MM.

Under the velvet blue sky, he startled. He had not expected her there and yet .. one look upon her loosely hung tee-shirt, casual flip-flops and that messy side pony and his face broke into a smile. She could feel the warmth of this smile even across the distance that separated them. 

They both stood semi-still.. She, playing with her hair; he, gazing deeply in her grey-blue eyes – neither wanting to break the eye-contact though both longing for touch. 

As the breeze started blowing with a deeper chill than before, she seemed to shiver slightly. It seemed this cold breeze was giving her goosebumps—though she doubted it had more to do with his presence. It was this shiver that brought him to his senses, splintering the trance he was in and he broke into a run towards her. 

And as he stopped, just two steps short of her, it was so as to take in her entire beauty, even more charming under the moonlight which seemed to seep upon them in a way that kept alive the sense of dark and yet, was enough to light up their faces. They were so close that she could have counted the freckles on his face but she only noticed his deep, intense eyes seemingly burning the darkness as they gazed so passionately into her very soul .. 

The chill was setting in and the breeze swayed the branches of the trees gently .. the clouds slid over the moon and the night seemed to momentarily engulf them both into darkness. 

In this one fluid moment he pulled her by the arm to him and held her close enough to never let go. She was cold, her skin freezing as if begging him to make her warm. The world around them ceased to exist as they both looked into each other .. craving for more closeness if possible .. 

She opened her mouth, trying to put into words as to how she felt, how he made her feel .. but his two fingers touched her lips .. silencing her .. the moment was just too perfect for words. 

She was shorter than him by an inch or two so she stepped on his feet as he held her by the waist, slowly yet certainly, drawing her closer and closer .. pulling himself into her .. leaving no room for even air to pass between them .. 

He slid his hand up her back into her silk soft hair .. and as she tried to pull away, he held her even harder with a sense of possessiveness that a kid has while holding a precious toy that he’s afraid to lose in the dark. She stopped resisting as he finally broke the silence with his husky-deep voice ..

“I Love You” 

The clouds seemed to leisurely drift away .. making way for two stars that shimmered ever so brightly upon them .. and even the chill in the breeze was lost and forgotten .. as their lips met. It was their first .. and the miniscule distance between their bodies seemed insignificant and non-existent .. their soul was one .. 

And as they sat down on a forlorn bench to gaze at the brilliant sky, the secret midnight walk seemed worth the effort .. and as she kept her head on his shoulder taking her small, cold hand into his, it was her favourite song that he whispered in her tender ear .. 

*

She wakes up.

That was then.. This is now. And no amount of dreams can make them real. This harsh reality is hers alone. Sure, she spends it wishing he comes and pulls her out if it - this misery, but it's her fight. She has to fight this one alone. She has to wake up in this jail that she has built for herself, secretly praying everyday for a loop-hole, an easier way. 

"Oh my god. I know this is not what it used to be. It used to be easy. Waking up to your name was one of the many constants in my life. Now my wrinkles are yellow, and my face is pale. The stength seems to have left my limbs and it's an effort to get myself out of bed everyday without that name."

"Oh my god. My warts are moonlight and they can't be scrubbed off or shook. They plague me a little more each day and happiness is a task when you're ill, maybe even dead from within."

"Oh my god. My fatigue is the sea. My sea. It has tired me and left me on clueless and homeles at the shore. I'm alone and the more I run toward it, the further back it recedes."

"Oh my god. I know I'm not the girl you fell in love with. But please don't abandon me. Don't abandon me."

*

The silence hasn't changed, that's still the same. But now it gnaws at her very insides. The silence used to reflect how they didn't need words. They probably still don't. There's nothing left to say anymore. 

Her favourite story is ending now. And it's not with the happily everafter that she had secretly always hoped for. A few chapters remain to be written though. The question is, will she have the strength to write them?

* 

"They say she's in the class A team, stuck in her daydream.

Been this way since eighteen, but lately her face seems; 

Slowly sinking, wasting, crumbling like pastries. 

They scream, the worst things in life come free to us."