"My locket!" she exclaimed as the precious heirloom created tiny ripples in the cold water below.

With a heroic grin, he dove in after it.

"No, wait!" she cried.

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It was a cold, gray day when he brought her a vanilla chai and a small, wrapped box. Nervously, she accepted both.

"What is this?" She traced the delicate white bow thoughtfully.

He smiled, that smug smile that he wore when he was proud of himself. "Just open it."

Slowly, she unwrapped the box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful silver locket with his picture on the inside.

"It was my great-grandmother's, but I thought you could wear it and keep me close to your heart."

She smiled as he placed it around her neck. Without saying a word, he'd just told her everything he was feeling.

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Out of habit, her fingers went to where the filigreed heart normally rested. Her eyes searched the numbing water desperately. 'Please be all right.'

Moments later, he bobbed through the surface, face down. She could see something glinting near his hand. Carefully, she slid into the water and made her way to him.

It was, in fact, the locket. The chain was broken.

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By the end of the night, she couldn't bear to have the precious pendant in her possession. She blamed it for stealing her love, her heart.

The policeman told her there was little hope for him once he jumped into the water. The lack of temperature in the water leeched off his body heat too quickly. The investigators had found the rest of the locket's antique chain hooked on a branch at the bottom of the lake. If the chilled water didn't finish him off outright, then his fight to rescue the locket had.

She picked up the locket and let it twirl on its chain. Tears blurring her vision, she opened it and tried to make out his face one last time before locking the locket, and her heart, away.