her heart!

Her Heart 

Moonlight spread like silver on the stream…

Her emotions, ever-flowing, refused to break—

like an indelible mark…

like an endless memory…

Tears welled up behind her lashes, blurring her vision,

and in those fading images,

she drifted into thoughts of him.

"What are these endless thoughts for?"

His voice jolted her heart.

Startled, she looked straight into his eyes.

Ripples of some mystical light encircled her,

sweeping her into a strange unrest.

"I can't imagine you as someone untouched by my soul.

I want to tear away the distance that separates us!"

She said, her gaze imploring, aching.

"Memories emerge from the thirst

born of a bondless void...

They breathe life into the body, don't they?"

he replied.

"But I can't keep dreaming like this forever..."

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"You lack resolve.

You're surrendering to the natural consequences

of cosmic laws," he said, almost sternly.

"Yes... I'm surrendering to the purest form of emotion—

love," she answered, meeting his eyes without flinching.

"As long as time flows along this stream of union,

let it carry our memories into eternity," he said.

"But that very time keeps returning,

burning the heart,

breaking into waves of pain..."

she murmured, melting.

"Better to cherish the memories lived with the soul

than to dwell in delusions

for the sake of flesh alone,"

he replied.

"An immortal memory,

as long as the body lives,

will keep blooming afresh—"

she said, her voice quiet but unwavering.

"But once the body fades,

everything dries away.

Still, as long as we are alive,

this illusion called love

wraps our minds in its gentle light," he said.

"This bond…

it wraps around me so tightly,

suffocating me in this physical world!" she said, with grief.

"Let’s dream these memories

until they dissolve into the mundane,"

he whispered.

"Now we are only separated by distances

we cannot cross…

perhaps that's the very meaning of it all!"

she said.

His eyes were filled with tears.

She continued to stare into the stream

from the little bridge,

bathed in moonlight…

And he—

a body made of water—

slowly disappeared into that silvery stream.

She wiped her tears…

carrying his traces within her,

her heart slipping silently

into the infinite unknown.

                           – undavilli.m

(telugu story translated by aparanjitha)

Published in Sanchika Telugu Literary Web Magazine — June 26, 2022 Edition

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