A Modern Amour

“A Modern Amour” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Manas Negi, Nirmala Convent Senior Secondary School, Kathgodam, India.

A Modern Amour

As a writer, love being my genre, I often bring it up with nature. Here is the way it goes…

What nature exactly is? Is it the gentle swaying of leaves or the strong force that uproots the mighty trees? Everybody has a different view but they stop to the same conclusion. Is the extent of nature so timid that nobody can explain it? Is it natural that our mouths become dumb when it comes to the strong tie holding us together? For me, nature has an entirely different meaning…

Nature can’t be brought down on the canvas of the best of artists for it is the source of all inspiration. Look, not around you but in your heart, is it limited to the things around you? Not being a sort of mind reader, I really can’t guess what’s going on in other peoples’ mind. But for me, the true meaning of nature can be deeper than the deepest ocean, higher than the highest pride and greater than the greatest sigh of relief. Contradictory to what a good lot of my works describe, it is more than spiritual love. A day of hard work and the silent night that follows, plunges me into a world of dreams far from reality. A dream where conditions are never propitious but I feel myself drowning in the beauty they present. As the dusk of early spring darkens, my mind is carried away, despite the fact that it’s cold. A new odor fills the air, everything seems so pleasant. Nature is like a beginner’s tray, full of colors, the difference being that it is never bound to the bristles of a brush but it is free and independent.

Nature is never cruel but frolicsome at times. As I jot down these lines, dark clouds storm the sky in a shade of perfect black and thunder follows. The winds have become a bit stronger and every wave drives a chill through my spine. A perfect weather for two souls of the same body, my favorite. I never want this moment to end; I just want to stay in this forever. Every breath I take in this room makes my heart lighten with its fragrance and gives birth to a burning sensation to write. Some beautiful memories fill my mind, some beautiful conversations like the one from ‘A Walk to Remember’: ‘Our love is like the wind, I can’t see it but I can feel it’. Amidst my thoughts, I failed to notice that silver droplets fill the veranda and the garden. There was a time when I preferred sunshine above all but then nature planted seeds of love that eventually sprouted to be my love for rains. It had been three months of the harsh winter since I had been waiting for them to return and finally I had witnessed the first shower of the year. The fascinating odor of the mud carried every sorrow away and presented me with a new hope, a new lust to write. As my room moves in the mouth of darkness opened wide, a lamp is lit and the shadows are sent dancing away. My hand moves towards the quill and I am once again taken aback by my dreamland. A place where I am with my love. She seems so pretty, so beautiful; her eyes shine by the playful drops of water gleaming by the bright sunlight. Her hairs fall in a perfect tangle over her eyes and she flips them back with a sweet smile on her face. Not that I am mad about beautiful girls but the one I love has the beauty to turn every head towards her. “What is behind those mountains?” she asked. “Behind them is the life we just left away; a life that tried to part our souls. Luckily, my love is too strong for that”, my heart spoke up. Floating through dreams, I reach those lands, times when my love story was too complicated. That was the time when the strong bond of our friendship was suffering from suspicion and hesitation. The dim yet astounding magic of nature turned that one-sided love into one of my most fascinating memories. The way we came close again is not a night’s tale and narrating it would be like spreading ink on the paper. The journey that led us through all of our problems was a miracle in itself. That marvelous experience has made love my hobby horse. Every morning, she wakes me up with the golden sunlight falling over her face through the huge glass window of my tiny room. When my eyes are forced close by the bright sunshine, her shadow makes them open again. As I write these lines, it comes to my notice that I had been up for too long. My eyelids become heavy as the faint light of dawn fills the sky…

It really doesn’t matter if my small room is a part of a hospital with a patient of cancer who writes along with his end drawing nearer every moment. It’s true that I don’t want to lose anything but why worry about anything destined by the gods. My beloved is with me with her ever faithful smile encouraging me to stay longer. Not every story needs a twist while life goes on smoothly. “What if we are lost in the woods and ahead of us lays a path ready to part us?” she asked. “The answer to this question would be found on the journey that leads us to that path through the woods”, I said. Nobody knows what the day brings to me but if today is my last, I want to say that I loved you the very day I saw you. Here she comes through the cool-tiled vestibule, waving at me.

“Congratulations Katie! Finally you two are married”, I said excitedly, forcing a good lot of tears back in my eyes.

A love story never ends…