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❛❛ She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies ❜❜
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dear reader,
i feel compelled to put in words this little story of me and my partner in the form of a letter. this letter will remain in my diary, which will be safely tucked into one of the lower drawers of my cupboard. but if you did manage to get your hands on it, go ahead and read it.
yash and i are as different as day and night, reader. i love rain, he detests it. he says prefers clean, sunny weather because it is more convenient, whatever that means. i love parties and loud music and dancing. he hates that too. he prefers to keep things quiet and maintain a low profile.
we met at a neighbourhood book club discussion for louisa may alcott's 'little women'. while i was an avid reader, he wasn't. but he happened to read the book as a secondary reading in school and had fallen in love with it. hence, he had decided to visit the book club discussion. he hadn't intended on really speaking or truly participating. he told me he was just there to listen.
well, i'm glad he came. that's how i met him, after all. it was also that day that i discovered the elusive neighbour next door was him. yash said he had been fascinated by me, the very moment he saw me. something about how i was as chirpy as a day bird interested him, given that he was a reclusive owl, who only emerged briefly at night.
me? well, i was and am a sucker for good looks and boy, was he a handsome man. he had every lady - married and unmarried - eyeing him up. it makes me laugh, when i think about it. he had gotten all uncomfortable and fidgety with the attention he was receiving. the book club's unofficial leader had asked him to tell them what he thought about the book as the opener of the discussion. he stared at her like a deer staring at a car's incoming headlights.
i came to his rescue and began rambling about all my favorite bits of the book, getting everyone to focus on the discussion instead. that evening, as we were all headed back, he caught up to me and thanked me. only now, as i have come to learn every aspect about him, do i realize how uncharacteristic it was of him to do that - thank me and walk with me.
he walked me home that day and he has been walking me home ever since.
there was nothing whirlwindous about our love story. it simply progressed with me delivering apple pies to him and him helping me out with anything that needed work at my place. eventually, he gathered himself and asked me out on a date. no one in their right mind would have said no, to this man. he was a catch and everyone around him knew that but himself. his fingers had been trembling and his palms were sweaty as he had asked me the question.
i knew right then and there. i had to marry the man.
and so i did. and here we are, despite all our differences. of course, we fight. any couple would fight. after a fight, at night, both of us would roll down from the edge of our beds and hug ourselves to sleep.
right now, we are in our mid-thirties, still growing stronger with each other, everyday.
if you're still reading this, reader, i wish you all the luck in life. you will find love - be it a man or a woman or anything else. but when you do find it, don't be repelled by the difference between you and the object of your love. embrace it.
do you understand me, my daughter?
with love, your mother, vina.
ps. who else could find this letter other than you, my little love?
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* : lord byron ; 'she walks in beauty' heavily inspired by 'my same' by adele.
