The Stoicism of an Unrequited Love

Submitted into Contest #83 in response to: Write a fantasy story about water gods or spirits.... view prompt

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Bedtime Fantasy Fiction

Christopher Lark was devastated, wrecked, ruined and bold enough to share this with all of his friends who hadn’t asked. He learnt from the university lectures that as far as you accept the relativity of the adjective bad in relation to things that happen in life, you are going to achieve a peace of mind and be satisfied for the rest of your days. He wondered whether Marcus Aurelius would have said a girl’s no could be called relative.

Miss Gloria Hancock was called a child of the stars and she indeed seemed to have a close relationship with them, as she had decided to choose a man who could buy them for her over the one talking about love and other impractical things. And so there he was, refused lover, throwing another cigarette into the depths of the canal full of still water, trying to be cynical and pathetically failing.

„Could another cigarette be found in that miraculous pocket of yours?“the voice of potential listener boomed across the night, drawing young Werther from his dark thoughts. When the first attempts of confiding were waved off with merry and careless : „Oh I do not want to deprive you of the extremely attractive aura of unsolved troubles, just felt like smoking.“, Chris acknowledged the tall, ginger youth, winking at him patronizingly is not the right willow to weep at.

They stood quietly next to each other for as long as it takes to start feeling uncomfortable, when desperate Chris stated gravely: „I needed a mentor to guide me through a rough patch of life and universe said no.“

„I bet he isn’t the only one, is he?“ no wicked smile had been so close to the destruction than the one of the red-head strainger.

„I have seen too many sad faces and heard too many moving sighs not to recognise a broken-hearted fellow wanderer to the grave,“was a response to the startled and ashamed look, „I live down there, you know? In the canal.“

Chris, in the state of mind in which we tend to smile weakly: „Oh, of course you do.“, absently stuttered: „The people of your appearance are called kissed by fire, not water.“

„And you are kissed by no one, as far as I can tell,“ impatiently cried the water spirit, because that’s what he really was, careless, arrogant water creature, trying to be helpful for no nobler reason than the intolerable boredom.

„How dare you lecture me about love?“ hissed the offended sufferer, “you inhabit the muddy bottom, mind your own cods and plankton!“

„I am going to pretend I haven’t witnessed the poor manners of yours. Do you fancy spending the rest of your life in regret, thinking about the impossibility of the possibility or will you let me help a little and show you the way, Romeo?“

Christopher hasitated, hypnotised the glittering water surface ornamented by the tender tears of the new moon, tried to remember whether he had went for a drink or not and when he finally persuaded himself it would do no harm to befriend a potential illusion, he shaked the offered hand.

His companion seemed very pleased with this gesture and said more amiably: "We should not reach for stars, unless we are ready to get burned by their cold light. Save the flame for someone who can spark off."

Christopher wanted to oppose by stating there can't be much he knows about fire, but was suprised by the sudden wave of sympathy overflowing him, provoked by the boy's unconventional behaviour and rough kindness. The familiar drops of the undiluted light in the corner of the piercingly blue eyes made him wonder whether they had met before. The earthy smell of upcoming rain brought the memories of the day on which his mother passed away, getting lost in the suffocatingly tragical list of incomprehensible latin names composed by their family practitioner. He saw himself, too young and too vulnerable, escaping from the sobs and deafening sound of death to the garden behind the house, trying to save the pieces of the shattered little world paralyzed by the understanding of truths that should be hidden from the sight of the little, only to be revealed when they are tried by life and deprived of the fragility.

"It was unbelievably poetical, that day. Even the weather wanted to pay a tribute to the departing Being," muttered Dion who, in spite of being the essence of the water or as a result of it, had his own name. When he met the startled eyes of Christopher he shrugged his shoulders reluctantly.

The drops pouring down the cold cheeks in the fleeting embrace of the storm. He had been there. He had been there all the time. Older as the names of things and infrangibly young. Full of vices, now again offering a helping hand. How could I forget?

Moved Christopher took a deep breath and smiled shakily. He had no intention to bring up things he was so grateful for, forcing his companion to blush and restore his cool, reserved posture.

"Let's get down to work, shall we?" he asked, still emotional and trying very hard to hide it.

...

There are days in life when we are ready to forgive all the unjust insults, put on the uncomfortable festive clothes and smile at the people we do not particularly like. The wedding day might and might not be one of them, but for Christopher Lark and Melanie Meadows it certainly was.

I could tell you about the shy young gentleman becoming a hero after saving even more shy young lady from the treaturous waters of the city canal, about her confused assuring that she had felt the hand pulling her before she lost the balance, which made all the onlookers laugh or the meetings, shivering eyelashes, glowing faces, jewels on fingers, kisses and proposals, but newly-wed couples have the ultimate right to have secrets and I will only say, that before he kissed his pretty bride, Christopher had heard the quiet clattering of the rain drops and smiled for himself. „He wouldn’t miss it for the world,“ he thought, remembering an old, rather unusual friend, who suceeded in making even the stoicism of an unrequited love agreeable.

March 03, 2021 14:23

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