So This is Love

This is just a very short story that I was thinking about and decided to write. I hope you enjoy!

She was beautiful.

Graceful.

Kind.

She was everything that you would expect from such a person. She intrigued me and that's why I watched her. 

I watched as she looked around the room, unnoticed my many but recognized by few and greeted with open arms. I didn't know what I was expecting but I knew I wanted what she had.

Her happiness was innocent as a child's and her smile could light up a room but... Also break even the strongest of hearts.

Sometimes I would see her in the street, a tender smile playing over her complexion as she watched a father happily swinging his daughter around in his arms after a long day at work and then pulling her in close for a hug. Maybe she had lost someone, I didn't know.

Other times I would see her in an ally, the street lights casting shadows over her figure as she watched a boy feeding a small stray, his laughter could be heard as he picked the small kitten up and cradled it to his chest. 

I couldn't see her face but somehow I knew she would be smiling. 

I would look for this mysterious stranger, my mysterious stranger and then pause when I would find her, watching her carefully. This time I found her in a cafe, watching as a well dressed woman gazed at herself in the glass of one of the many fine shops around the square. She watched as the woman admired herself, along with a few others that she passed. Leaving a few starry eyed while others envied her beauty. 

Once and awhile when I would see her she would life her gaze to meet mine, her eyes twinkling with happiness.

A promise.

I would always smile back, sometimes giving a small wave as a greeting before I would carry on with my day.

On the way home from work I saw her again. Watching as always as a small homeless girl gave a young boy her worn jacket, the little boy smiling at her as she helped him into the old piece of clothing. The woman smiled, the kindness of the little girl making a small grin cross over my face as well. 

My mysterious stranger appeared once again in the park, where a newly wed couple were sharing their first dance together. I had paused in my reading to partake in her watching along with her, a small chuckle escaping past my lips as I basked in the blissful happiness of the young couple.

Now, as an old man I look back on the years before this time. To all the sightings of my mysterious stranger. She would always dot the memories of my childhood to my adulthood.

It saddened me greatly when she slowly started to disappear from my life. Finally, I gave up in my search to look for her as I aged and matured. I stopped my fruitless trips to the cafe and my strolls through the park and focused on the more important things in my life. 

Now, as an older man I look back and think that maybe, just maybe I would have done things differently if I had known that this is where i'd be now. I hadn't known how much I had depended on seeing her. In the park, at the cafe, in the library, on my walks, even something as simple as lunch and I would see her. Were we would share a simple, familer wave and smile. 

One last time, I decided to take a stroll in the city lights with the fading sunlight filtering through the haze of smog that always seemed to cloud over the city. 

I closed my eyes, listening to the hustle and bustle of the street that I hadn't taken time to enjoy in a very long time. I sat down on my favourite bench and watched as a few men played their strings under a canopy of lights strung on the trees. 

And then I saw her.

Not a day older than before and with that smile that made my heart leap. It was my mysterious stranger, and at last I knew who she was. 

She was love.

It was her all along. The Pragma, or 'enduring love' of the father for his only child. The Philia, or 'affectionate love' of the boy with the stray little kitten in the ally. the Philautia, or 'self love' of the woman admiring herself in the window of the shop. The Ludus, or 'playful love' of the newly wed couple in the park. The Agape, or 'selfless love' of the homeless girl for the young boy on the street. And lastly... Me. 

Storage, or 'familier love', that is what she was to me. 

I hadn't known before but everyday she had filled my life with love, from the time as a small child I had watched her and she had made my heart jump as it beat with happiness at the sights she had showed me. 

Never more that a day had gone by without her showing me some form of true love, and only when I had lost sight of her had I been unhappy.

Yes, now I knew who she was.

She was love.

The End.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed my little short story! Please vote and comment and I hope you have an amazing day/night!