Love is Eternal

She was at the library reading the last chapters of her favourite book. A year-long wait for the book to release globally and then six more months for the book to release in her country was worth the wait. She did not move out of the chair for two hours and her lips and throat were dry but she barely cared. The climax of the book is what she longed for. Her mind exploded as her imagination created thousands of scenarios on how the book would have ended while she completed the second last chapter. Her heartbeat gradually increased as her eyes scanned through the first sentence of the final chapter. She wiped off the sweat from her forehead as she prepared herself. Ananya started to read when the lights in the library went out to which she let out a frustrated sigh. In the dark, she switched on her mobile’s torch to read the rest of the page but hesitated. Her curious mind screamed at her to finish off the book while her inner voice screamed back letting both of them know that the book deserved to be read in bright light. She knew what to do.

Half an hour passed and still no power. People started to go down the stairs and leave the library one by one. She knew she had to finish the book hence stayed back with the hope that power will return soon. Her weary eyes gave in and fell asleep on the desk. Ananya soon fell into the world of dreams where she enjoyed her time with her boyfriend who passed away four years back. The best memory was the one she always cherished every day before she went to bed; it was her on the bed lying next to him while their fingers would interlock and he would grab her hair gently. Both of them would lay naked on her bed looking at the ceiling and talking random things for hours. As the A/C would start to lower the temperature of the room they would have nothing but their own bodies to warm each other up. 

She was awakened by the sound of thunder. Her eyes opened to the beautiful bolts of lightning which pierced the sky. She had a nostalgic scent of him all over her body. Though she knew it was only imaginative, she enjoyed it as if it was real. The power was still out and the library was silent. She wanted to take her book home to read the rest of the chapter. The librarian would not allow it as there were many books rented in her name. Ananya decided to sneak past him as there were no lights. She quietly made her way downstairs. The wooden stairs creaked a bit but she managed to stay quiet. She reached the front door without getting spotted by anyone and opened it. To her surprise, the door was shut and locked from the outside. Ananya stood by the door frozen in disbelief while her eyes saw through the crack of the door which had the view of the corridor.

She took out her mobile phone from her bag to call her dad and noticed the low battery sign at the top right corner. The call connected but her phone betrayed her and shut down. Ananya took out a mini torch from her bag and returned upstairs in exasperation as her foot stamped hard on each of the wooden stairs. She sat on the bean bag near the desk and looked out the window. The stars in the sky tempted her to admire it. After she got bored of the stars, her attention was directed to the long mirror on the other side of the hall. She walked towards it and stared at her voluptuous body and her long silky hair. After she turned on her torch to check the black marks on her face she knew a trip to the beautician was due. Tired and hungry Ananya went back and sat on the sofa when she realised that a person stood in front of the mirror. 

She felt like her heart stopped for a minute. The top of her lips and forehead started to sweat and her hands began to tremble in fear. She used her torch to see the face of the person when her torch flickered and gave up on her. 

“Hello?”, she said nervously.

“Please show yourself. You are freaking me out!”

She got up from the sofa and slowly walked towards the person. When she realised that the person actually stood inside the mirror and not in front of it made her more nervous. The person started to move and stretched the arm towards Ananya. Its arm transported from inside the mirror to outside. It was as if the person was asking Ananya to come to the mirror world. She immediately took out a knife from her purse and tried to stab the hand but the knife went through its hand. She was confused and threw a water bottle at the mirror. The bottle flew inside the mirror and fell on the floor near the person’s leg. Ananya sprinted downstairs and started to call for help when she heard the person speak. 

“Anu!”

“Anu!!”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Anu please come back!”

The voice was familiar to her. It was so familiar that her eyes began to well up immediately. She turned back and slowly made her way towards the mirror. She hoped for the voice to be the person whom she thought it was. Ananya dropped her bag on the ground and ran towards the mirror when she saw her late boyfriend on the other side. She went through the mirror and into an unknown world. She tried to hug him but could not as his body passed through hers. She fell onto the ground weeping. Ananya started to cry loudly when she realised that this was the closest she could get to her dead boyfriend. 

Diwakar sat next to her and rested his head on her lap. He rested his head in the air to look like it was on her lap and said,

“Now try again slowly Anu.”

Ananya slowly touched the edge of her boyfriend's head and she could feel it emotionally though there was no sense of touch. She enjoyed the feel and her lips widened for the first time in four years. Diwakar smiled back and slowly went in for a kiss. His lips went straight through hers. Ananya saw his eyes started to sparkle, not because his eyes were shiny but he could no longer hold back his tears. Both of their eyes locked onto each other as their thoughts intertwined. 

“You should move on from your past Anu”

“A dead soul like you could not move on then how do you expect a mere human like me can do it?”

“Both are different scenarios Anu! A soul is bound with the last memories and thoughts before death. I

do not have a physical brain to forget the memories nor can I do anything about it. That is how it works in the soul world. I saw your face in the last few seconds before the grim reaper took me away hence the love will live on with me forever”

“Same for me.”

“Anu, please, don’t be stubborn.”

“Why do you assume it’s easy for me? Is it because there are other feelings to deal with? The day you died is also the day I died. I buried my feeling along with your body. This is just an outer shell. I too live the last few seconds of your life again and again in my mind.”

“Please try to understand what…”

“Diwa, it’s not possible for me. You please try to understand that.”

Both of them stared at each other for a sec and hugged tightly the next. Ananya spent the night in the soul world inside the mirror sleeping peacefully as her fingers intertwined with his. On the first ray of sunshine, Diwakar used his powers to levitate Ananya and placed her gently on the sofa. Ananya woke up after few hours. She saw the mirror and felt nostalgic. She went near to it to inspect and ended up applying light makeup on her face as she hated the black marks. She heard the front door open and jumped in excitement. With a smile on her face, she greeted the librarian which spooked him. The librarian immediately apologised for locking her out and allowed her to take the book to her home and finish it. 

As she stepped out of the library Diwakar had a smile on his face. An emotion which he forgot he had within. A second person walked behind him and asked.

“So, did you use the spell on her?”

“Yes, she won’t have a memory of me now and will be able to move on.”

“And you are okay with that?”

“Yes, of course. This is what I wanted for so long. She deserves to be happy. She will find love again and start a new family soon.”

“Interesting. Your lips shout happiness but your eyes scream sadness.”

“I am… I am just a little bummed that I am not a part of her family”

“It is for the best my son. The reason we are bestowed upon these special abilities is to erase people’s memories of us so that people in the real world can move on. Clinging on to their past will only ruin their present and the future.”