Aurora

Prologue

Holidays are in, and the kids are out. Out in the parks, people are spending the time much needed that they could not get much during normal days: family time. A precious bonding session with your relatives that we tend to overlook now and take for granted more often in this digital age. But the children, they are pure. Well, unless their parents introduce tablets and smartphones too early, that is.

But the sights of children spending their necesary childhood time in physical playgrounds instead of digital ones are of something to behold. They are rare, and some people value these things. At least one man did, as he watched the children, smiling and laughing while sitting at a bench not too far from the scene.

Noticing that the weather is moderately hot, he decided to stand up and find a cold delicacy to complement the heat. He walked slowly to the nearest ice cream stand, while watching the kids running around, then he turned his attention to the ice cream vendor. "One cone of vanilla-choc please.", he requested, and gestured his finger up.

"One cone of vanilla-choc, coming right up!", as the vendor started scooping from a series of ice cream-filled buckets in a mobile fridge.

The man smiled, as he waited for the vendor to finish. He had prepared the exact dollars for the ice cream held in his palm. While waiting, he couldn't help but overhearing a teenage girl arguing about something on her phone. Her tone was a bit raised that anyone nearby could've accidentally heard.

"...Fine, you can do whatever you want!", she yelled, before taking a bit of a pause.

"...No, I'm talking about you, you did that so you should at least understand your boundaries...and..", as something interrupted her.

"Wait what, excuse me? No, no, you know what. Fuck you! Don't call me again.", she hung up the call, and sat at the bench before curling up in tears.

The man saw the girl, and he could not help but being curious. Then he ordered another ice cream, "I think I'll have one more – um, give me a cup of the rainbow special. Thank you."

"That would be $5, please.", the vendor said. And the man gave the vendor the cash, with an added extra of $3 for the cup of rainbow special. "Thank you, have a nice day, sir!"

The girl, on the bench, was crying as she burrowed her head in between her arms and legs. Her phone was ringing with messages and endless notifications. As the man approached her, she took the phone and silenced it, before continuing to cry.

"Are you...okay?", the man said, softly, while holding a cone on one hand and a cup on another. "I got you an ice cream, a rainbow special if that doesn't contradict your taste." She was sobbing, ignoring the man who stood there by the bench. "Mind if I sit here, at the end here. Don't worry, I'm...just going to be watching the kids."

And the man sat at the other end, and just sat there for awhile as she sobbed.

"I get you.", the man said, looking forward at the kids. "Whatever that is you are feeling right now – I get it."

She stopped sobbing and wiped the tears of her face. "It is nothing, Mister. Just some stupid thing."

"(laughs) You're going to do more than that to convince me it is nothing, girl.", the man replied. "Ice cream?", he then offered the rainbow special cup.

The girl hesitated, "Um – yeah...Thanks.."

"You're okay?", he asked the girl again.

"Yeah..., I'll be.. – umm – ...fine. Just needed to give... – ungh – ...give myself some space.", she replied, mumbled a bit as her nose was all runny. She took the tissue that came along with the ice cream, wiped and blew her runny nose onto it.

"Okay..., I'll sit over there instead.", he said.

"No, no..., it's okay Mister. Someone to talk to would be good now...", she replied.

"Relationship problems?", he asked.

Pausing for a bit, she then nodded, "Yeah...", then stared at the ground.

"...And..he is far away, correct?", he guessed, and took a lick of the ice cream he bought.

"Yeah...yeah...", her eyes opened wide, "Sort of,..how did you know?", she looked at the man and asked back, curious with how he knew.

"If there is one thing that kills even the greatest love, it is distance.", he took a pause.

"It creates a gap. And when you don't fill that gap – problems would: insecurity, mistrust, everything seems to be at stake when you're both far away. But really, those are just parts of a more grand plan, a fated drama. Because what is meant to be, is meant to be....a hard pill to swallow, I know. And, well...few filled the gap, many tried and lost."

"But we were very happy before, and I never cheated on him. I just don't understand at all, what actually happened? I mean why does it even have to happen...try to find any sort of reason and explanation to it, it just does not go well with common sense.", she replied, sounding a bit frustrated.

The man chuckled a bit, "Girl...., everyone is like that at first.", and he looked at her and smiled at her. "It is natural, as natural as life itself." He looked around, searching for something. "There, look at that dead tree, with its trunk half-submerged into the water...", as he pointed to somewhere across the lake.

"It was a beautiful tree once, and a bunch of kids built a swing on it. They used to play on it. But then the tree died, and slowly the water corroded the soil beneath it, sinking the tree in the water eventually.", he continued. "Its natural, girl. No amount of effort or miracle can make the tree to become what it once was. Nothing lasts forever. So is life. But it all depends on how much you make the most of the short blessings you were given. In doing so, only then can we forget the bad aspects of it and focus on the positive things – either now or in the future."

Both of them sat in silence and stared at the dead tree trunk. "I guess there is truth in what you just said, well, somehow.", she said.

The man had already finished his ice cream quite quickly and threw a used tissue in a bin just beside him. "If you'd like to hear a story, I don't mind telling you. Maybe there is a thing or two that you could learn from it. But it's going to take quite a time."

"Well, supposedly I should be seeing him later this evening, but, considering what happened maybe I'll just stay here. So, why not?", she cracked a smile.

"I've known this story since quite a time ago, so....sit back, and enjoy your ice cream...the story's known to hit people with a lot of realisations. At least I did", then he chuckled.

"There was this young man...... his name's Irving........"