The Proposal by Michael Mariman (f, qs) All she could hear was the silent rumbling of the 58 plymouth as it bounced along a dirt road. Grace sat in the passenger's seat, after Jay blindfolded her. "Jay, where are we going?" she asked. They had been going out for about 9 months now, and the idea of marrige had crossed her mind. jay called to see if she wanted to go somewhere special, and she said yes. Wear something nice, but not too formal, so she wore her brown flowered dress that came to her mid-thigh. She knew he liked that dress, and his reaction to it. That combined with her nylons and a pair of ankle strapped heels would make plenty of men drool. When he arrived at her place, he whistled softly, and told her that tonight was special. Jay held the blindfold in front of her, and asked to put it on her. After she agreed, albeit reluctantly, jay led her to the antique car and they sped off. The car hit a large bump in the road, and lurched to a stop. She could hear Jay getting out of the car, and walk around to her side. "it's almost over dear." he said. "Where are we?" she heard crickets chirping, and birds singing. this was definately not the new nightclub she thought. As she stood up, her heels sank slightly in the soft earth. "Dammit jay, these were almost brand new." Grace figured that they were near the marsh, just north of town. A lot of kids used to come here, until the city council made it unlawful for teens to be there after dark. Since her and jay were 21, it should be ok. "I appologize, and I will get them replaced tomorrow. Tonight will be a night of great suprises. I hope you like it, but I need to lead you a little further." over a few twigs, and across some soft spots in the marsh, Grace was getting more curious at where they were going, and madder at the sight her shoes are going to be. "Ok, we're here." Jay then pulled the blindfold off... When her eyes finally became adjusted to the light, she gasped. For there was probably the most romantic place she'd ever seen. In a grassy clearing jay had set up a candlelight dinner, complete with violin music from his boombox that formerly played metallica. "Oh jay" she cried. Jay stood in front of her, got down on one knee, and held a small box in front of her. "Grace, with all my heart and soul, I love you. would you do me the privelege of making me the richest man in town with your beauty and become Mrs. Grace Carton?" he opened the little box. Inside was a diamond ring. not the biggest, not flawless, but honest. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, she never dreamed he would go this far. Usually his dates were McDonalds and a video rental, but for him to go to these lengths, she was almost speechless. "Yes," was the only thing she could sputter out of her mouth. Jay led her to the blanket that served as their table, and they hugged. As she stepped onto the blanket, Grace saw that there was almost no mud on them. she sighed mentally. In the middle of dinner, Grace asked jay how he pulled this off. jay said that he wanted a secluded place, with noone around. The dinner was cooked by his mother, and he bought the ring 3 months ago. As they ate, they failed to notice an uninvited guest for dinner, in the form of a large garter snake. That is, until it slithered up to the salad and helped himself to a snack. Grace shrieked, and ran off into the marsh in an attempt to escape the thing. By the time Jay tried to get her, she had dissappeared into the marsh. He started to run after her. As grace ran, she stumbled a few times. her only concern was getting away from that snake, and out of the marsh. her shoes splashed through the swamp, getting wetter and wetter. If it weren't for the ankle straps, she might have lost both her shoes and her footing. she saw a narrow streambed, and lept across it, almost.. one of her heels caught the edge of the embankment, and Grace tumbled down. As she stood up, to climb back out, her heels sank into the sandy bottom. Grace tried to stand on the balls of her feet, and they too joined her heels. "Oh SHIT!" Grace screamed as she watched her shoes settle into the sand. looking down, she tried to pull one foot out, only to see the other foot sink slightly deeper. Another try with the other foot yielded the same results with the sand rising around her. Stopping to catch her breath, she noticed to her horror that the sand wasn't rising, she was slowly sinking into it. Panic gripped her, as she frantically tried to escape, only to see her ankles, shins and calves slowly submerge into the quaking sand. Terror washed over her, in her futile struggles, and as her nylon-clad knees met the sand, she screamed her now fiance's name over and over. Jay reached the edge of the bank, and saw to his horror what was unfolding. "Grace, please, whatever you do, don't move. you're in quicksand." she was almost calm until his last word came out. "QUICKSAND!!! Jay, please help me. i don't want to die here like this." she sobbed. all she could do was scream and struggle, and jay saw her struggles lead to possible doom as her thighs were taken from this earth. "Grace. Please for the love of god, please don't move. Struggling will only make you sink deeper and faster. listen to my voice, I will get you out of this." Jay pleaded. Grace did hear this, and her struggles stopped, but not before her hips met the deadly mire. she gaped as her pretty dress spread across the smooth surface of the quicksand like a tablecloth. "Ok, now, I need to find something to pull you out, so please remain calm. i will be back soon." Grace looked back and started sobbing. "Please don't leave me. i don't wana die jay, Please," she cried. the quicksand now clutched her waist, and felt hungry for more. jay disappeared into the swamp, looking for something to get his fiancee free with. All alone, Grace looked around her, the view getting smaller with each centimeter she sank. Out of the corner of her eye she saw an exposed tree root that she might be able to reach, provided she can lean further. It was risky, but what other alternatives did she have? Grace leaned a little to her left, then more and more until her heaving breasts were nearly touching the surface of the quicksand. her fingertips touched the root, but barely. Straining her entire body, grace was about to grab the root, when a spider came out from under the root, scaring her almost to convultions. grace straightened out, but her attempt on the root cost her dearly, and she shrieked when the sand carressed her ribs, and gently slowed at the bottom of her bossom. Again, she screamed her lover's name. her eyes widened in horror when she saw another terrifying thing. her own breathing was causing her to slide into the greedy pool. Fear took over as her breasts were touched by this muck, and slowly they too, were absorbed by the quicksand. Grace screamed Jay's name over and over, hopeing he would make it to her just in time, but to no avail. her breathing became harder and harder as her chest went under. She slowed her breathing down, as it seemed to help give her more time, but she knew it too was futile. her shoulders were sinking into the sand, when she realized jay was not coming back for her. As the sand started up her slender neck, she thought to herself. 'Where is jay? Why isn't he here to save me? Did he want to leave me to die like this? Oh god, please don't let me die. I will do anything to see another human again.' she closed her eyes, and as the sand touched her chin she tilted her head back. Just before the sand started to fill her ears, she heard a rustling in front of her. she opened her eyes to see a shadow approaching her. She started to call for help, but only got a small sound out before her lower lip sank below the surface. As she closed her eyes before they slipped under, she saw jay. her arms were stretched out as high as they could go, when grace's beautiful features were swallowed by the earth. All grace could hear now was the faint beating of her heart and the pain her lungs had needing a breath. Just then, she felt as Jay grabbed her arms and gave a mighty heave. she felt as the pressure on her head leave, knowing it was above the surface. letting out a mighty gasp, and spitting out some foul sand, Grace inhaled as much oxygen as she could. She felt relieved as she slowly emerged from her near grave. As she slid up on the bank, she breathed in a sigh of relief. "Jay, I knew you'd come. thank you." then what she heard next was shocking. "Ma'am, I am afraid I have some bad news for you. I was hiking through the swamp when I came upon a guy. He fell into a den of snakes. must've been bit 40 times. he said that you were fell into some quicksand, and were in desperate need of help. I might have been able to save him, but he said that I go for you instead. I tried to carry him, but he said to forget about him. I saw you here, and got ya out." Grace cleared the sand from her eyes and opened them. There before her, was a large man. He wasn't smiling, and looked at her with tender eyes. she looked around for Jay, and saw him. his lifeless body was propped up to a tree, and clutching a rope. "I am truly sorry, but he died as I was pulling you out of this quicksand. he loved you, he truly loved you." THE END