I am an old man and it is perhaps our nature to tell tales. Some that draw on our memories and a few that you, young folks might call a lovechild, of our expectations and years of bottled bitterness. But to us, all of them are as true as the sun rising in the east.
You might find the one that I am about to tell you, a bit of both. So sit back & relax. Listen to my story & be the judge and jury on this one.
I have been married for a while. 43 years to be precise. She was my first love and I was her first too. We were full of love & had little of anything else. She told me, we'll save the regrets for when we are old. Didn't take us too long to decide to take the plunge. After all, when you are young, you think with your heart.
She just had a tiny condition. She wanted a ring that reminded her of how much I loved her; forever. It didn't have to be the most beautiful, the biggest or the priciest, it just had to be unique. Every lover is a knight seeking a quest and I took this one to be mine.
I knew I wouldn't find it in the the regular stores, so I never went there. If I had, this story may probably have turned out a bit differently. I scoured small pawnshops, auctions and antique stores for months with a feverish spirit but only met with failure. I gave myself another week and decided I would buy what I could find with my light pockets & heavy heart.
I was visiting a couple of my friends in another town during the said week. I was out alone on a casual stroll. Lost in my thoughts, I had lost my way as well. Just as I realized, that I need to figure out how to get back, was when I saw it on the window front of a small store.
It was exquisite. Rose gold coloured with intricate carving on the band and a stone on the crown, so finely cut that the reflected light just seem to dazzle out of it. I knew it was the one.
I entered the store & it seemed as if I had travelled back in time. Red felt lined the walls and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling. Even though it was daytime, hardly any light or sound from outside trickled in.
Most surprisingly, there was no proprietor. I called out a couple of times but there seemed to be nobody around. I approached the window where I had seen the ring. I wanted to pick it up & get going. As I was leaning across the counter for a closer look, I heard a door far back in the shop open. By the time I turned around, there was an old man with grizzled hair, heavily leaning on a cane at the far end of the counter.
'Nothing for sale. Leave.'
But I wasn't willing to give up so easily. I explained my predicament to him, offered him all I could in terms of money and told him that I would not leave unless he sold me the ring.
'Fool. Fine, take it. But remember, whoever gets the ring will love you forever.'
I smiled and told him, I'd be a lucky man if that were so.
He gave a derisive laugh, 'Only fools believe in luck & love'. I paid him, picked the ring and got out. When I looked at it, I knew I came out better in the bargain. What a fool I really was!
Well, she was ecstatic when she saw the ring. We got married within a month. Our initial years seem like another world now. We travelled, we laughed, we loved & we lived.
But we did have our share of ups & downs. A few years ago, there was a time everyone was sure she had left me for good. But she came back. I was broken when she left & shocked when she came back.
She's changed a lot since then but I should have expected it. She doesn't smile much anymore. Doesn't talk much either. Her touch is colder. She likes to keep to herself. But when you have been together this long, you know each other too well to have the need to talk, and well the world we are living in, isn't much to talk about right? At least, that's what I tell myself and I prefer it this way.
It's only at night when she crawls in to the bed next to me that I long to be alone. I tried changing rooms, homes, cities but she finds her way. It's been 5 years since I slept at night. But I expect anybody will have difficulty sleeping next to someone you love who's been dead all this while.
What time is it? 9 PM already? Time flies when you are having fun, eh? I hear her in the other room. Every night I am reminded of those words that the years had made me forget, 'Whoever gets the ring will love you forever'. Well, I know that for a fact now.
I loved her to death but she continues to do so from beyond. But I guess that's what true love is...
You might find the one that I am about to tell you, a bit of both. So sit back & relax. Listen to my story & be the judge and jury on this one.
I have been married for a while. 43 years to be precise. She was my first love and I was her first too. We were full of love & had little of anything else. She told me, we'll save the regrets for when we are old. Didn't take us too long to decide to take the plunge. After all, when you are young, you think with your heart.
She just had a tiny condition. She wanted a ring that reminded her of how much I loved her; forever. It didn't have to be the most beautiful, the biggest or the priciest, it just had to be unique. Every lover is a knight seeking a quest and I took this one to be mine.
I knew I wouldn't find it in the the regular stores, so I never went there. If I had, this story may probably have turned out a bit differently. I scoured small pawnshops, auctions and antique stores for months with a feverish spirit but only met with failure. I gave myself another week and decided I would buy what I could find with my light pockets & heavy heart.
I was visiting a couple of my friends in another town during the said week. I was out alone on a casual stroll. Lost in my thoughts, I had lost my way as well. Just as I realized, that I need to figure out how to get back, was when I saw it on the window front of a small store.
It was exquisite. Rose gold coloured with intricate carving on the band and a stone on the crown, so finely cut that the reflected light just seem to dazzle out of it. I knew it was the one.
I entered the store & it seemed as if I had travelled back in time. Red felt lined the walls and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling. Even though it was daytime, hardly any light or sound from outside trickled in.
Most surprisingly, there was no proprietor. I called out a couple of times but there seemed to be nobody around. I approached the window where I had seen the ring. I wanted to pick it up & get going. As I was leaning across the counter for a closer look, I heard a door far back in the shop open. By the time I turned around, there was an old man with grizzled hair, heavily leaning on a cane at the far end of the counter.
'Nothing for sale. Leave.'
But I wasn't willing to give up so easily. I explained my predicament to him, offered him all I could in terms of money and told him that I would not leave unless he sold me the ring.
'Fool. Fine, take it. But remember, whoever gets the ring will love you forever.'
I smiled and told him, I'd be a lucky man if that were so.
He gave a derisive laugh, 'Only fools believe in luck & love'. I paid him, picked the ring and got out. When I looked at it, I knew I came out better in the bargain. What a fool I really was!
Well, she was ecstatic when she saw the ring. We got married within a month. Our initial years seem like another world now. We travelled, we laughed, we loved & we lived.
But we did have our share of ups & downs. A few years ago, there was a time everyone was sure she had left me for good. But she came back. I was broken when she left & shocked when she came back.
She's changed a lot since then but I should have expected it. She doesn't smile much anymore. Doesn't talk much either. Her touch is colder. She likes to keep to herself. But when you have been together this long, you know each other too well to have the need to talk, and well the world we are living in, isn't much to talk about right? At least, that's what I tell myself and I prefer it this way.
It's only at night when she crawls in to the bed next to me that I long to be alone. I tried changing rooms, homes, cities but she finds her way. It's been 5 years since I slept at night. But I expect anybody will have difficulty sleeping next to someone you love who's been dead all this while.
What time is it? 9 PM already? Time flies when you are having fun, eh? I hear her in the other room. Every night I am reminded of those words that the years had made me forget, 'Whoever gets the ring will love you forever'. Well, I know that for a fact now.
I loved her to death but she continues to do so from beyond. But I guess that's what true love is...
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