ALSphere Foundation
‘Do you mind?’
I looked up. She stood close, indicating the vacant chair next to me in class.
I nodded.
How could I trust my voice after I had had the breath knocked out of it? Was it love at first sight? I have no idea. My emotions like my childhood had been orphaned early. Although, I had been raised by my grandparents, they had been old and in ill health. They had had little time to devote to me.
Lecture forgotten; I sat beside her inhaling her presence like a sprig gasping for water. When she got up to leave, I felt myself wither.
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I ran into her often after that.
We never spoke. I was tongue-tied and she was shy. But, our silences spoke comfortably in each other’s solitude. There was actually no need for words.
Oh, by then I knew I was in love. Only love could feel like what I was feeling, right?
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Gradually, our friendship blossomed.
Those were the days when interracial marriages were frowned upon. So, our love for each other remained a story of covert looks.
We knew we could never be together and yet, no two souls loved each other the way that we did. I breathed in her proximity and she lived in mine. It was as if our entwined senses kept us alive for each other. None understood us, not that we needed anyone else. Together, and yet, separate we were enough.
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She cried the day I graduated and moved away for a job. I vowed to return, worthy of her so that I could ask for her hand in marriage.
As time elapsed, our love only grew. We corresponded in secret. Finally, the day dawned when I did return after two years.
She met me that evening, at our usual spot. Her eyes were moist.
‘This is for you,’ she said handing me her wedding invitation. She left just as silently as she had entered my life. All I could do was watch. I could not stop her. I knew she would not bring infamy to her family.
A month later, I saw her become another’s. It was the saddest moment of my life. Disillusioned, I left the city and the country for stranger shores.
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A decade later…
I was home, for the first time since that fateful evening, to settle my ancestral affairs.
That evening, my steps took me to the spot where we used to meet. Maybe, my heart wanted one last chance to say goodbye. As I sat there, I heard…
‘Is it you?’
I turned.
It was her. She looked the same. Nothing had changed! Well…nothing except our circumstances. Time melted away as once again our solitude found itself in each other’s silent embrace.
As she got up to leave, she said, ‘I’d love to meet your wife and family.’
‘I never married,’ I replied. ‘I lost the one I loved.’
This time, I walked away.
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