Love me to the end.

                                  Love me to the end.

“My back needs a rub. Oh, how I long for a swim!” Said Diana. Her husband Petero chuckled. They were lying on their lawn under a short, evergreen mango tree. Petero turned towards her and began massaging her slowly with his wrinkled but ever strong hands.

“Like this?” he asked teasingly.

“Oh yes, that feels nice.” Diana responded although thirty years it would have been magical” Diana said with a laugh. That the hearty, boisterous laugh Petero had found musical for over half a century.

“Are you saying I no longer have the same effect on you?” he asked pretending to be angry.

“Who said that? Don’t start with your evil accusations Petero. You are still my apple among thorn trees of the forest. Your touch remains electrifying as the very first one. Your effect on me is like a memorable melody sang early in the morning” Diana said.

“Mm. Am glad to hear that my love. As for the swim, am not sure of that. Is it a good idea really? We might get tired of kicking and get drowned all the same,” Petero said. They both burst in laughter.

That’s the kind of life they knew best. Both at late seventies. Old, sweet, golden life. Petero and Diana had been together for over sixty years. Their first born son was sixty four and the youngest thirty eight. It was not completely a marital bliss but they had enjoyed so much together for many years. The two were as thick as thieves such that even their children couldn’t help it but admire.

“Tomorrow is valentine. What are your plan? Or two fossils have no right to enjoy?” Diana asked in a funny tone.

They laughed.

“We can just walk around and enjoy the breeze as we stretch our legs.”

“Just walking around? Really? Diana asked feigning disbelief.

“It’s very therapeutic, I tell you” Petero answered scratching his bald head.

Diana stood.

“I would have loved a dinner somewhere in a room with a thousand dazzling colours. Then afterward dance to some jazz” she said twisting her body in an angelic way. Petero watched her amused.

“Come hold my hand Petero and dance a little bit, “she beckoned.

“Oh no my dear. My bones are screaming” He answered holding his hand out and helping Diana sit.

“Diana, my pretty diamond. You never cease to amaze me. In our younger years, we would have done that and more. I know how good your moves were. Every man wanted to dance with you.”

“Are you forgetting you are the one who taught me how to dance? Aah Petero…,”she said clasping her husband’s hand.

“I remember when you came to visit me at the college. You were eighteen, and I was turning seventeen. That evening as I was coming from the library. I was tired and bored. I saw you from a distance and I felt hot blood flowing in my veins. You were holding some flowers, my heart melted.” Diana spoke affectionately.

“Go ahead my love. Your memory is sharp like for a ten year old.” Petero said encouragingly.

Diana continued.

“I briskly ran towards you and hugged you like you were life itself. You was such relieve to me like a light shower in a desert. We had stayed for a year without meeting. Remember?”

“How can I forget that my love. When I saw you that evening, I felt like a man who had won a battle. There was that weird liberty in me in falling in love with you. The universe had conspired to make us meet Diana.” Petero said. His eyes staring on the space as he tried to recall.

“Then you told me that you had drove with your father’s Chevrolet. We drove to Thompson falls the same evening to take photos. It was a great adventure. Nothing else mattered. I remember throwing my books through the window of my room and running very fast to avoid questions from anyone” she said laughing. “You almost drove me mad Petero.”

Petero laughed too. “No, that’s not the phrase to use Diana. You should rightfully say, we were madly in love. We spoke and understood the language of love. It was not forced on us, it came naturally and we couldn’t hide from it.” Petero said.

“I felt very safe with you” Diana said. “It was my first day to be out with a man in absence of my sister, yet I felt no fear.”

“You were irresistible. You were an ember that kept glowing in my soul. We had awoken a dangerous thing in our young hearts.” Petero observed.

“The evening came with a stately fashion. After the photo session you requested to take me to a hotel for dinner. Remember? The hotel was fully packed but we found a table outside under the palm tree. It was an evening I still recall with passion. We ate, spoke, danced and did it again until it was very late. Then you took me back at the college.”

“I went back home that night with a heavy heart. I needed you very badly. There is nothing I couldn’t do to be with you again.”Petero said.

“It was a long night for me too. I felt like running away to be with you. Surely love is a strange thing.”

“Thank you for believing in me Diana. You have been a sweet headache for all those years,”Petero said placing a light kiss on Diana’s forehead.

“And you been awfully good to me Petero.”

A car drove in. Their last born daughter had come.

“Is that Grace? My eyes are growing weak” enquired Petero.

“Yes, it is our Grace. I hope there is no trouble with her husband now.” Diana said quietly. “This young generation don’t know love is to be cultivated for.”

“No, they don’t know. It’s all about shouting at each other and the loudest is termed as the winner.” Petero replied.

Grace, their youngest daughter was walking towards them.

“Mum, dad, hi. You two love birds never get tired of each other. Is there some secret you use? Grace addressed her parents while squeezing herself between them.

“You should come for some lessons from us Grace. Our ember has never grown dim. Ask your father,” said Diana making room for her daughter.