just the smell of smoke hanging soft between them.

"I dropped the ring in the sauce, bring the torch, please."

Chi stared at her without saying a word, without moving an inch.

Still shocked Ada was just about to propose to her and she would have definitely said yes.

She loved this woman with her whole heart.

"I love you," Ada said nervously, already digging through the sauce, "but please help me find the ring first."