There lived a loving couple in a quiet and beautiful little town. Every morning, the couple would go to the beach and watch the sun rise together. And every evening, they would go to the beach again and watch the sun set together. The couple was envied by those around them.

One day, the girl was unfortunately hurt in a car accident. For several days, she lay unconscious on the hospital bed. The boy sat helplessly by his lover's bed during the day, crying out her name, hoping she would wake up. As night came, when his tears had run dry, he would dash to the church and pray to God for her recovery.

A month passed, and still the girl did not awake. Out of despair and fatigue, the boy became thin and weak, but he struggled on with his daily routine.

Finally one day, the boy's devotion moved God, and God decided to answer his prayers. To him, God asked, "Do you agree to give up your life in exchange for hers?"

"I do," the boy replied without hesitation.

"Fine. The girl shall awake soon, but for three years you shall be a dragonfly. Do you agree on this condition?"

"I do," came the boy's unwavering answer.

The sun rose, and the boy was transformed into a beautiful dragonfly. It bade farewell to God, and hastily flew to the hospital.

The girl was awake! She seemed to be saying something to the doctor beside her, but the dragonfly could not hear what she said.

A few days later, the girl was discharged from the hospital, but she was not happy. She tried to find out where her lover had gone, but nobody knew where he went. She spent days searching for him, and the dragonfly followed her wherever she went. It could not cry out to her, it could not embrace her. It could only watch her silently.

Summer passed, and the cold autumn wind blew the leaves off the trees. It was time for the dragonfly to leave. It flew to her shoulder for one last time. It wanted to caress her face with its gossamer wings, it wanted to kiss her forehead with its little mouth, but she would never notice its tiny presence.

Soon spring returned, and the dragonfly flew back impatiently to his lover. There she was, all so familiar to him, but alas, there was a tall and handsome man beside her, too. The dragonfly nearly crashed to the ground in mid-flight. People around the girl spoke about her critical condition after the accident, they spoke about the kind gentle doctor who nursed her back to health, they spoke about how natural it was the love that blossomed between them, and they spoke about how happy she looked as in the past.

The dragonfly's was broken-hearted. In the mornings that followed, it would see the doctor go to the beach and watch the sun rise together with the girl. And every evening, it would see them go to the beach again and watch the sun set together. And other than landing gently on her shoulders occasionally, there was nothing else the little dragonfly could do.

The summer was especially long that year. Every day, the dragonfly hovered dejectedly above the ground. It no longer had the courage to fly near its beloved. Witnessing the girl sharing whispers of love and laughter of joy with her new lover, threatened to suck the very breath of life away from its tiny body.

Soon it was the third summer since the girl's recovery. The dragonfly had stopped visiting his lover regularly. With her shoulders held in her new lover's warm embrace, and her face showered with her new lover's gentle kisses, the girl was too enamored to pay the sad dragonfly any attention, much less in the mood to remember her old lover.

The three years were almost up. On the last day, the girl and her new lover held their wedding ceremony at the church. As the dragonfly flew into the church and landed on God's shoulders, it could hear the couple below exchange their matrimonial vows.

"I do."

It witnessed the bridegroom putting on the ring on the bride's finger and kissing her lips. Tears rolled from the dragonfly's glistening eyes.

There was a low sigh from God. "Do you regret it?"

"No," said the dragonfly as it wiped the tears away.

A faint smile appeared on God's lips. "You can return to your former self tomorrow."

The dragonfly shook its head. "No, let me be a dragonfly forever."

***

There are instances where love is not meant to be. There are instances where love can never bear fruit. To love does not necessarily mean to have, but if you are blessed enough to have someone, treasure him and love him well.

Is there a dragonfly on your shoulder?