Love beyond the Grave
He woke up to the distant thunder. A flash of lightening cleaved through his window pane. The wind whistled as it swept through the leaves and the trees bent and groaned. All this while the skies wept rain and sent a fine spray to wet his face.
He rose and shut the blown open window. Shivering, is chattering teeth lending cold company, he dragged a chair beside the hearth and kindled the fire.
It was then he remembered the love of his life and the wristlet she’d fastened on his hand made the memory real. He recalled the misty morning with a haze wreathing the sky when he was strolling down the hill side out onto the hearth.
There was a flock of sheep grazing in a contented silence broken only by the bleating of their lovable lambs. He stopped to play but they gamboled away. He ran among them happily. He picked one up, petted it, then gently placed it down when he caught a trilling laugh that stopped him in tracks.
He turned and there behind a bush stood a girl with grey eyes gleaming through her silky hair. Her face though lean was softened by a smile. Her moonlike face and diamond eyes shone in the sun throwing a light that enthralled him and held him in her sight.
It seemed like they’d known each other forever for they opened their hearts, no holds barred. It was love at first sight and speech.
The day sped by unnoticed and soon it was dusk. He had to leave but her look held him back. He held her close and comforted her with a kiss, promising to return the next day to that enchanted meadow. He moved away backwards, his face towards her still form, till at last he smiled and waved and vanished into the woods.
The storm was worsening. The forces of nature were being unleashed in all their ferocity. He was stroking the fire when he heard the soft and distant footsteps. He raised his ears. Shifting his seat, he kept his eyes riveted on the door.
There was a tap on the door. Who could it be, he wondered at this hour and in such weather? The door swung open. A pale, frail figure stood there. It was her but dry as a bone and white as one too. He called her in and though she came, she seemed to grow fainter with every onward step. He glimpsed that familiar smile, then she disappeared. A blinding lightning flash revealed he was alone. He rubbed his eyes. Was he dreaming or had he fallen in lobe so madly that he fantasized?
The next morning he felt unsettled. A vague premonition of doom and gloom enveloped him. With a growing sense of unease, he rushed to the site of his closest encounter. Everything looked as usual. Sunshine, flowers, butterflies, but, there among the sheep was a shadowy shape on the grass.
When he reached the spot, his heart racing, his worst suspicions were confirmed. It was not her form. His face twisted as he held back his tears unsuccessfully. She was an orphan. She had no one and now she was no one. He was desolate. It was as though the soul had fled from his life, so listless and limp did he feel. He knelt beside and held her head to his heart. He remained just so and was found lifeless later as if petrified in that self-same position.
Now, they say, on stormy nights when nature is aroused, two lovers rove the open spaces, their hands entwined, their hearts united.
And the people believe that the seat of love being in the soul, this pure emotion transcends death and lives beyond the grave.
By: Jigme Dorji Source Courtesy: KUENSEL