A little Love Story

Longing

It had been such a lovely evening.

Myra sighed. She stood there looking at the sunset at the horizon.

A sunset like it had been on the last evening with him. Anua. Her love. 

Her only true love.

She missed him so much. Every day she missed him more. 

When she had first met him she thought of him to be common like all the other men at her town.

And that's the way she had treated him too. A friendly hello, goodbye and small talk. 

A smile here and there when she saw people she knew from seeing.

Polite. As she had been taught by her parents to be. 

And then this special day had come. A feast in the village to honour some ancient person.

Too long ago that anyone actually knew the person. Only the stories told about the great things he had done for the village and the future of its inhabitants. So that they all could still live here and be happy.

At first she had not taken much notice of him. Stayed close to her friends. Chatting with the girls, listening to their boasts about their friends and lovers. 

Suddenly her best friend, Tina, asked her when she would tell them about her lover. Myra protested. She didn't have a lover, not even a male friend.

Then Tina pointed over to him: "Well, he for sure seems to be in love with you. He only has eyes for you. All the time since he is here today. And all the time I see him seeing you, too. Stopping whatever he does when he spots you. And you smile so differently when you see him. Yes, we all can notice that."

"I don't know him. He is just a man that lives here. Nothing special and surely not my friend or lover. You are mistaken!" Myra was now angry at Tina for saying such stupid things. And stomped off.

First, she walked over to the table with the drinks. But she wasn't thirsty. She continued to the table with the foods. None she liked right now there too. She looked back to her group of friends. No one was looking her way, but she imagined them all talking about her behaviour now. Giggling, and saying things not true. Rumours.

She felt so embarrassed now. 

Searching around over the people at the feast, she suddenly noticed him. Yes, indeed, he was looking at her, directly, nearly staring. This was rude. You don't look at a person, friend or stranger, like that! She felt her anger rising over her embarrassment at being rumoured about and stared at. 

She gave herself a push and walked over to him. Directly. Like he was looking at her. Ignoring the people that nearly had to jump out of her way and their comments about that.

When she arrived in front of him, he stood up. She made herself even taller, stretching her back and pumping air into her lungs to start the angry talk she had prepared.

But before she could let the air and words flow out, he took her hand: "Myra, I love you. I love the way you smile, the sparkle in your eyes, the sun and moon shining on your hair. It's a great pleasure for me that you finally come over to me so I can tell you this!"

She was baffled. "I...I... Don't stare at me like you do all the time. It's rude", she managed to say. But the next moment she felt sorry for having said that.

Her face turned red: "Oh, sorry. Now I was being rude. My appologies. You said such nice things to me. Thank you, I feel honoured by them. But I don't even know you!" She felt confused; better to stop talking and searching for words.

"Well, then let me introduce myself. My name is Anua. And ever since I reached this village and have seen you, I knew that I love you. Always have loved you and always will love you. Let's move a bit away from the crowd so we can exchange our words and feelings." With this he, still holding her hand, walked with her along the street, to the beach and there to the little temple like outlook at the cliff. One of her favourite places since she could remember.

He made her sit down on the small stone ring, looking out over the ocean. And then he told her, that he wasn't from this side of the ocean. That he had come a long way to explore this coast, the people living here and if he perchance could trade with them. This was his living: to search for new trade possibilities for his people over on the other side of the ocean. And he also told her that he also did these journeys so that one day he would find that one girl that he felt so connected to deep in his heart and soul.

And that he now has found here.

At first she was silent after this. Slowly, very slowly she began to understand why she loved this place so much. She too had been searching, waiting for her love to find her. And she had to admit, now that he was so close to her, she too could feel that they were somehow connected. She now, for the first time fully conscious of it, looked at him. Directly, without shyness, taking in every detail of his face, his body, his posture, his aura.

"I'm sorry, I was so shut-off toward you. I had given up hope at finding a true love for me. All I knew was that it would not be any of the men from my village or any close by area. I did not know that you were not one of us. But now, " she hesitated.

He pulled her closer and gave her a tender kiss. And then another. And another, lower on the neck. She sighed and returned the kisses.

And they spend a long time there that day. Talking, hugging, kissing, enjoying at being together finally. Then the evening came and the sunset. Such a strong and beautiful sunset. Just one moment she had wondered why no one else had come to this place. It  must have been magic, the magic of love, that they had been undisturbed all that time. 

They had sat there together, arm in arm, until the sun had fully set and all the colour had gone from the landscape and sky. And the stars and moon had risen. She fell asleep in his arms holding her. She still felt that he placed his coat over her when he tenderly lay her on the stone ring much later. 

And he heard his whisper in her dream: "I am so sorry. I have to leave you now. My time here is over. I am glad that we did finally meet and had this time together. I wish, it would have been much longer. But alas, I have affairs to tend to that can not wait any longer. Farewell my love! I promise, I will come back to you. As soon as I can. I hope, you will wait for me and remember me. I will. I will always love you, I promise. No matter how much time will pass." And with a final tender kiss he left her. 

When she woke some time later, still dark, the moon just setting, the dawn still a few hours off, she could still feel his presence, his strong arms around her and his tender kisses on her lips. "I will never forget you and I will wait for you to return to me, I promise!"she called out over the ocean.

From this day on, whenever she had the chance, she returned to this special place to look out for him. Remembering his love, her love, their love.