“we couldn’t”
synopsis: a story of unrequited love
it was winter, the bitter cold of the wind settling into the depths of their coat. ignoring the sharp sting of falling snow on their cheeks, he hurries her along, their destination glowing dimly in the distance.
he and she knew each other.
he and she once did.
but somewhere in between, lost in the echoes of time and space that never seemed to cease, lost in their futile thoughts of “we’ll never meet again” furiously pounding against a betraying heart, lost in alcohol-fuelled nights and anger-tinted kisses, they were one.
they were one when they spilled their hearts out to each other in the form of thick petrol and galaxy dust. he was afraid of driving her away with his gasoline heart, she said she could be his sky of stars. he didn’t want to slowly consume her with tendrils of despair that would suffocate her with time, but she tamed and controlled the rogue thoughts that kept him awake at night and in turn, kept him alive. she was his universe but they made up a world where galaxy dust could twinkle and sparkle and dance against a jet black sky, a match made in heaven noticed by every eye.
they were one when careful fingers lightly roamed across the expanse of trembling skin, memorizing every inch, every crevice that made up their universe. but trying to know the universe down to each minuscule detail was an impossible feat - there was always something they never knew, something that would catch them by surprise or send them reeling and hurtling into the past. they breathed and moved and felt as one, in a tangled mess of shivers and sighs.
but he and she were no longer they.
they were reminiscent of a time long ago, a time that wouldn’t exist again.
what about we, he asked, we could work out.
she simply shook her head, removing a ring that fit perfectly on her finger. she kneeled in front of him and took his hand, slowly placing the ring in the centre of the warmth she once craved. she gently curled his fingers over the ring and stood up, locking gazes with him for one last time, before walking away.
and left him mourning with the ring in spring, kneeling in front of a headstone, wishing it was him.
