The Dead Waltz

It was Thursday. It was supposed to be like any other Thursday she had lived through, mostly typical and not particularly outstanding. But something inexplicable happened and it awakened an emotion in her that was repressed and forced to sleep long ago. She found herself struggling to look calm and normal as he sat beside her in a classroom.  And she did succeed, for she could hide her emotions all too well under the surface that sometimes she seemed indifferent or devoid of emotions.  

The sound of the teacher giving lecture was a distant sound echoing in the background. She was aware of nothing else but his presence at that moment.They smiled at each other, talked about books and movies and joked and laughed like old times. They sat close, perhaps too close, to each other that she could feel the warmth of his skin. Memories of the past flashed before her eyes-the last time they held each other, the last time she felt his warmth. She could picture them like scenes from a movie. She let her mind wander back to the past. 

It was a Saturday night, the last one for the month of June. It was late and July was eagerly waiting for the sun to chase the night away so as to proclaim upon the face of earth its arrival. But Time ceased to matter, like it always did when two love birds from two different worlds collide. He came over to her place. She laid on the couch, her head on his lap. They talked about pointless stuffs of trivial significance and laughed till their stomach throbbed with pain. Then he kissed her on the lips and smiled. She remembered looking into his eyes, she could still see them now, and feeling his warmth. And at that moment, everything she ever wanted and longed for was there by her side. But neither of them was aware that that was their last time, their farewell, that the break of a new dawn would play them a different tune.

Almost a year had passed. Everything and everyone around her had changed. She had too, but yet she was still the same person she was a summer ago. And now he was here, beside her, as if he was always here, as if they had never been apart. She was aware that that moment was one that would not last. The clock would strike twelve and the magic hour would be over. He would leave the classroom, and so would she. They would go their separate ways, back to their own reality. She prepared herself for the ending. 

But somehow the old sensation crept in, and they were back in their own little world, where they were enough for each other and they needed no one else. Chance or Fate, whichever it was, gave her a chance to walk down memory lane with him after what feels like forever. She could feel him close to her, feel his warmth again, even for a short while. She could hear her bones and the blood flowing though her veins howling at her, reminding her that her heart was immune to change, that the longing and loneliness would not cease to exist.

It was difficult for her to grasp the fact that they were a thing of the past, because it felt exactly like it felt back then. She knew that they would probably avoid each other again, or pretend to be strangers when they run into each other, as they often did. But that didn’t matter. His eyes. His voice. His smile. His lingering touch. The gates of the past flung open. She was lost for a moment, unaware of the present reality she was in. But that didn’t seem to matter either. He was here for now. And she couldn’t help but smile and smile….