Forbidden Hearts

The sirens alarmed at precisely 6 pm signaling the start of the curfew. The gray city streets emptied as people hurried inside their houses, avoiding the watchful drones which hovered above them. The government had one unwavering law. Love is Forbidden. 

Romance had been deemed the root of society’s downfall. Wars had been fought over it, many crimes had been committed in the name of love. Love makes people reckless, unpredictable and dangerous.  The city council believed that a world which was free from love was a world at peace. 

Marriages were assigned based on the metrics of compatibility. Everyone was tested and paired off with partners. Children were conceived only with government permission and based on government programs and the population at the time. Displays of affection including holding hands, prolonged eye contact, and whispered words were forbidden and punishable by exile or worse. 

Silas has always followed the rules. He lived a quiet life working in the archives of the library where records of the past were locked away. But, everything changed the day he met Elara. 

Elara arrived as new archivist and was assigned to the same sterile office. Silas had never thought much about beauty. Beauty was irrelevant in a world and city where attraction was meaningless. But, there was something about Elara which made him hesitate. The first time he spoke to him her voice was soft but strong. 

“Have you ever wondered what it was like before this?” She whispered. 

Silas frowned, “Before what?” 

“Before love was against the law.” 

His pulse quickened and his heart pounded. It was dangerous to ask questions like that. But something about her curiosity stirred something deep inside of him. 

“No.” He lied. 

She stared at him for a moment, looking him up and down. His face told a different story. 

“I don’t believe you.” 

Over the following months Elara continued to challenge him. She would slide old poetry books with their yellowed pages into his stacks of papers and reports. They were filled with words that made his chest tighten in unfamiliar ways. She asked him about his dreams, his thoughts, his feelings. Nobody had ever asked him about his feelings before now. 

One evening while they were working she leaned in close. “I found something.” 

Silas swallowed hard. 

“What?”

She handed him an old folder labeled “The Forbidden Love Trails.” Inside were records of people who broke the law. People who had fallen in love. Some had been exiled and some had simply disappeared without a trace. 

“They erased these people.” Elara said. “Not just from the city but from history itself.” 

Slides looked at her and a storm of fear was brewing inside of him. “Why show me that?” He asked.

“Because I think that you feel it too. I know you feel the emptiness that I feel. The need for something more.” 

He did. He had always felt that although, he never knew exactly what it was. But, now standing in front of Elara he knew exactly what it was. He knew that the warm feeling that was inside of him had everything to do with her presence. He knew that the feeling was love. 

Footsteps echoed down the corridor. They were being watched. 

Elara grabbed his hand, a forbidden act. Electricity shot through his body. 

“We have to run.” 

Panic surged through him. He nodded as they ran through the archives past shelves of forgotten history that the government wanted to erase permanently. 

The sounds of the sirens filled the year.  The Enforcers had been alerted. 

Elara and Silas ran outside into the cold dark air of the night. The air cut through them like a bug biting their skin. Drones lit up the sky as they searched for them. 

“The wall.” Elara gasped. “If we can get past it.” 

They ran toward the edge of the city where the concrete was looming. Beyond it was the unknown, the wastelands where people were exiled were sent. It was their only chance. 

A red light from the drones cracked in the sky. Elara stumbled and let out a loud cry. Silas caught her before she hit the ground. 

“No!” He whispered. 

Her hand gripped his hand tightly. “You have to leave me and go.” She said,

“No, I won’t leave you. I love you.” Tears flowed from his eyes. 

For the first time in his life he understood what love truly was. It was not just a feeling but it was a force inside of him, something worth fighting for. 

He lifted her from the ground into his arms and ran. He had to make it to the wall. The drones flew closer overhead. He stumbled but he kept running as fast as he could while carrying Elara. He didn’t know what was beyond the wall; he knew only one thing that he would rather die loving Elara than living in a world without her in it or without love. 

As the enforcers closed in, Silas ran faster holding Elara tightly in his arms. He only had a few feet to go until they reached the wall. 

“Silas, put me down. I am too heavy. You’ll never make it.” 

“No, we will make it.” Silas responded.

He had made his choice. He leaped, holding her close and tightly in his arms. For the first time in his life he felt free. He felt free to love. 

Silas looked around. The land was not barren as the government had claimed. Jagged rocks and trees stretched towards the horizon. In the distance faint purple lights flickered in the darkness. 

“Someone lives out here.” Silas whispered.

Elara groaned as she tried to sit up. He quickly pressed his hands over her wounded arm. “Don’t move.” 

She gave him a weak smile. “We made it.” 

He nodded and smiled. “Yes we did. Wherever this is, it has to be better than a world without love.” 

Elara grasped his hand and smiled. 

Silas held Elara close as the people of the settlement guided them towards the central building. The building was a structure of salvaged metal and wood. It was worn by time but it was sturdy on the inside. The air smelled like burning wood and the earth. A fire crackled in the makeshift fireplace and cast a warm glow and flickering shadows on the walls. 

A young man walked over to them and keeled. He was carrying a black medical bag. He smiled and said, “Everything is going to be alright now. You’re safe. Welcome to our city, the city of love.”