The list.

He writes down the name of every girl he has fallen in love with. What a strange thing to do. For people like us, for whom love came like the showers in desert, so rare, using a pen and a paper to remember people was futile. We had them etched in our hearts. Too beautifully sculpted for eternity. I could sense pride in his eyes. I wanted to erase it. I told him there was nothing so precious about his little idea.

He calls us rigid, too scared to open up, to fall in love, always worried about the consequences. He was right. I kept my silence, hastily thinking of ways to prove him wrong. He wanted me to talk. Not to listen, but to prove me wrong again and again. And I wanted to talk. But I wanted to listen more. So I ask him about the girls.

His stories were exceptional. I didn't want to admit it at first, but I finally gave in. People like him, they gave it all. All of them, whole. The intense desire to prove him wrong turned to faint admiration. And within seconds, I started to doubt whether I was falling for him. Love came this easily?

Maybe he could read my thoughts, for he smiled. I smiled back. People like us, we never wait for the first drop of rain. It rains and we remember. But people like him, they live to see the god-send drops, the feel of it against the dry sun-burned skin, a glorious smile playing on their lips. When the skies has completely exhausted their harvest, people like us, we sit and cry. We engrave the dates of their arrival on our skin. But him, oh god him, he writes a love letter in the sand and waits for his love, looking devotedly at the sky.

He said his farewell and planted a soft kiss on my cheeks. Calling that moment pleasant would be an understatement. A sudden fear that I would never see him again kept echoing at the back of my head.

"Hey! Urm..the list. Can I see it?", I said, hoping to keep him talking for a few minutes more.
"I thought you felt it wasn't a good idea.", He laughs. I smile nervously.
"So, can I see it or not?", I ask again, this time it wasn't a plan. I was suddenly curious.
"Not today.", He says, giving away that gorgeous smile of his. And he goes, leaving me confused. The idea that this wasn't going to be the last time we'll meet made me ecstatic.

The place suddenly feels empty. I grab a tissue, take out my pen, write his name and leave it there. Love comes fast. But stays forever.


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