Once More, Before Goodbye

It is the morning of Angelica's wedding. She is preparing to marry the woman she loves, but the house feels strangely empty. The wedding dress is ready, flowers and decorations are arranged perfectly, yet there are no guests, no family members, no phone calls, no sound from outside. Only Angelica Heart and Jadilica are there. Jadilica is Angelica's childhood best friend. Their relationship is warm, familiar and playful, but underneath it is a tension neither of themimmediately acknowledges. While helping Angelica prepare, Jadilica discovers an old wooden box hidden in the bedroom. Inside are photographs and keepsakes from the summer when they were both nineteen. The memories slowly return. At nineteen, they had already been adults, but neither had openly spoken about being attracted to women. What began as friendship became their first secret relationship. They shared their first kiss with a woman. They became each other's first intimate partner. And they fell in love. Nobody knew.Years later, both women moved on, but neither completely forgot what happened between them. Looking through the photographs on Angelica's wedding morning brings back emotions they thought had disappeared. Very little needs to be said. The way they look at each other says almost everything.Eventually, Angelica kisses Jadilica. The kiss is tender, familiar and immediately frightening. Angelica is about to marry someone else, butafterward Jadilica notices something strange. The wedding invitation bears a date from three years earlier. Angelica finally reveals that there is no wedding today. The wedding was supposed to happen three years ago. On that morning, Jadilica came to help Angelica prepare. They talked about their past, admitted they had once loved each other, and shared one final kiss. Jadilica left the house afterward. Shepromised to return before the ceremony. She never did. Jadilica died that day. Since then, once every year, she appears inside the house again, with no memory of her death. Angelica recreates the morning because it is the only time she gets to see her, but this year Jadilica remembers something new.Angelica never reached the wedding either. When Angelica learned about Jadilica's death, she ran from the house in her wedding dress and died moments later. Neither of them is alive. They have been trapped for three years inside the same unfinished morning. They believe finally admitting the truth about their love will release them. For one moment, it seems to work, but the final image reveals that the morning is beginning again.