She steps cautiously along the overgrown street, the familiarity niggling in her chest. Swaths of ivy strangle the brickwork, waterfalls of sunset orange and reds cascading down the walls, against the deepening velvet blue sky. Paving slabs lie broken and displaced below her feet, whilst weeds now flourish in their place. It is an end of town she rarely forages, but the stifling summer heat has pushed her further south.
A creak of metal in the sudden breeze grabs her attention, and she stops to locate the source. A sun-bleached awning juts out a few steps away, and below hangs a shabby wooden sign on rusted metal hooks.
WALK IN SPECIAL, a relic from the old world, alluding to the promise of hot sticky sumptuous food beyond the doors.
Her mouth waters as a memory surfaces, and she licks her dry cracked lips, recalling the taste of pizza, long forgotten.
Her curious mind takes her closer, to gaze in through the now blackened windows. A layer of dust coats the tables and chairs, a lone black cap lying discarded on the counter. She closes her eyes as her mind transports her back into the past, before the riots.
‘I wonder what the Special is?’ he chuckles.
She knows he is up to no good, but follows him into the restaurant regardless.
When their large pepperoni pizza arrives, he grins as she gasps at the diamond ring sunken into a dough ball at the centre of the pizza. ‘Marry me!’ he whispers, and her answer is an easy one.
She looks down at her left hand, her third finger now as vacant as her heart; before she continues on her way.
This piece was inspired by the above photo prompt at Creative Writing Ink
Copyright © 2019 Lottie McKnight. All rights reserved.