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An entry for a competition on Wattpad, this is the warm up challenge, but thought to upload it here.
Love in all its glory, a promise made from one soul to another to love eternally without failure. But as years go by can love really last it all?
We often wonder what life will be like in the following years, if youll find love or if you'll stay with the person you love now, if you'll have children, if you'll get your dream job, if you'll ever be happy. As humans it is ingrained within us to wonder, to question. But, when you are there in that moment, looking back on your younger years, you'll remember the things that were important, the things that weren't, the things that were necessary and the things that were not.
It was the year 2048, an older man sat down on a park bench, his hair a dark grey, his trimmed beard a mix of salt and pepper. He wore a suit, a black blazer and a plain white shirt, a tie tight around his collar, black and grey striped
He looked down at his watch and sighed, the anticipation was painful, he always was nervous while he waited.
"Excuse me" a young man spoke
The elderly man looked up and smiled "Yes"
"My name is Ajay, I often see you sat at this very park bench every week on a thursday, may I ask why"
"Sit" he tapped the bench beside him
"My name is Neil, I sit here once a week waiting for my wife, its date night" his eyes glimmered with love, a burning passion that nothing could extinguish
"Wow" Ajay laughed "You really love her then"
Neil smiled, not wasting a moment of hesitation "Yes, I do"
"You make it look so easy"
Neil shook his head "It wasnt, I have been with my wife for just over fourty years now, ten of those years we spent seperated"
Ajay's eyes widened "Well then how and why did you get back together"
"They say you never know how much you love someone until you lose them, I loved her of course, but the years without her left me firm in my knowledge that she was who I wanted to spend my life with, that I could never love anyone but her"
Lafz kitne hi tere pairon se lipte honge
Tune jab aakhiri khat mera jalaaya hoga
Tune jab phool, kitaabon se nikaale honge
Dene waala bhi tujhe yaad to aaya hoga
"But how could you come back from that" Ajay wondered
"When she got rid of all of our memories when she left me, at that time she must have recalled me, you can burn those memories, rid yourself of all physical items of the love we shared, but not the emotional connection"
Ajay nodded "So youre saying that when she burnt the memories of you, she never really could move on"
Neil smiled "Neither of us could"
He paused, looking up at the sky
Teri aankhon ke dariya ka
utarna bhi zaroori tha
Mohabbat bhi zaroori thi
Bichhadna bhi zaroori tha
Zaroori tha ki
Hum dono tawaaf-e-aarzoo karte
Magar phir aarzuon ka
bikharna bhi zaroori tha
Teri aankhon ke dariya ka
utarna bhi zaroori tha
"It was necessary to have loved and lost, to have mourned for the loss, to have had hopes and dreams that never got fulfilled, it helped us learn that love isnt easy, its only worth it with the right person, you will love and you will lose, you have to decide which is worth it"
"Im guessing she was worth it" Ajay asked, never had he heard of a love so strong, he had never believed it could exist, but that was the beauty of love, it arrived without warning and changed your life
Bataao yaad hai tumko
Wo jab dil ko churaya tha
Churaai cheez ko tumne
Khuda ka ghar banaya tha
Woh jab kehte thhe
Mera naam tum tasbih mein padhte ho
Mohabbat ki Namaazo ko
qara karne se darte ho
Magar ab yaad aata hai
Woh baatein thi mahaz baatein
Kahin baaton hi baaton mein
Mukarna bhi zaroori tha
Teri aankhon ke dariya ka
Utarna bhi zaroori tha
"More than worth it, she stole my heart, kept it safe and prayed for my heart to stay with her forever, we would often dream of how our future would be, but again, it had to happen for us to learn that love isnt a bed of roses, love is two people never giving up"
Ajay cleared his throat, the tears he held back burning his eyes
Wahi hai sooratein apni
Wahi main hoon, wahi tum ho
Magar khoya huaa hoon main
Magar tum bhi kahin gum ho
Mohabbat mein dagha ki thi
So kaafir the so kaafir hain
Mili hain manzilein phir bhi
Musaafir thhe, musaafir hain
Tere dil ke nikaale hum
Kahaan bhatke, kahaan pahunche
Magar bhatke toh yaad aaya
Bhatakna bhi zaroori tha
"When I lost her, I thought love was fake, cruel, unkind, I didnt know back then that this was a part of love, I had to travel that journey to understand it, we were both lost, meaninglessly travelling to find something we werent aware we were trying to find, our paths met again, led back to eachother and then it hit me, it was needed, I had to lose her to find her again, the journey is the best part of love, not the destination"
Ajay looked up at the frail older woman who walked over
Neil stood up, straightening his suit he held her hand and kissed it making her giggle
That love, that undying passion in Neil's eyes was mirrored in hers
"Ajay, this is my wife Avni"
Ajay shook her hand
"I was just telling Ajay about our love"
Mohabbat bhi zaroori thi
Bichhadna bhi zaroori tha
Zaroori tha ki
Hum dono tawaaf-e-aarzoo karte
Magar phir aarzu'on ka
Bikharna bhi zaroori tha
Teri aankhon ke dariya ka
Utarna bhi zaroori tha
Avni smiled "Yes, it was all worth it, all something that should have happened to make us be here today, all the pain was worth it"
Avni shivered slightly, Neil pulled off his blazer and wrapped it around her shoulders
"Everytime I see her, I feel like a young man again" he laughed
Avni looked over at Ajay, gripping onto Neil's arm "He still gives me butterflies"
"So any advice for me" Ajay asked, already so fond of the couple who seemingly fought multiple wars to win every time
It gave him hope, faith and most importantly belief in love
"Make sure you never give up on who you love, sometimes things will happen that will make it seem like the end, but it isnt" Avni said, smiling up at Neil dreamily
Neil turned to Ajay "Sometimes things happen for a reason, reason unknown at the time but now we know"
"Now excuse me, I must take my wife to our date" Neil said excitedly
Avni waved Ajay a goodbye as they stepped down from the park bench
Ajay smiled thinking of Avni and Neil's struggles and all defying love, two words came to mind when he thought of all the events they may have faced leading up to now
"Zaroori tha"
I know this is VERY different from what anyone expected, but I hope you will all still enjoy it either way.
Cricket
Arjun
Jhanak
