My piece for the Renaissance Competition.

I'm pretty proud of it. It may not be the best essay, or even a good essay, but i'm proud of it! Enjoy.

Remember.

Do you remember? I sure do.

I remember the life I lived without you, filled with loneliness, sadness, and fear. Fear that my life would fade to black, would dissipate into the wind, would disappear like the whispers of the wind on a windy day. Fear that it would happen before I met you.

I was always searching for you. I tried meeting up with you many times, at bus stops, at the train station, at shopping centres. And finally, on that fateful day, I found you.

Do you remember? How we met? I sure do.

Another day, another fragment of my soul, crushed in the ever increasing weight that was my heart. It bore down on me, threatening to shatter itself into tiny shards, never to be repaired again. On that day, I found salvation.

After my previous attempts to find you, I was at an all-time low. Standing in the midst of people in the bus stop, I was alone, a lone wolf against the world, straining against the weight of my hopes, my dreams, struggling not to fall. I desperately needed to see you.

On the bus, we were separated by nothing more than a metre of space. It was pure chance, that our eyes met, and as I searched within your deep hazel coloured eyes, I saw my happiness sitting inside, beckoning me from within.

However, I could sense that sense of apprehension, panic resounding deep within your soul. Seeing the cause of it, I marched over immediately. Nothing would stand in my way.

The root of your problems, a loathsome old man drooling over your perfection. No way would he have his hands on you. Before I could even consider what I was doing, I slapped his dirty, impure hands away. From the moment I saw you, I already knew that you were my past, my present, my future. You would become my body, my mind, my love. I love you.

I remember that day as if it were yesterday, I close my eyes and I’m right there, right where I want to be. Standing right next to you.

That smile on your face, a relieved, genuinely grateful smile saturated with your innocent, pure happiness. It radiated happiness, sincerity, warmth that strummed my heartstrings and stretched them.

“Ccc…can I have your number?”
A bluttering idiot I had become, in the face of your spectacular beauty, your sparkling eyes revealing themselves as windows to your soul.

You agreed, sending one of the most exhilarating rushes of euphoria through my skin. It was nothing like I ever felt before, it was the first time that I had spent truly living. I can only live when I’m with you. Because I love you.

Do you remember? The book that we wrote together, the chapters that we filled in with passionate, gleeful love? I sure do.

The pages were filled up not with words, but with vibrant, stunning, striking imagery stretched across the chapters. No amount of words in the world could express my joy at us being together, no amount of gifts in the world that could be offered to you could properly present me to you, and the biggest canvas ever made would not be enough to express my love for you. Even bold strokes of art could not convey my love, much less the honey-sweet phrases that flowed from my clumsy, unsmooth mouth in an attempt to impress you.

Do you remember? The days we spent at each other’s side, in each other’s arms? I sure do.

The times we spent frolicking in the beach’s surf, the memories we had of the blazingly beautiful sunset, the experience of holding each other long until darkness had set, and all we could feel was the warmth of hot breaths down each other’s necks.

I held you in my arms, ever so lovingly, for you were so sweet and fragile that you could break without my care. I never wanted to leave you. I wanted you to be mine, and mine only. You promised me that we would be together forever, and that night I was happy. Happy that our love would last for all eternity, that you would never forget me, as I would definitely never forget you. My one true love, how I love you so.

Do you remember? That fateful moment, when you announced the news that would tear us apart? I definitely do.

Hot tears rolled off your shining hazel eyes, as I locked my gaze with yours and asked you what was going on. This time, I could sense something wrong, my happiness was rapidly disappearing, and I, in an utterly devastated state grasped at it as a blind man would grasp at the chance to obtain sight. Without you, I would become blind once again, blind to the blindingly beautiful face of life, desensitized to the suffering in the world, as all I needed was you, to become a fool, my only goal in life was to love you, and hopefully, you would love me too.

I shook your shoulders, rampant fear surfacing in me, something that had only happened when I was apart from you. You told me, its not you, its me. I can't feel for you anymore. We’re not meant to be together.

The shock was like a blade through my heart, my dreams, future, hopes, all pierced by cruel, uncaring fate. Your ex boyfriend had came back. The very thing that has brought us together is ripping our bonds apart.

With a swish of your silky dark hair, you were gone, leaving your tears on the ground in a glittering wake. The weight on my heart, unheard of for the last two years, leapt out, ready to consume me. I could no longer compress it, my outbreak of fear was like a virulent disease, rapidly manifesting itself in my body, lashing out in black tongues of the forbidden, corroding my mind with ideas to fufill my sinful desire. I was an emotional wreck. I needed to do something, something to make you return, to get rid of anything standing in our way. I wanted you happy, and I knew that you would be happier with me.

Do you remember? How I tried to get you to return. I don’t, but I sincerely hope that you do.

The wind caressed me gently, whispering into my ears. An occasional “Don’t do it!” would surface, only to be suppressed instantly by my unshakeable resolve. This was the best way I could get you back, to make you remember those days of yonder, when nothing existed, except our mutual love, which occupied every single moment of our lives. I would survive, love is the greatest force in the world.

And with my back beating against the wind, I jumped. A three storey fall was nothing compared to regaining your love. The road in front of me was clear, just as the literal one in front was devoid of traffic. You would nurse me back to health, and would be free of that man, that corruption that would dare to threaten our love.

Time seemed to crawl to a standstill, as I floated down slowly. Far away, I noticed a Ferrari, speeding way over the limit. With a sudden jolt in my heart, I realized that I would be hit just as I smashed into the ground. Time sped up. Electricity coursed through my arms as I flailed them desperately, trying to change my course of direction, my journey, my fate.

I heard a sickening “Crunch!”, immediately followed by a sudden vibration from the impact, passing through me ravenously like electricity through water. Before I could feel anything, the Ferrari rammed right into me. As my limp, unfeeling body was flung in the air, I blinked into darkness.

At least you would remember me.

I sure remember you.