Love Never Dies

The spring sun shone with full brilliance as it looked down upon the creatures reveling in the warmth that embraced them after a cold, harsh winter. Everyone was happy... everyone except Marina. As the rays entered her bedroom and woke her up, she ran out to see if the snow that she hadn’t cleared since he had left her was still there. Tears rolled down her face as she held the melting bits of memory that were slipping quickly into a nothingness. She wanted it to stop. She wanted time, the world itself, to stop.

Marina and Ali had known each other for years. Theirs was the exemplary love that poets speak of and writers dream about. She remembered with sadness how they had shared the first sunrise of spring together the previous year. Along with those memories a fresh stream of tears fell down from her eyes. Ali and Marina were one person, one soul, until the day that a huge crowd gathered outside Marina's house and proclaimed her a witch!

Marina was unfortunately a direct descendant of Lyla, the beautiful woman who was burnt to ashes in the middle ages, accused of practicing witchcraft. Marina knew this fact and had planned to tell Ali about it many times. Each time, her heart told her otherwise and she decided to keep disclosing the family secret for a later time.

Marina took a handful of the remaining snow and headed to her kitchen. Quietly, she put it in a bowl and kept it in the freezer in a wild attempt to freeze time. Marina could have never imagined that her love was so weak. She had expected Ali to stand by her through thick and thin, yet Ali had proved her wrong. He had proved that he believed what he heard from others more than what he saw in her eyes. The sobs and cries of helplessness subsided, and a new Marina with a renewed determination to win her love back emerged. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she also knew that it wasn't impossible... not for her, not as long as she still had Aunt Lyla's diary to guide her! Yes, for the first time ever, she decided to open the book that was handed down to her by her mother, and to her mother by her grandmother.

"July 1, 1847" the diary started. "Today I found the perfect herbs to cure the disease that has been affecting the brains of people in town. The potion contains 12oz. of Purano mixed with a pint of coriander juice and then a dash of salt added." The diary went on to describe many remedial herbs that were now commonly accepted and scientifically proven. Lyla was a woman who thought ahead of her time. People believed that she had great healing powers and as the word spread, so did the belief that she might be a witch. Lyla believed in the power of nature. For hours, sometimes days, she would stay in the jungle all by herself. She studied each herb that she could find, each plant that ever grew. Many pages in her diary were filled with prescriptions and findings. The diary also said a lot about one of her patients, Michael. He had lost his entire family in the earthquake and lost his mental balance. Lyla brought him to her place and started to treat him with not only the herbs, but a loving care that brought him back to normal. Lyla was a perfectly normal human being who was trying to help the very people who killed her!

Marina could not help noticing the similarities between Lyla and herself. An outstanding student of Botany, Marina loved plants and aspired to be a surgeon one day. In some odd way, her life was linked to that of Lyla's. It couldn't be a mere coincidence. This time, Marina had to stop history from repeating itself. If Lyla had died in the fire, whatever became of Michael? Her heart told her that the answer to that question held the solution to her problem too. If Michael had deserted Lyla just like Ali had left her, then she would much rather hang herself. She might not be a witch, but she had committed the crime of having been born into the same family. But if Michael had stuck to Lyla, and her life was a part of Lyla's unfinished story, then her love would return. He just had to.

Days passed before college reopened. Marina went to various libraries, searched history notes and old books from the period that she believed Lyla to have been burnt in. She was lucky, for though there was no historical record of the incident, there was a book written at about the same time. She read the first few pages and was convinced that it was the story of Lyla's life. Interestingly, the hero of the story had been crucially injured by the mob as he attempted to save his maiden. He regained consciousness after a year only to lose his mental balance again and die.

It was with a new hope that Marina entered the college campus after the long vacation. Ali was there in the class. He took care not to sit next to her, as he used to. Marina's heart ached, but she kept her calm. The story of their breakup soon started doing the rounds. One day as she entered the class, she was horrified to see the pasteboard. There was a drawing of a witch sitting on a broomstick and it said 'Marina' underneath. Ali couldn't have told them, she thought. He could never be that cruel. "What's this? A sick class joke or something?" she demanded, turning towards the class. There was no answer, just laughter. Ali entered the class just then and the scene made him feel sick. He did not know why his head spun or why he was so angry, but he was. He was mad at Marina for not being the first to tell him about it, but he had not lost his affection for her. She was the one who had helped him prepare his projects, set up his models so that he could stay in the class. Now when she needed his help, could he let her stand in a corner and cry as the world mocked her? "Shut up!" he shouted as he walked towards Marina. Holding her hand, he led her out of the classroom and towards the main gate. "We are skipping college today; come on, I'll drop you off at home." Throughout the journey Marina kept crying and Ali kept quiet. He knew Marina was wrong to have kept a secret from him, but was he right? Was leaving her to face the world all by herself just? He was still thinking when they reached her house.

"Care to come in for a cold drink?" she asked. He hesitated for a while, but then decided to accept the offer. Marina was so exhausted that he asked her to sit down and relax. "I know the place well, you see," he said. "I'll get you a Coke from the freezer. Am I supposed to use this ice?" he asked as he held out the bowl of snow that Marina had saved. "No!" she shouted. "That's all I have left of you." "Me?" he asked, "How?" Marina shyly said. "That's the snow you walked on the very last time you came here."

It moved Ali beyond any words. He dropped the Coke and reached out for Marina. Taking her in his arms, he kissed her lightly on her forehead and said, "You brought me back. Your love is magic, you witch!" This time, Marina didn't really mind being called one.