Manuel and Virginia were arguing about their engagement. In the last few days some awkward moments had arisen between them because they could not agree on details, perhaps unimportant for others, but for them they were. For example, the place where the marriage ceremony was to be held. Virginia wanted it to be in the countryside and Manuel on the beach, he wanted it to be a simple ceremony with few guests and she wanted a big party. They were waiting for the bus to take them to the Civil Registry Office when Manuel, to appease his girlfriend, took out of his pocket a little blue velvet box to show her the wedding rings he had picked up before meeting her. But the nervousness he felt caused the box to slip out of his hands with such bad luck that it fell into the street... down the sinkhole .
"It can't be!" He shouted in desperation as he bent down to try to retrieve it.
"But what did you do Manuel!", shouted Virginia and this made Manuel even more agitated. I have to get her back, where is this sinkhole going, he shouted as he put his hands on his head and walked up and down the street.
Some passersby, alarmed by Manuel's screams, approached to ask what was going on.
"My wedding rings just fell off".
"How terrible!" Exclaimed a gray-haired lady, "poor guys".
"Forget it man, said a young man, whose hair was so long that it reached his waist and whose arms were tattooed with different colored figures, I think you will have to buy other rings for your marriage, or better yet don't get married, there is no need, live your life happily".
Virginia drilled him with her eyes. Tears were already running down her smooth brown skin, as she crouched down next to Manuel.
"Look for something to recover him with, maybe they are still there", a man dressed in a black suit with a tie gave her advice.
The curiosity of the people and the desire to help them, provoked a crowd and this made a policeman approach to find out what was going on.
"Clear! Clear! You can't be here, move along, you are obstructing traffic on the street. What is happening, what has happened young man", addressing Manuel.
Manuel explains what happened, the policeman, after regretting it, tells them that there is nothing they can do.
A man who is watching what is happening, calls them aside and talks to them. "You still have a chance to recover the box, you have to get there quickly to the sixth street, there is a sewer, go down there, there is a tunnel and at the end there is a kind of lagoon, I know because I worked in that area. There is a grate that holds back a lot of the debris. But you can't be seen opening the sewer and much less go down there".
The young man from the Drelos tells him."Come with me, I have a motorcycle, hurry up".
Manuel tells Virginia to stay there waiting for him, I will recover them, don't worry.
The motorcycle moves at full speed, dodging the cars, the breeze feels in his face and Manuel holds on to the young man so he doesn't fall. The truth is that he has never liked motorcycles. They pass street after street, in one of them the traffic light changes to red, but the young man does not pay attention and the motorcycle continues. The cars honk their horns, a driver shouts.
"You're crazy!, what's wrong with you?".
Finally they reach the manhole and Manuel and the young man quickly lift the manhole cover.
"Thank you very much," says Manuel.
"I'll wait for you here to help you up".
Manuel goes down the sewer, the water flows quickly, the smells are not very pleasant. The tunnel is illuminated by light bulbs in the ceiling, he feels the movement of the cars on it. He tries to run as fast as possible, one step after another, the water splashes him, he falls several times, he gets up, his clothes are already wet. Finally he reaches the end of the tunnel where the grate is. There is a lot of debris.
"My God, may I find the box, it is very important to me" and saying this, he looks for a stick and begins to remove the debris, but he does not see the box, minutes go by and Manuel gets desperate. Finally he manages to see it, wet and dirty, but it is the box with the rings. He takes it and opens it and there they are... they still shine.
He goes back the same way he came and there in the sewer was still the young man with the drelos waiting for him. He helps him up.
"What happened, did you get it?"
"Yes, I have it here, and he proudly shows it to him".
"Man, you were lucky, I'm happy for you and your girlfriend".
"If you and that man hadn't helped me, I wouldn't have known what to do, it's no coincidence that they were there at that moment".
"Don't worry, I feel very good for having done it, and let's go back, your girlfriend is waiting for you, ha,ha,ha, although later I will have to wash the motorcycle very well".
Manuel arrived at the place where it all began and when he saw Virginia, anxiously waiting for him, his heart was encouraged. Some people who had stayed to see the outcome applauded when he opened the little box and showed her the rings, symbols of their union. It was an emotional moment.
Two months have passed and the wedding took place on the beach as Manuel wanted, Virginia gave in to thank him for the effort he made to recover the rings. The young man from the drelos named Miguel was a special guest at the wedding.
Thank you for reading
The image of the presentation was made in Canva with a free use photo.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)