Nestled in a secluded valley enclosed by lush mountains and dappled with meandering streams was a pretty little village wherein resided a kind-hearted girl named Eliza. Eliza was cared for mostly because of her warmth and large heart. Most of her days were spent in looking after her family and the people of her community. She was happy to lend a hand to someone with great kindness, but there was still that empty feeling inside of her heart-an longing for the love that would finally bring her happiness.
Clara amidst a great tussle would expect the very man who would relinquish her for one helping heart, not from love but like a great force that would rouse a sleeping soul. While all her friends passed into the honeyed arms of courtship, marriage, and motherhood into the happy ever after, she would continue to wait for the unobtainable man to fill in the void so it all could shine unto her.
On a breezy autumn day, lemon yellow leaves sparkling, Clara meets James. He had just left a fancy city where he had gaped a little too long at the frantic pace of life to breathe in actual fresh town air for once. This aura of dynamism encircled him. Tall, dark-haired, his smile was guarded by all kinds of interesting secrets. Luck had rudely liberated existence, playing just enough between glamour and humility, right from the moment when each came close to the other.
The Saturday had become one of the hottest so far. Clara volunteered at her local gallery, while James drifted in to see the paintings. Their eyes met from across the room and seemed to stop time as one was aware that the whole world had stepped back a few paces and left these two alone.
As they spoke, James, the unpremeditated flow of words, wrapped around Clara; it was with such simplicity in their conscious meetings that they broke through their barriers. He spoke of art and living, of beauty lying in simplicity. When Clara was about that time, she noticed common interests between them. The dialogue flowed freely: it was one thing to be under Aurora’s flames, something else entirely to live those real moments.
In the coming weeks, Clara and James found it easier to spend time together again. They spent hours wandering the streets, evenings in quiet cafes, and painted together at the gallery. It felt almost sacred to be with him, a touch of echo-of-what-it-felt-like-completing-a-puzzle when Clara discovered that last missing heart piece.
The sunset colored the skies in hues; seated on the riverbanks, and James looked at Clara as though lost.
“Someone, sometime,” he said very softly. “For many years, I have been living a life of facade, pretending I was happy and content. But from that one moment of encounter, from the day I met you, Clara, I realized what my life had missed all these years, and that is you.”
Her heart turned over. Literally, these were her first words reiterated, so unuttered, so filled with love and tenderness and infinite vulnerability. She felt those very feelings reflected back to her.
“I have waited all along for you,” she murmured, her eyes filling with tears. “I wanted to know how, until now; you are the missing piece I have sought.”
Then, there seemed to be an inner blaze within them that continuously burned stronger with ever breath after that. They then, from that moment ever onward, could never be apart. Soulmates that had finally reunited after so long apart. Their love was never based on an effort to overcome some contradiction due to passion. Rather, theirs is more though based on mutual regard and understanding.
Change was closing in on Clara and James. Their first challenge would be winter. James had taken a job far enough away but not out of town, the very town where their love had blossomed. It wasn’t an easy decision to make. But Clara believed that love would last even after the distance did eventually separate them.
“You take me wherever you go,” she sighed before the dying fire that night. “Love isn’t about a place; it belongs to the people within it. And if I am with you, we will be okay.”
Their hearts floated with such inspiration, and they were terribly happy to take the plunge. The city opened a whole new concatenation of opportunities for the two of them. This was uncharted territory for them, but love continued to grow in this new landscape. Such happy moments included farmer’s markets held on Sunday mornings, long talks in the night, and the ability to make one another laugh.
Years passed with their love fresh and firm. That glorious autumn day, when they first met, always remained fresh in her mind as a time when she never thought her life could absolutely spin since then-from a mere lover into the bosom friend who knows how to see and appreciate her.
Pulling those plot twists and acts of fiery passions, theirs was that eternal story about quiet steady devotion. It was a different word that time has assured could last for an eternity, thickening as it slowly crept onwards. For at times, in what felt like utter chaos and uncertainty, Clara and James tried to see themselves as truly lucky holders of something that, scarcely anything else in life but love could offer: the greatest fortune of all-a love that would last an eternity.
Under a clear night sky, she could hardly be missed in the terrace as she watched shimmering stars, again, against an intensely colored canvas. Nestled against James’s shoulder, Clara flashed him a smile.
“Cute-this was how I always dreamt.”
Then James-great Will Cleo kissed her on her forehead and took closer care of her. He realized that they had stumbled on something very rare-the flame called love prepared to burn forever beyond the evening dark of night.
