Short Love Story

Le voyage - A short love story

The seas have calmed down after a stormy night. The waves have bid the sand back ashore. The sun has risen without any struggle; the fear of the unknown has walked past the dawn.

She walks slowly with her hair swiftly swaying with the cool cherry filled scent breeze marking the start of summer. She feels as light as a ball of cotton dancing into the midst of wilderness. A voice inside her heart is leading her to the same spot by the beach where she thought she would never set her feet again; but today is the day, she knows it. She believes she's ready, ready to face the past that slammed the door of a starry future, a future she thought was the realization of her dream from a not so distant present.

She stops where two gigantic beach stones are firmly set. She closes her eyes just as when the sun starts to rush below a layer of clouds signaling the nearing twilight.

"Find me if you can!" Those were the last words she heard from Brei, the only man whom she ever loved. They were high school sweethearts. Brei was the only man she thought could make funny faces but still looked so dashingly handsome. There were days he would mimic what he called, a sick monkey after eating loads of bananas, a dehydrated fish, a starving crocodile.....and the list goes on.

It was also the beginning of summer. It was their first summer break on their first year in a university. They were both taking up Political Science; a course they believed was the best to prepare them for a Law degree. They both wanted to become lawyers after their respective fathers. She and Brei were full of dreams, prepared to defy what could the world wrongly delivers to them.

The sun was just about to set when she and Brei decided to go by the beach after a short exchange of stories they have recently read. They were running and laughing, chasing each other as they walked toward the beach until they reached the site where the two distinct rocks rest. The water was high that day, the waves were restless, but the two young lovers didn't mind what was going on around them. They just wanted to enjoy the priceless beauty of the world going by.

The day seemed endless. The angels in heaven could hear their laughter and were enticed to play as well. It was Brei's turn to hide. She closed her eyes and started counting," one two, three, hide quick for the goddess will turn you to stone once she catches you amiss!"

"Brei....yahoo! I'm coming! Her voice started to tremble after a few minutes of desperation for not being able to find Brei. Few minutes became an hour... and more hours... Playful shouts had become screams until the screams became sobs, sobs that then became a complete silence. She could not remember how she got back to her parents' house and the rest. She heard screams of deep pain, sobs rooted from the heart, but she could not tell where they were coming from, Brei was gone, and she never saw him again. Her heart was looking for answers, but her questions remained unanswered and got washed away by the furious waves.

She knows deep in her heart that today is the time to let go. Let the pain from the past be cast away; to move on to a place she believes could make her whole again, to a place where in time she may see Brei again; to a place where she could play with the angels who played with her and Brei on that fateful day. A place where there's no room for sorrow.

Brei is standing by the shore, flowers on his hand. "I love you, goodbye and till we meet again..."

It's been a year since his beloved was washed away with the rushing torrent of waves. They were playing hide and seek and he hid hastily behind a dilapidated hut near the beach; he didn't realise that his ladylove would go and search for him behind the "couple rocks", the two rocks firmly seated on the deeper part of the sea. He thought he had been hiding so long that he emerged himself only to find out that there's no one searching for him anymore. Everything started like a dream but ended a nightmare. She's gone, gone forever, gone with the waves on that unforgettable day.

Brei throws the flowers with the hope that she will get them through the angels that played with them on that day. "Goodbye my love...I love you forever and beyond..." Brei turns his back and starts to walk by the beach towards his home. He knows he has to go on, to follow "their dreams," to walk the road for a journey, the journey that he now has to finish on his own.