'Going From Bad to Worse' by Cath Barton

Frank was late. Late for his own wedding, with sweat trickling down his back and a sick feeling in his stomach. At the church they would be cursing him, Natalie’s mother saying she’d always known he was a shirker, Natalie herself doubtless in tears. Sam, his best man, was mumbling apologies at his side, but Frank wasn’t listening. He was in meltdown, his shirt sodden now.

‘...Faithful, as long as we both shall live...’ In the rehearsal the exchange of vows had gone so smoothly; he’d had a bad feeling about that, a presentiment that something would go wrong on the day. Currently it was about as bad as it could get. Tomorrow they’d laugh about it, or would they? Indecision had been his downfall too often in the past, and if he didn’t act now he knew he would regret it as long as he lived. Out of the car and running, that was the only way, Sam lumbering behind him.

Neither of them saw, as they ran towards the church, the ring box fall from Sam’s pocket, open as it hit the ground and the wedding rings tumble out and down a drain at the side of the road, to be lost for ever.