I usually had a few spare moments from my schedule to scan the day's headlines, but today, there was no need to: the air was b

I usually had a few spare moments from my schedule to scan the day's headlines, but today, there was no need to: the air was buzzing with the excitement of the possible armistice.

Walking along the street, I heard whispers, and I thought up possible conversations in my over-active brain. I ignored the hum of voices and carried on strolling along the street with attempted casualness, but I failed miserably. Seemingly from nowhere, a cold hand touched mine, and I jumped, shocked at myself for not seeing it coming. Helen stood behind me, her expression shocked. She greeted me, and then stood up on tiptoe to peck my cheek. Her lips were icy from the November weather, and I offered to take her back to my house. When she agreed, I grasped her hand, and she weaved her thin fingers in between mine. We ambled, shivering, back towards my house, but we were halted by a large crowd, cheering and waving miniature American flags.

"Oh, no. Here, I know a shortcut." I began to pull her off to a side street, but she resisted.

"Wait," she pulled me back towards her, "I want to go see." She dragged me deliberately towards the crowd, and I followed reluctantly.

The crowd swarmed in the square, cheering louder than ever and deafening me. Helen skipped towards them joyfully, still dragging me behind her.

"What's going on?" she quizzed a man standing near us.

"Hey, little lady," he said, turning around, "haven't you heard?"

She shook her head, still smiling.

"The war's over," he grinned widely. "They signed the armistice!"

My face brightened at these words, and, without knowing it, I was soon smiling as widely as Helen. We tried to look over the heads of the crowd by standing on tiptoe, and we saw an uncountable amount of red, white and blue flags flurrying over the heads of thousands of cheering people. The sight was magical, and it burned into my brain, to stay with me until I died. Helen hugged me round my waist, no longer shivering, and I put my arm around her and let her nuzzle into my chest. After a moment, she looked up at me, gazing into my emerald eyes, and, cupping her hand on my cheek, put her soft lips on mine. I didn't notice the cold anymore: I was too busy living in the moment. When she pulled away, she smiled again.

In that magical moment, I knew that this was the right time. I had been toying with the idea of proposing for several weeks, but each time I would bring myself to do it, I put it off, feeling that the time wasn't quite right.

I knew this was the moment I was waiting for.

I took her hand and looked her in the eye again.

"Helen, I don't know if I've had the chance to say this lately, but I love you." She looked at me, wide-eyed, but I bent down to put one knee on the frozen ground regardless. Helen gasped and put her free hand to her mouth. Nobody turned around to look at us – we were in our own little world.

"I love you, Helen Trusscott," I kissed her hand, "and I want to spend eternity with you." A tear slipped out of her eye. "Will you be my wife?"

She nodded silently, trying to hold back tears. I stood up, and she flung her arms round my neck, and we kissed again. Neither of us wanted that moment to end; it was too special for us to let it finish.

When we pulled away again, I still held her, and she hugged me again, warm tears staining my shirt. I saw a sheet of newspaper flitting around in the wind, and I stood up tall to reach it, grabbing it and trying not to let it crumple in my hands. I pulled it back down to eye level to read it:

"WAR OVER:

WAR TO END ALL WAR'S ARMISTICE SIGNED"

I smiled as I read it, and then folded it up into a tiny piece of paper, so I could keep it for the rest of my life. I laced my fingers in between hers and pressed my palms on her cold ones, squeezing the newspaper and flattening it. We kissed again, her silky lips grazing the line of my jaw before they touched my lips, and behind us, hundreds of hats flew up into the air and a cheer erupted into the cold sky.