Colourless Skies

The Postlude

The sky bled a shade of amber above their heads, dripping like paint into a beautiful ombré brown as they walked deeper into the evening. The crisp air made her shiver in cold, and blew his cap off his soft locks, earning a jovial giggle from her. As he rushed back to chase the wind that stole his accessory, she stared ahead, and onto the road they walked, sighing as her breath mingled in the air like fog. Leaves the colour of gold were scattered all over the place, withering and old. The trees lining the bricked road were overgrown, rust coloured leaves breaking away from them every now and then, one happened to land in her shining black hair, but without her notice.

The evening was surprisingly humid, for the cold weather that had enveloped the city, made even more warm for her when he jogged ahead and back hugged her. A smile stretched widely across her face, as she looked back in his eyes deeply, who returned the gesture with even more passion. They stayed still, staring at each other until the breeze gently swayed them, causing them to tighten their hands around each other to prevent their fall. Laughter broke into the air around them once again as their boots began crushing the rusted leaves beneath their feet, the crunch echoing through the empty road.

He held her hand tight, as if he wanted to promise her through his affectionate touch, that he would never let her go, never let her be alone, not even for a moment. It was clear they both loved each other, but that is where, despite all their similarities, they differed. His love was Philia; he placed his entire trust in her, and valued her more than anyone in his life, regardless of relations or bloodlines. He didn't just love her, he cherished each and every one of her beliefs and imperfections.

But her love for him, was quite different. Her love for him was agape; so selfless that she always put him before her. He had hurt her, he had taken his frustration, vented his anger out on her, but she understood, and she still loved him all the same. Her heart knew no boundaries whennit came to how much she liked him, and now, every second of her life what she wanted, was to express her unconditional love for him. She just didn't love, she cherished him with her all.

And they walked again, hand in hand, their hearts yearning with exotic intimacy, their trust within each other tangled inevitably together, as if threads of silk. The path seemingly started to end, leading up to a wooden bridge, polished with brown liquor, bound by sturdy ropes leading across a small stream of crystal clear water, flowing beneath their feet gently, as a breeze changes its course ever so slightly now and then.

The pair came to a halt in front of it, and suddenly, mischief glinted in her eyes as she glanced at  him. Before the boy could predict her ultimate motives, she abruptly let go his hand and  jumped on to the first plank of  the bridge, excitement coursing through her veins parallel to adrenaline. Turning back, her eyes, fortunately, became witness to her little plan proceeding succesfully, as he fell, his face planting in the sand below him and clouds of dust rising around him, and eroding in the air as a groan escaped his lips.

She giggled, the melodious resonance making him smile through his minor pain as he finally discovered what she was upto. Both of them were happy, without a thought in the world of how they had fought for this, how many scars had it cost them to finally have a happy ending which they had once stooped believing in.

But then, the boy, is hit with reality.

The smile grew sullen and then once beaming eyes were painted with overwhelming sadness, as his heart started to beat thunderously in fear.

The girl did not see his emotions change, at all until finally, tears trickled from his eyes. Her laughter died down immediately, her face morphing into concern for him. She ran forward, in an attempt to ask him of his pain and rob him of it, but his tears kept on falling like the sand from an hourglass, and the agony his heart kept on amplifying, not extinguished, even by her calming words.

"W-why are y-you..you crying? Did I.. Did I hit you t-too hard? I-I am r-really sorry, I didn't m-mean to-" but he cut her off with his finger to her lips, silencing her hesitation and guilt all at once with the slightest movement of his finger. So she would know, that the reason of his tears, could never, never be her.

"Stop It! Stop blaming y-yourself for everything!", he said, through his tears, in exasperation.

He wiped them away, in haste before mumbling his next words.

"It's not y-you.. It's not you Leah."

"It's us.. that made me cry."

She inhaled a little too sharply for it to go unnoticed by him, as he trained his eyes on her, while she looked anywhere but at him, wanting more than anything to not confront him about his revelation, afraid,  oh so fearful for the very first time in her entire life, of asking him, what was wrong.

"Look at me."

When she didn't, holding back tears she didn't know had build up in her eyes, he repeated it again, almost begging her this time.

"Look at me, Leah."

The call of her name was so pleasant, yet infused with scars of pain. And thus, her heart broke away to his words and she looked at him.

"Why.. w-why can we n-not work?"

She pursued a moment of silence, before saying what she had been keeping inside for so long.

"Why can w-we not be happy.. A-Alex? Why does u-us make you.. make you cry?"
And at that, he smiled, though it was rigged with melancholy and dejection, he smiled.

His eyes faded to violet, as dark as the sky bleeding above them as if it had dipped into the night and had said goodbye to the setting sun, all as he looked at Leah. Only his heart knew, how much he loved her, how much he would sacrifice irrefutable for merely to spend the rest of his time with her, but bound by rules of the transient world, he knew it was his time, to let her go.

"B-because.. we can't be together sweetheart.", he told her whilst taking her cold hands into his and wiping her persistent tears away.

"Why.. why not?"  She questioned out of pure suffering and anguish the flow of tears cascading down her cheeks even more as she desperately looked for an inkling of hope in his purple eyes. But to her eternal dread, and agony, she saw nothing. Nothing at all.

He knew it was time, to wake her up.

"Because I am not real."

"Leah! Leah wake up. You can't sleep in a library, let's go home."

And her eyes opened.

Our journey will never end. Thank you, for staying with me, all the way. 🖤