NOT GIVING UP ON FOREVER

Chapter 5

She didn't love again right away. During their school years, she paid little attention to him. The only things she could recall of him at those times were his constant confrontation with everybody and slacking off.

It captivated her, just because deep inside, she felt the same fatigue and hatred towards the education system and considered herself a bird in a cage. But she lacked the courage for counter-actions or opportunities to respond to teachers' or schoolmates' offensive remarks.

She saw Mark again in Garth city when the university era of crazy twenties was in full swing. They suddenly got in touch with each other and set up a meeting.

Anna grew up a beautiful lady. She was slender, with burnished black hair and elegant facial features, walking through life without arrogance or anger. There was always a smile on her face, and her blue eyes were full of purity and thoughtfulness.

Mark's lifestyle struck Anna. A philosophy senior, he seemed so charming, so free. Appearance-wise she did not fancy him at all, but it was that rare case when a person's inner world shone so brightly that it illuminated everything around. Involuntarily the beauty extended to the appearance.

Mark was not a yappy type, but often the enthusiasm or interesting topics loosened his tongue. He could narrate something for ages, even more striking Anna with his knowledge.

Mark was bright, though he did not realize it. He absorbed tons of information and would conquer the world if given an opportunity.

Their relationship developed gradually as they learned about each other, and none of the young people would rush things. It seemed, in such quiet, measured development of events, without wild passion and absurd, was a sense of their relationship.

They went on long walks in any weather, discussing everything that two people of the opposite sex ever discuss.

All these trifles, all these meetings absorbed Anna, till she was infatuated by this young man completely and irreversibly.

Where is this cross line? How can the feeling initially not designated between two persons arise just like that? Why does it contradict the theory of love at first sight, when based on an easy judgment about appearance, we can conclude that we are in love and that the person is "the one?"

Anna believed that it all starts with love at first sight, and not the one she experienced, the mature one, with rational conclusions that the person was right, his heart was kind and worthy of great love.

But no matter what Anna believed, this love has happened, and it was worthy of romantic opuses. It seemed impossible to love someone so deeply. It exhilarated her, and she was sure that she found him—her beloved for life.

Time passed both slowly and quickly. Their bond only got stronger over the years, making them look like older people living half a century in marriage—so strange and robust seemed their union. Life troubles couldn't strangle their feelings with its prickly branches.

Like all ladies, Anna was young and dramatic, often pointless to extremes, but Mark tolerated all her craziness with tranquility.

Anna found it necessary to test the durability of their relationship at each opportunity. Pursued by some literary ideals, she wanted to mold their relation accordingly. Mark himself was young and didn't understand the rationality of what was happening. Yet, he never let Anna drive them apart.

Mark graduated from university a year before his girlfriend and was on the verge of new beginnings. Ambitions and a craving to discover the world did not allow him to remain in Garth. He planned to move to the capital.

Mining Great City was the primary spot for young talents, dreamers of big money, and freedom that went with it. He could not admit to Anna that life in their town with its cliché "born—studied—worked—died" caused him nausea. He madly wanted to share all his plans with her but foreknew that they cardinally dispersed in their vision of the future.

Anna saw happiness in small things. She wanted to be here in Garth, near Mark, get married, raise children, have a stable job, and a quiet existence, where they could enjoy each other's company.

Mark was endlessly angry that Anna vanished all ambitions, leaving only banal female prospects to have children and a cozy nest. Love changed her beyond recognitionand broke the gap between them. Mark loved her, but his youth and his desiresdid not allow him to accept the girlfriend's views. He had to make a decision.