To whomsoever it may concern...

The rain splattered like bullets from the sky, bleeding you dry and cold. The chill in the air seeped into your bone so deep that you cannot differentiate between cold and warmth. The puddles on the road distorted with every step I took, only to become that mass of water staring at you. Time froze in the vacuum devoid of any hope. The fate was resounding with the sound of every step I took; with every breath that forced its way out of my lungs to again lose itself in pure oblivion. Still my heart chose to ignore what brain had already accepted as the truth. Still I chased her...

She was running frantically; her bare feet bleeding and her eyes a pool of tears, rain and shattered hope. She did not care if her heart, body and soul were fading away. The pulled her cape closer to her and ran. She ran as if her life was running away from her. It was as if she thought that she would never be happy if the figure in front of her disappeared behind the sheath of rain. Every vein of her was a river of pain. A river that had now become an enormous wave in which she thrashed around wildly, still trying to swim. She fought against the darkness that threatened to destroy her very self. She fought against the fate, the voice of reason that told her to look back once, to see that she was not running towards the feeling of being happy, but away from all the happiness she could get in the world...

My eyes burned with the sheer effort of not letting my tears dilute my hope. I ran behind her, knowing that no matter how fast I run, it was like wild puppy trying to catch his own tail, unaware that he will not be able to. Ever. I ran, hoping against hope that she will turn, she will look back, she will notice me sometime. I hoped she’ll read my eyes, for I could not have said it. I did not have enough words, enough emotions to tell her that what I felt was not love. It couldn’t be. She felt like a part of me. You do not say that you love your eyes. Or your heart. They are just meant to be with you. Inside you. Inseparable. Still I ran because I had a heart that was yet alive and still had eyes that could see her running away from me...

Suddenly her strength gave away. Her shoulders buckled under the weight she had carried for seeming eternity. Her knees could not hold her anymore. She closed her eyes...accepting fate, accepting the fact that she will never be happy, that she never wanted to be happy anymore. She surrendered.

But before she could fall into the murky puddle, a hand caught her. The hand was shaking, but it held her strongly. The hand did not put her to road comfortably. It stood her right up. It said that it was not the time to fall. It was the redemption. She looked into the face. The face was smeared with mud and long held tears finally finding an escape route. The stranger pulled her close to him. The rain was still cold, but her body felt warmth of a thousand suns pouring from the stranger’s body. She looked into the face again. This time it seemed familiar. She knew this face! It was the same face which quietly handed her a tissue when she cried, only to leave and cry himself. The same face that was around when things were cold, like today. The same face she saw around corners while running towards the figure now swallowed by darkness and rain. The face she never looked at properly. She knew this face. It was always hers. It always belonged to her. The face hugged her tightly, promising to never let her go and give her all the happiness she deserved. The face still had tears. She kissed away each tear and hugged the face back. She surrendered again. Twice in the same night. This time to light. To hope. To eternal perfect happiness. They melted into each other. They became one.

And never has sun shone brighter and warmer on a cold winter day as it did the next day...