~Jasam's Rain~ (Undergoing serious editing)- Read at your own risk.

Chapter 1 :That Strange Emotion

Chapter 1

"I first saw her when I moved into the community, two years after my wife's death. One morning I sat in my leather rocking chair reading a newspaper, when I heard a creaking sound. Across from my huge white house stood a dilapidated little cottage. I looked onto the porch and saw a woman, a few years younger than I was , walking slowly toward a tattered rocking chair and carefully lowering herself into it.

   " It was as if she felt my gaze upon her, for she looked up and in the instant our eyes met, it was as if a powerful surge of electricity was coursing through my veins to the very core of my being. She gave me a heartwarming smile and I smiled back. Every morning I would sit in my rocking chair and watch as she slowly made her way onto her porch and sit in her own. When she sat comfortably, she would look over at me and smile shyly and of course I would smile back.

"The distance between our houses was not so far as to deter us from making polite conversation, but I could not bring myself to speak to her because we came from two different worlds. I was a rich, widowed octogenarian condoloid and she was a human, a poor, widowed, fragile beauty. I was rich, yet she had everything I could ever want. She had a family who visited her every weekend to take her out and I had an indolent, middle-aged house keeper who came by every day to cook my dinner and wash my clothes.

          "Though we uttered not one solitary word to each other, I would feel at peace just sitting on my porch, watching her as she watched me. As a matter of fact, I would have been content to sit watching her every day even if we never got the chance to speak with each other. I enjoyed seeing her most when her family came to visit, because her eyes would sparkle reminding me of the first time I saw her. Though I dreaded the moment she had to leave, it would warm my heart, for when I looked into her eyes, I would see a hint of sadness as though she was reluctant to leave me.

          "One day, I was surprised to see her on her porch looking longingly at my chair, as soon as I sat in it, she diverted her gaze and looked into the vacant air. Something was wrong. I could feel it in my weak bones, but my pride kept me from speaking with her. I sat there for a long time, watching her, but not once did our eyes meet. She died that night.

         "I sat on my porch the next day, watching her family, some were weeping, others looked sad, while some faces were almost devoid of emotion. I then looked at her chair with tears in my eyes and a weeping heart. I had always secretly loved her and now I will never get a chance to tell her."

My  late grandfather’s words  reverberated in my head as my gaze travelled over the contours of her beautifully sculpted body. I sighed, the old man was crazy, he probably made up the whole thing. I mean come on; love? It’s not like I believed in that stuff. So why then did the one conversation I had with  the man keep popping up in my head?

       "love is a mystery, it has the ability to take and give life, to create and destroy. Love can drive a man insane or it can open a man’s heart, mind and soul allowing him to see the world with new eyes and that’s what love did for me, it altered me completely, I’m a different man Jasam, Julie’s brief presence in my life and the happiness she allowed me to experience is something I will cherish until the day I become one with the soil of this earth. Love is a beautiful thing Jasam and it's something I pray you’ll find in life…"

Well the old man was right, love did drive him insane, all the better reason to stay away from such a hideous emotion. I tore my eyes from my best friend’s beautiful face and looked around the noisy cafeteria, focusing my attention on a couple arguing in a corner by a closed window. I tuned out the rest of the voices and zoomed in on theirs;