Penchant for love

A super short story about love and loss.

“They had a sort of talent for happiness, them two. I remember when they first came here and bought this house”. The old lady looked out the rusted broken window into the backyard but the faraway look in her eyes told me that she wasn’t really looking at the overgrown grass or the dead flowerbeds. “They had spent every penny on this house. It was in much the same condition as it is now. I’d look out my window and see them tending to this yard. And every few minutes they’d fuss over each other, smoothing out wayward hair or wiping mud off each other’s faces. Their love was so refreshing and natural; nothing like the flashy romances we see between young couples”. She paused to collect her thoughts and smiled sadly, “I remember when they had their daughter. Their eyes had such a shine I’ve never seen anywhere. It was like they became more beautiful somehow and their love for each other; a thing of beauty. And when they lost her just after a month she was born; I thought it’d be the end of them. But they came somehow came out stronger and happier together. They took such care of each other that even I envied them. I; who had spent a long ripe life with the love of my life and had seen my children grow and have their own little ones”. A tear escaped her eye and got lost in the alleys of past. I wondered if she was crying for the loss of that beautiful couple or for the loss of a life well spent.
“They had no one else… no family, no friends. You see; they had defied the society in choosing one another and they were shunned for their crime of falling in love. But I don’t think they needed anyone else when they had each other”.
And then she quieted; her head hung. My heart beat faster. I was anxious to know more and at the same time; I was afraid… afraid that they were about to be lost… never to be found again. Another great love; gone before its age.
When I asked her to continue, my voice shook.
She took a while to gather herself and then with a huge sigh; she nodded her head, looked at me, and smiled sadly, “And then they died. Of course they died together. A car accident”.
I had my story and I was determined to let the world know that love still existed.