The Irony Of Love

I smiled as I felt the soft velvet fabric of the box which contains a promise that will make Rebecca mine forever. I imagined surprising her in our shared apartment in Los Angeles, the look upon her beautiful face and that angelic smile of hers. I snapped myself out of my thoughts and tried to focus on the visa documents that lay before me, but ended up tracking United Airlines Flight 175 where my most precious and prized possession was seated.

Suddenly there was a blast as a plane crashed with the North Tower. Confusion was written on every employee's face as we looked at the destruction through the gigantic windows, replaced by gratefulness as we were not the building the plane had chosen. Unfortunately, this victory was short lived as another plane crashed with our tower, a direct hit to the floor I worked at.

Terror engulfed me and for a moment, I froze in one place. Then I thought about Rebecca, I thought about how distraught she would be and when I thought about never being able to hold her hand again, I ran at top speed to the staircase, flinching whenever the flames made contact with my skin and finally neared the staircase. The stairs completely engulfed by thick, black smoke. I took a deep breath and thought about Rebecca, completely ignoring the pain. When I reached the end, a sudden drop of tiles knocked me unconscious. I begged God to take care of her and the last thing I could remember was loud sirens and panicked voices.

At the hospital- (Normal POV)

Gale woke up in a hospital bed and winced with pain, due to the fatal burns he had suffered. Suddenly, he smiled and looked at the chair seated beside him, expecting to see the beautiful face of the love of his life, but was greeted with a carelessly discarded newspaper instead. Fear consumed him as his mind started rushing over the many possibilities that could've taken her away from him.

"United Airlines Flight 175 crashes with the South Tower, all passengers are declared dead. Bodies are trying to be retrieved but the chances are slim." His mind snapped upon hearing the headline and a look of horror etched upon his face, the calm and straightforward face of the news reporter, as he described the circumstances on the plane, angered Gale so much that he threw the empty vase at his bedside table and it crashed with the television breaking the screen into shards, instantly shutting it off.

Gale's POV

The satisfaction of seeing the screen break and shut the stupid reporter's mouth was instantly replaced with a wave of anger. I tugged at my hair screaming, getting louder and louder each second. My breath, my heartbeat, my blood, my love and the purpose of me living was taken away the moment Rebecca died, in the same bloody accident

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where I survived. As this news started to sink in, I screamed louder than ever before and started slapping myself. My eyes started to close and I could hear the faint footsteps of nurses and doctors rush into my room.

After a few days-

I sat with a gun at my hand, kneeling against Rebecca's memorial stone, (her body was never retrieved.) contemplating where to shoot myself to end this feeling of suffering and reunite with my blood, my life, my heartbeat, my love and fully start functioning like I used to. I placed my hands at the stone and whispered, "Hey Reb! I'm meeting you soon okay? We will reunite and live the life we always wanted." I could not help but smile as I brought the gun to my abdomen and pulled the trigger expecting to hear a loud bang and feel the satisfaction while wearing the blanket of emptiness before reuniting with the most precious thing in my existence. But the bullet did not come out. I shot, again and again, the barrel was full but the bullets refused to come out as if a force told them not to do so. I flung the gun and engulfed her stone in a hug, and I could feel her warm arms wrap around me, her small hands intertwining with my large ones and a smile crept my face as I thought, love truly is eternal and never dies.

Rebecca's POV

Panic engulfed me as I looked down upon Gale, the colour gone from his rosy cheeks, his muscles replaced by loose skin which covered his bones, clutching a gun in his hands. He was too good to die, he does not deserve to go away so soon. Tears brimmed my eyes as I saw him bring the gun down to his abdomen and as he pulled the trigger, I broke down sobbing uncontrollably, cupping my face in my hands. Looking down on earth, I expected to see him sprawl upon the floor, gun still in his hand, a river of his precious blood falling on the green grass below, but, there he was in one piece, attempting to pull the trigger once more before flinging it on the ground. I suddenly felt arms wrap around me, my nose inhaling the unmistakable smell of lemongrass belonging to Gale. I wrapped my arms around his now fragile body, intertwining my hands with his. I will be there for Gale when he needs me. It will be different but we'll figure it out. True love indeed knows no distance.

Author's POV

Love is a phenomenon whose complexity can never be expressed in words. It can only be felt, and only those who are fortunate enough to experience true love can truly understand it. Lovers end up fearing the day when death will separate them, but even if one of them dies, he/she always wants the other to live. Lovers want the best for each other, even if that means that they might not be able to physically see each other again. This is the Irony of Love.