Forever alley

© Rowena Curtin

It was in that alley I realised I knew. And I told you too. When you asked me how I knew I loved you, I told you it was because I couldn’t remember what my life was like without you. Before you.

When you became a part of my world, you changed it intrinsically. I couldn’t recall what it was like without your long late-night calls, your random texts during the day to check up on me, our inside jokes, those silent looks that said everything, and so much more that made us ‘us’.

The alley’s name: “Rue de l’Éternité”.

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The many forms of love

“So what’s the secret to a love that lasts forever?”

She sat cross-legged in front of their old armchair where grandma was sitting. Grandpa just arrived with their morning cup of tea and a rose on the tray. They were by far the most loving couple she knew. Their relationship counted decades and was filled with ups and downs. But they were always there for each other. Supporting one another all the way in their common life journey.

“There’s no one answer to that,” grandmother smiled.

“It’s all the tender things that show each other we care. The fact that we never stop laughing. Or having something to talk about. We trust in that we’ll always have each other.”

“The not giving each other a reason to nag,” grandpa added poking his wife.

“It’s the smallest of rituals like having dinner together, or going for a walk. Cooking or cleaning in turn. But it’s also about remaining attractive to each other.”

“Keeping the spark alive,” he winked.

“Love has many forms,” grandma stated. “You’ll know it in your heart. Because no matter how far you reach that cliff, your partner will never let you fall. We don’t give up in times of trouble; we become closer and fight it off as one”.

Grandpa kissed her on the cheek as he handed her the rose and grandma blushed like a teenager still in love.

Just one second

“Sometimes you remind me of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland; you’re always rushing for time and somehow you’re always late”.

She blushed as he teased.

“Well, what was it the Rabbit said? ‘The hurrier I go, the behinder I get’. Often that’s exactly it. And having no sense of direction does not help”.

“You know, life becomes sweeter if we learn to slow down a bit. Not everything needs to happen in a rush”.

She stared at him. She easily lost herself in his presence, drowning in his mesmerising blue-green eyes. He had a way of making her lose track of time; of getting her heart to beat in a different rhythm when she was with him. It didn’t matter what time it was when they were together. And she realised that she wanted him near, often and always. Even if only just for a few minutes.

She smiled as she remembered Alice’s discourse with this very Rabbit:

“How long is forever?”

“Sometimes just one second”.

Inspired by Once Upon a Picture

Colour the sky

©MCD

He took her to the highest peak in the mountains. They were driving for almost an hour. She had not managed to get a single clue out of him on where they were going.

“Surprises”, he said, “only work if you don’t give away anything. If you suspect what it is, it won’t have the same emotional effect on you”.

She tried to allay the curiosity that was chewing her insides.

By the time they reached his marked destination, the sun was diving behind the ocean.

The sky was painted a range of orange and it was a sight every photographer or painter would value.

The moon had also appeared. It emerged as a snippet of itself, a thin peel decorating the evening sunset sky.

The city below illuminated the falling darkness. And you could sense the time changing. The mood shifting from the tired daytime routine to the more relaxed night-time entertainment.

This was now. It was a reminder to appreciate every single moment of the day.

Because every one has its own colour in our sky.

“Forever is composed of nows” – Emily Dickinson

A tune that lasts forever

©J Hardy Carroll

She remembered it fondly. How she anticipated their first date. He had announced it to her with a paper plane that flew straight towards her. It was their way of communicating. She was walking on air all morning.

He took her to a diner that had just opened and was the talk of the town. The food was savoury. But that wasn’t what won her over; it was the song he chose on the jukebox and how he picked her up to dance rock n’ roll to what thereafter became their tune.

It was their time. And it became forever.

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The depth of forever

The message said simply “look beyond what you see”.

He looked to the left, to the right, in front, at the back, sideways, even upside down, but he couldn’t see anything. He began to think it was a trick. Or a prank. He grew tired and, instead, persuaded himself that there was nothing there. But, somehow, he couldn’t leave without discovering something. His godmother wouldn’t leave things so mysterious. There must have been something.

The boy stood there almost an entire afternoon, staring at the horizon and beyond, filling his mind with fantasies of what could have been.

But at that very moment when the sun began to fade, the sky turned orange. It separated the horizon into blue, caramel and yellow, playing with the few clouds that accompanied the disappearing light.

His entire body shivered, not because it was cold, but because of awe and amazement.

He stared at the light quickly fading, with the colours changing faster than you could catch your eyes blinking. It was a few moments in which he was lost, forgetting everything and everyone else and just staring into the infinity of a few minutes that seemed forever.

Sometimes forever is just a few seconds, she had told him.

He had finally understood.

A porch of memories

PHOTO PROMPT -Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

It had been years she had last visited the summer estate. It was too painful to return after he was gone. But now she could no longer avoid it.

The minute she stepped onto the porch it all came flooding back – the happy memories of a time past; the laughter; the dreams that were made; the expectations that were created for a life that never was.

It was exactly like she remembered – with the Greek columns reminding her of her glorious ancestry.

But now, the words “Forever” they had carved at the bottom were gone. Leaving only “eve”. Her name.

 

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Forever is too long

It started when she was four. She told the doll her father brought her as a gift from his travels, that she would keep her and love her forever. But then she grew up, found new hobbies and left the doll behind, tidily tucked away on one of her bedroom shelves.

When she was a teenager, the hormones kicked in, and when she was upset – very often – she would believe that this situation would go on forever, that no one would ever understand her. She eventually calmed down when she moved to college.

There she fell in love – truly, madly and deeply. She told him that she would love him forever and they would be together through it all, forever and always. But something happened in the meantime. They fought, he lied, he cancelled plans they had been looking forward to for so long. And something broke. Forever just started to seem too long.

When she found her first job, she thought she would be stuck there forever. But then, unexpectedly, an opportunity arose, and she managed to gain a noteworthy position in a renowned company. Everything seemed great at first, but like almost everything, the excitement withered away, exhaustion set in, and it was not that fun anymore. But now it was much harder to find another job. Contingencies in the global labour market had ensured that. She thought she would be stuck there forever, doing something that she was no longer proud of, and no longer motivated her.

Networking at events is important even despite their boastful or narcissistic appearance. She realized that when during a certain event she met someone who had read her work, who appreciated and recognized her worth. He offered her a contract that would make all her aspirations come true. Nancy leaped at the opportunity. “Staying put never got you anywhere”, she thought. She would move around, every so often changing her dreams and plans, and living life as it came along.

Forever was just too long.