Shards of Life

Shard II

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder's heart:

"If someone says that you are not beautiful, it doesn't mean that you aren't. It means that they are blind. Sometimes, you can see better when you close your eye; that is when the eyes of your heart, love, opens."

The sound of gunshots, blasts, weapons, anguished screams filled the air indicating that with each of these voices, many slipped out of life, leaving the others destitute just as the soldier fought for his country, his life... and someone who gave it meaning.

He strove with another man whose blade reflected the scars on his face. He was a surviver of a fire accident. Memories of what he had been during the last mutiny flashed before his eyes.

The merciless fire had claimed his entire family and he'd raced into the burning house to save them or die with them. But he had been spared, burns all over his skin. With men of this judgmental society scorning him for being disfigured, he intended to die the last time war was waged.

But now, it didn't matter, for one person had recognised beauty in him, giving his life new meaning. And for that one person, he would survive this battle.

~~~

When the eventide came, a young lady would often walk to the shore and wait for the arrival of the ships. She would wait till midnight's biting cold made her shiver. Then, she would retrace her steps and leave for home.

The people spoke among themselves, "Who is the maiden, walking to the shore every evening, even when the one she waits for has possibly forgotten her? It has been half a year."

"She is the wife of the man who is disfigured."

The warriors returned victorious and the man who had no beauty, was still the happiest to survive. His blind wife was waiting by the tides, faithfully.

The people may have scorned her or sympathised with her; but it mattered no more. She lived a life that none else ever could. She mayn't have eyes. But that didn't mean she was blind.

What she'd seen in a man had changed his life and given him reason to live. The day he'd purposed not to give up on life, she stood taller than all the men of the society, for she saw farther without eyes, what they couldn't see even with them.