Timeless

Do you believe in a love that transcends time? Well then, you are in luck! This is a tale about a love that has bloomed across many lifetimes, becoming stronger with every sunrise and sunset. In total, our fated lovers have found each other in the midst of six different lives that span different times and places. It wasn’t a simple feat, mind you. There were always obstacles that stood in the way to keep the two separate. Yet in the end, they would find each other and the memories of their shared pasts would return as if told in a fairytale. It was a romantic notion seemingly designed for those dollar store paperbacks. 

This time the two would find each other as teenagers, earlier than usual. They attended the same school, even shared the same class. There was not a single question in either’s mind that they were meant to go through this life together, just as they had done the five lives before. There was only one issue – their families did not approve of the relationship. They couldn’t understand the attraction or the connection the two shared. Therefore once they graduated high school, the young girls boarded the late night train and began their sixth lives together in a distant city.

That was, of course, many years ago and the girls grew older. Time had treated them well; Rin went on to become an executive of a stock sharing company and allowed for them to live a comfortable life. Marissa was a well-established romance novelist and was working on the Timeless Treasures series that had made her a household name. There was even talk that a certain television station was interested in adapting her stories into a miniseries. At this point, the two looked forward to fifty-four years together.

“Do you ever wonder… what it might have been like if we didn’t find each other this time?” Marissa asked Rin one cold evening. The fireplace popped and crackled across from them as they shared a bottle of wine, just as they have done every anniversary since they were old enough to buy alcohol. Rin wasn’t thrown by this question. Marissa had asked it several times before. 

“I’d imagine it would have been a lifetime of constant searching. Remember, we didn’t find each other until we were well into our thirties that round in Venice,” she answered thoughtfully after taking a sip. Marissa smiled.

“Ah, Venice! If I recall, you were a milkmaid and I was a brutish bastard with a chip on his shoulder,” she giggled into full blown laughter at Rin’s expression.

“Excuse me – I was the man! You have never been the man before,” Rin rolled her eyes but she couldn’t be annoyed. She adored Marissa’s laugh. Just the sound of the breath she would take calmed her nerves. 

“That is simply not true. I was the man in Venice and I was also male that round in Hattiesburg,” Marissa stated matter-of-factly.

“We met in Hattiesburg but we ended up moving north. I think it was Indiana or Illinois…”

“It wasn’t north, it was west. We went to Arizona because you wanted to mine crystals. You gave me the nicest garnet,” Marissa sighed.

“So I had to have been the man that round if I was the one giving you the garnet!” Rin laughed and Marissa shrugged.

“Eh, my memory isn’t what it used to be. Maybe it was you after all. I’m only thankful we didn’t have children this time. Childbirth is awful taxing on a soul. I still mourn for past children sometimes… I wonder if we gave them good lives. You know, Hillary might still be alive. She’d be in her nineties now.”

“I make it a point not to check on them. It only breaks my heart,” Rin stated. She poured more wine for Marissa and then herself.

“Rin… will this be our fate for eternity?” Marissa suddenly asked, staring forth at the flames. Finally, a question her partner had never asked before. Not in their fifty-four years in this life or the many in the lives before. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well… this is the sixth time we have done this. I know we are soul mates, that isn’t the question. I only mean… how many more lives will we live? How many more times will we die and come back, only to start the search all over again? Isn’t six times excessive?” Marissa never looked away from the flames. Part of her was frightened to face her partner. 

Neither spoke for an uncomfortable period. Awkward conversations rarely happened. After all, not much can possibly be awkward when the other knows everything about you. Well, nearly everything. 

“I suppose I never thought about it that way before. My only motivation when I pass is to wait for you and then go to the next life to be reborn and live to find you again. That’s always what we’ve done. I don’t remember a life without you, Dove.”

Marissa felt her chest harden and her throat tightened. The thought of death approaching filled her with such anxiety. The thought of starting from the beginning again, not knowing what the next life had in store… she didn’t know how many more times she could possibly bear it. 

“Maybe… maybe this time should be our last. I mean, this one has been nearly perfect in every way! Sure, we had special hardships this round… but we truly had a remarkable existence and accomplished so much. The next time might not be as peaceful or easy,” Marissa declared, allowing the tears to fall freely. Rin didn’t know what to say. 

“If we pass by the light, we can never live another life again. Is that truly what you want?” Rin asked seriously. Marissa wiped at her cheeks with the sleeve of her cardigan.

“What more is there to do and see? How many more lives are needed to make this less gluttonous and more a gift of nature? This journey has been remarkable. I just feel that it should end on a high note –”

“I completely disagree.”

It was Marissa’s turn to be surprised. Rin’s brows furrowed and she set the wine glass on the table with a loud clink. 

“I still have more that I want to do and see. Yes, we have been immensely blessed to be given six lifetimes together, but there is still so much more out there to experience! Who knows the beauty we might see next time? Dove… we have been given an incredible gift. There is no need to talk of high notes when there is still more to see!”

“I’m tired, Dawn.”

“That is only your body. We’ve grown old here. We’ve never grown so old before. This isn’t the end. This isn’t the end!”

Marissa looked back to the flames and slowly sipped the remainder of her wine. 

“I’ve made up my mind. When the time comes, I will cross over. I won’t go toward the light with you,” she said.   

It was decided and there was simply no changing Marissa’s mind. Rin knew better than to argue with her because she knew that this was her lover’s greatest wish. She wanted to die and finally experience what was beyond the door of mortality. It would be terribly selfish to deny her that right after living so long together. Therefore, Rin retired and made it her mission to spend the remainder of their days together. No matter what each day entailed, the two made memories that would outlast this life. 

Memories. Such an odd, beautiful concept. At the age of seventy-two, Marissa had developed dementia. It started with silly mistakes, like forgetting where she had put her cell phone or not remembering a conversation she had the other day. It quickly became more prevalent and within the next few years, the old Marissa was gone and left the shell of a petite old lady without a thought besides basic needs. Rin stayed by her side and cared for her until the very end. She couldn’t understand the cruelty. How could they live six lives together and then Marissa’s final would result in losing all memories that they had together? It was as if the universe knew of the finality of their love and cemented Marissa’s promise. 

Marissa passed away at the age of eighty-one after a long fought battle. Rin followed close behind a few hours later, no longer able to bear the heartbreak. When she reached the crossroads between this world and the next, Marissa was no where to be found. She was serious… Rin could still hear the words of her Dove as clearly as if they were just spoken. This decision was lonely – live a lifetime without the muse of her existence, or pass on to the afterlife and experience an eternity of the unknown? Either way, she would never see her beloved again. She felt a special pain as she moved forward toward the light.

The seventh life was bitter. Rin was reborn as Rick into an impoverished family that had no need for another hungry mouth. He dealt with abuse and sickness, careless upbringing and a struggle to exist. He was still determined to push through, though he did not know why. There was no great sign that he would amount to much of anything once he reached adulthood. By his twelfth birthday his father had died in prison and his mother had four other children with a different father for each. Every day was a battle to make it, and he would do what it took to see the other side. 

He loved to read, and one thing his mother provided him with was her collection of old paperback romance novels. His favorite series was called Timeless Treasures, about two soul mates that would live different lives through time and always end up together. He felt as if, somehow, these stories were about him. It was impossible, of course, but as a child it felt as if anything could happen. As you could imagine, a boy reading romance paperbacks in school unfortunately didn’t go over well with his peers. He continuously took beatings and one day the bullies took it a step further and destroyed the final book in the series. 

Without the money to buy second-hand, his only alternative was to check out the book at the library to finally read what happened in the end. He desperately needed to know what happened to the lovers in that final tale. 

“I’m sorry, son. That copy has been checked out for nearly six months. We aren’t sure if we’ll ever get it back if the last person doesn’t return it,” the librarian only sighed after checking the database.

“Can’t you just order another copy? I really need it… for a research paper,” Rick asked.

“This particular book has been out of print for a long time. I can submit an order for an old edition, but there is no telling how long we would have to wait. Looks like there are no copies at the library in Carlestone, either,” she said. Rick was defeated. The one shard of magic and beauty in his life was ripped to shreds by a group of bloodthirsty hicks. Now he might never read the end. 

Rick sulked toward the romance section, only a few yards from the front desk. Perhaps it was returned and it was never put back into the database. It was worth a shot, just to say that he tried. 

“I have what you’re looking for.”

Rick heard someone call from the study table. He glanced around the shelf to see a kid around his age with dusty blond hair and brown eyes sitting with his homework sprawled in front of him. The kid grinned and then dug in his backpack, pulling out an old, creased copy of the paperback. He slid it across the table to Rick, as if proving a point.

“What… how?”

“I overheard you at the desk. I’ve been reading it too. I’m just kind of a slow reader. I’m not ready to turn it in yet,” he shrugged. 

“You – you read romance books?” Rick eyed him suspiciously and the kid grinned again.

“Not usually. I just really like this author. She tells a great story,” he said. 

“Yeah. She’s really good.”

Rick took the seat next to the kid and thumbed through the book, quickly finding the place he had left off before the attack. After half an hour, he had finished the story. He wiped the tears from his cheeks, becoming embarrassed when he realized the kid was still watching him. 

“Did it end on a high note?” the kid asked after Rick slid the paperback back to him.

“It did. It really did.”

“It didn’t take us long this time. Did it, Dawn?” the kid grinned again. The tears wouldn’t stop trailing Rick’s face, no matter how hard he would scrub them away with the sleeve of his tattered sweater.

“You told me you weren’t coming. I thought… I thought I lost you forever,” Rick sobbed, trying to keep his voice quiet. He was starting to get stares because of the crying. The kid stretched in his chair.

“Well, I lied. You think I’d let you have all the fun in the seventh round? Besides, I finally get to be a man this time,” he whispered. 

“You nutcase. What’s your name this round, Dove?”

The kid pushed a worksheet toward Rick. The name at the top right was Justin Yelverton. Rick felt his eyes widen.

“Is –”

“Hillary’s great-grandson. When I tell you this shit is crazy, I mean it,” the kid said with a laugh, followed by a shhh from the librarian. 

“We’re both male this time… I guess the universe has a thing for same-sex couples. This should be fun,” Rick shook his head, finally remembering nearly everything from his previous lives. As it always happens, the memories flood. And then it is as if he was never in the dark before. 

“Don’t be so cocky. I think I might just date someone else this time!” Justin said playfully as he packed up his homework and zipped his backpack. They both stood and walked together toward the door.

“Seriously? That’d be a crime against nature!” Rick argued.

“Aren’t you tired of me yet?” Justin chuckled.

“Never.”

Before leaving the library, Justin dropped the old paperback in the return slot. Rick noticed and shot him a look.

“Wait, I thought you haven’t finished it yet,” he mumbled before receiving a punch to the arm and another grin. 

“I wrote the damn thing, remember?”

In the end, it seemed as though the seventh life might turn out to be the most adventurous yet.