[ WP ] The reason she never called you back was because she was abducted by an alien civilization . She adapted , grew , and lead a rebellion to overthrow the tyrant that ruled there . Today she just texted that she wants to go out again .

I looked up from my phone and slid the ring off my finger, examining it. It was simple but valuable, full of meaning - a soft band of pure gold that hugged my finger and reminded me what it was to love. 
 
 Martha. 
 
 It was she who had taught me how beautiful life was, no matter how short, and even with her gone I could never bring myself to wallow in my loneliness. Just the faint memory of her smiling face warded off sadness like a flame. 
 
 I used to think people's eyes were what made them beautiful. I always loved soft, almond-shaped eyes, full of emotion and life. They say eyes are the windows to a person's soul, and I believed them - until I met Martha, that is. 
 
 She loved absolutely everyone, and her constant smile was proof of that. When I sit and remember, I can still recall how she looked - her long, thick auburn hair, her smooth, pale face, dotted with the cute freckles that she'd always hated, her round, rosy red lips....But her bright white smile outshone all of that because of what it meant. She loved everyone, and I loved her with all of my heart. 
 
 I looked back down at my phone, at the story I'd just read. Nostalgia hit me like a roaring wave. Just two short years before I met Martha, I thought I'd found the one... 
 
 Rebecca. 
 
 She was amazing - gorgeous, of course, but also smart and loving and genuinely caring. She was competitive and intense, insistent and persuasive. Her sharp green eyes had always stood out to me, and mine to her. We knew there was something special between us the first time we caught a glimpse of each other at a college buddy's wedding, chatting for a few minutes before talking for a few hours before spending days and weeks and months tangled up in each other's arms. 
 
 Then she disappeared. One night, she just stopped returning my calls. I called her friends, then her family, then the police... Nothing. As the years passed, everyone gave up hope. I tried to hold out for her, but Martha became my life in a way a missing girlfriend could never manage. 
 
 I re-read the fragmented text for the third time. It was an eight-part behemoth of a thing, twelve hundred simple characters that, thrown together recklessly into an impossible story, shattered my life to pieces. 
 
 Alien abductions were n't real. But I was sitting there looking at a pixellated picture of someone who was definitely Rebecca in a place that was definitely not on Earth. And a story that was too desperate - too *real* - to doubt for a second. My Rebecca ruled a planet I had never heard of, and I was invited to join her. 
 
 In that moment, I had no choice but to believe the story in front of me. Pushing the *Star Wars* references out of my mind, I scanned the end of the message again. 
 
 *I still remember what we had, and I need that back. I know you do, too. Just say yes, and I'll be there. `` * 
 
 The ring in my hand felt cold and heavy, its weight mirroring the weight of the decision I had to make. 
 
 I slid it back onto my finger, where it belonged. It felt warm, right. Earth was where *I* belonged. 
 
 I grabbed my phone, locked it, and tossed it almost nonchalantly onto the overstuffed couch Martha had picked out for us right after the wedding. I thought of her beautiful smile again, and in that moment everything felt all right. 
 
 I leaned down to finish lacing up my running shoes. I stood up, stretched out, walked onto my porch into the morning sunlight... and was instantly swept off my feet, flung wildly up through the air toward a small black speck high in the sky. I got closer, and as the speck got bigger it began to take shape. I felt my sheer terror wearing off, and I managed a wry grin. 
 
 Rebecca never could take `` no'' for an answer. 
 
 

