Coffee & Lavender
Story by Kaval Naine
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There are times when life feels like a blur. A day like a year and a year like a day. In the middle of March, you can almost feel the dark and bitter aroma of the city or the sweet and lovely scent of the fields.
In the day she goes around bringing cheer to all who meet her. In the night he spreads dread like a wildfire. The onlookers live and watch day by day, not knowing that the two contrasting pairs might one day meet.
She strolls through the streets with her bread rolls and heart-warming smile, looking for anyone to brighten their day. He, on the other hand, prowls the lanes with his axe and fear-striking growl, searching for someone to make utterly miserable.
Their paths cross, their eyes meet, and they know it.
The person they’ve been looking for stands right before them.
His bitterness has no effect on her and her sweetness takes no toll on him. They meet again and again and again, both very reluctant to give in. An incredulous connection builds as an acquaintance of some sort is formed. Then on a certain day, one of the barely-even-friends unexpectedly bends.
With time they became inseparable. He was the darkness to her light and she was the day to his night. She was the cold to his heat and he was the bitter to her sweet. Her Coffee, he was. His Lavender, she was. The perfect pair, an impeccable couple. Or so one would have thought.
The war got worse.
More frequent draws.
He had to leave.
Those three things caused her so much pain. She feared for his life as he also feared for her. For how could they live without each other?
A day passed, a week passed, a month passed. Still no word from him. She wrote him everyday, but got no response. As the months passed by the soldiers returned but still no word from him. She received no letter of condolence. She held on to her faith and never lost hope. For him she would continue hoping till her last breath.
The frost an chill that came with the month of December bit at her skin. The sound of her boots a constant rhythm on the cobblestones as she rounded a corner. She lifted her head only to see her Coffee in the arms of another.
Some days she would sit and reminisce about the past. The memories of a love that was made to last. Sometimes she would lie down and think, “What if I hadn’t been reserved?” Maybe in another life she would give their bond the goodbye it deserved.
There is only light or darkness and they do not mix my friend. If only I had learnt this, I wouldn’t have met this bitter-sweet end.
Kaval Naine is just another person who finds joy in writing. To view more of Kaval’s work visit your favourite writer and enjoy the prose.