Kissed and Cursed

I stood there lost in thought. With the gathering clouds, tears also gathered in my eyes. Somy was gone, gone beyond reach. Gone forever. A streak of tear escaped from my eye, a storm brewed in my soul. The sky let out a groan and the rain poured down. I went down with the liquid pellets, on my knees, my entire body shook violently as I wept. The familiar smell of wet earth filled my nostrils and my mind was immediately taken back to the day we met.

I was 16 years old. It was mid-June and it had just finished raining. I was out at the verandah, watching as the sun peeped from behind the clouds. She dashed out from their house. Chisom was always energetic, too much so for a girl of 14. She lived a life of adrenalin, a slight contrast to my more reserved self. I loved it, I loved her. She’d been my crush since such feelings developed in me.

She slipped in the mud and fell. She did not scream, but she looked around, distress painted on her face. None was in sight save me already rushing instinctively to her. Getting down on one knee, the smell of wet earth, her beautiful eyes piercing through me in appreciation, helping s damsel in distress, it was the perfect scenario. It was my day. She wrapped her arms around me as I pulled her up, her pain fading away without permission, a glow appearing in her eyes. She smiled at me, took a step closer, planted a kiss on my left cheek and dashed off leaving me stunned. Sweetly stunned. Not a word was said between us but hearts were won; love was planted.

Time rolled by, our love grew. 11 years later we were engaged. We were living our dream, waiting for our ‘happily ever after’, then he came. She was at the market, done with her purchases and waiting by the road for a bus. He came as a beast in four wheels. A bus lost control on top speed, swerved and rammed into Somy. In his cold hands, death carried my Somy away.

The thunder rumbled, jerking me back from my thoughts. I stared at the mound that is her grave and let out some more tears. I had been cursed by Cupid, cursed with living and loving my dead ‘happily ever after’.