legends · 5 min read ·
Vows (Draft 7)
A couple edits their wedding vows in a shared document, and an unnamed editor adds a promise of its own.
**Document:** Vows — Priya & Sam
**Owner:** Priya Lal · **Editors:** Priya Lal, Sam Ferreira
**Last edited:** Today, 22:40 by Priya Lal
*Note: this document is shared with the officiant, Rev. Anne Holt.*
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**Revision history**
**Draft 1** — Priya Lal, 3 months ago
**Draft 2** — Sam Ferreira, 3 months ago
**Draft 3** — Priya Lal, 2 months ago
**Draft 4** — Sam Ferreira, 6 weeks ago
**Draft 5** — Priya Lal, 5 weeks ago
**Draft 6** — Sam Ferreira, 2 weeks ago
**Draft 7** — Priya Lal, today 22:40
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**Current text:**
*I promise to keep the kettle on when you come in late, and to tell you the truth about the bins, and to stay in the house with you when the storm comes, even if the lights go.*
*I promise to remember the names of your mother's dogs, even the ones who died before we met.*
*I promise that when you are asleep and I am not, I will not wake you to ask whether you still love me. I will only listen to you breathe, and count it in, and be grateful for every breath I hear.*
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**Comment — Anne Holt (officiant), 2 months ago**
I'd like to suggest a small change to the second paragraph. Some couples find references to people who have died a bit heavy at a wedding. Perhaps leave out the dogs?
**Reply — Priya Lal, 2 months ago**
I want to keep it. Sam's mum used to say the dogs were the family's best listeners.
**Reply — Anne Holt, 2 months ago**
Of course. It's your vow.
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**Comment — Sam Ferreira, 6 weeks ago**
Can we take out the line about the lights going? It feels like a joke about the storm, and my mum hates storms.
**Reply — Priya Lal, 6 weeks ago**
It's not a joke. It's the bit I'm most sure of.
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**Edit log — Draft 6 to Draft 7 (Priya Lal, today)**
*Removed: "even if the lights go."*
*Added: "I will only listen to you breathe, and count it in, and be grateful for every breath I hear."*
*Removed: "I will not wake you to ask whether you still love me."*
*Added: "I will not wake you."*
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**Edit log — Draft 7 (automatic, 22:41)**
*Document edited by: Sam Ferreira (view-only session, device: Sam's tablet).*
*Changes: none recorded by Sam.*
*Changes detected: 3 additions, 1 deletion, by an editor not listed.*
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Sam had been asleep on the sofa when I finished the draft. I'd sat at the kitchen table with the laptop and the cold tea and worked through the vows one more time, changing the words the way you change a picture on the wall until it sits straight. I didn't wake Sam. The house was quiet. I went up to bed.
In the morning there was a comment on the document, pinned to the top of the page, in a font I did not recognise.
**Comment — (unnamed editor), 03:14**
This is the part you asked me to keep quiet about. The line about the lights is not a joke. It's the one that tells the truth. You know the kettle is never on when you come home late, and that you stopped asking why the bins are full. Please don't take the storm out of your vows. It's the only thing that will bring you back into the house.
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**Revision history (updated)**
**Draft 8** — (unnamed editor), 03:14
**Draft 7** — Priya Lal, yesterday 22:40
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**Current text (Draft 8):**
*I promise to keep the kettle on when you come in late, and to tell you the truth about the bins, and to stay in the house with you when the storm comes, even if the lights go.*
*I promise to remember the names of your mother's dogs, even the ones who died before we met.*
*I promise that when you are asleep and I am not, I will not wake you. I will only listen to you breathe, and count it in, and be grateful.*
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**Comment — Rev. Anne Holt, this morning**
Priya, I've read the document. Is this the final text? The unnamed editor has been in every draft since your last one, and I'm not sure who they are. The wedding is on Saturday.
**Reply — Priya Lal, this morning**
I don't know who it is. I thought it might be Sam. Sam says it isn't.
**Reply — Anne Holt, this morning**
Then who's been keeping the kettle on?
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**Comment — Sam Ferreira, 14:20**
I'm reading the vows on the tablet now. I want to say I'm not going to be late. I want to say I'll come home at the time I promised. I've been sitting in the car outside the house for an hour, and the lights are on in the front room, and there's someone standing at the window with their back to me, holding a cup of tea, looking at the street.
It isn't Priya. Priya's at the church.
It looks like it expects me to come in.
**Revision history (final)**
**Draft 9** — (unnamed editor), 14:21
**Current text (Draft 9):**
*I promise to keep the kettle on when you come in late, and to tell you the truth about the bins, and to stay in the house with you when the storm comes, even if the lights go.*
*I promise to remember the names of your mother's dogs, even the ones who died before we met.*
*I promise that when you are home, I will be standing at the window, and I will not turn around, and I will let you in.*