"First Sight": A short story
She remembered that moment when she'd first met him as clearly as if it had happened yesterday...
...She guessed it was because she always thought of meeting him as the beginning, the moment that set everything that followed into motion. Thinking logically she knew that that was wrong; everything that happened would have happened anyway even if she'd never laid eyes on him in her life; things would have unfolded in exactly the same way. But she couldn't help thinking of the day that she'd met him as the day when it all started.
That was why, even after many, many years had gone by, she could still remember a million pointless details about that particular moment. She remembered the way the warm spring breeze had ruffled her hair and played with her skirts, the way the birds sung joyfully in the trees, the way the air was filled with the sweet smell of blossoms. She remembered that her parents had been discussing the change in the weather recently, and she remembered the exact words her father had spoken to introduce his work colleague that they'd just bumped into while walking in the park, and the words the colleague had used to introduce his wife and son.
He'd been wearing white; a daring choice, but then again he'd always been bold, reckless. The white of his suit made his black hair and dark eyes stand out even more. He'd caught her eye while their fathers loudly discussed business and their mothers made polite small talk. He smiled, a small smile that was half irony and half exasperation; she got the sense that, like her, he found their parents' conversations trivial, unimportant, boring. That when he talked, he preferred to have deeper, more complex conversations. She couldn't understand it, but she felt like she'd found a twin soul; someone like-minded to her, someone who would actually understand her, unlike the rest of the world who, no matter how hard they tried, couldn't quite comprehend her thoughts.
She'd been wearing black; a stark contrast to his white, but then again, they'd always been opposites. They contrasted and complemented each other, that was how it had always been. She was calm, he was always full of energy; she was sensible, he was reckless; she was ice and he was fire and that was why they were so suited to each other.
They didn't speak a word to each other on that day that they first met; in fact they wouldn't exchange a single word until weeks later, after they'd seen each other a few times. She wondered what they would have said if they had spoken that first day. She wondered if, deep down, they'd known exactly what would come in the future and their roles in it. If they'd known the importance they'd have for each other in the years to come. If they'd known that many, many years later, it would just be her and him standing alone in a world that no longer quite belonged to them, facing a future full of uncertainty.
She liked to think of that moment as the last moment of normalcy in her life, the moment before chaos was unleashed, the moment before she took that one step that took her from a normal life to a life unlike anything she could ever have imagined. Years and years later, long after he'd disappeared from her life but never disappeared from her heart, she remembered his ironic smile and felt tears in her eyes as she thought of their innocence at that time. If only she could go back to being that innocent, that carefree. That full of hope.
As her family and his family said goodbye and carried on walking, she’d had no idea that a chain of events had just been set into motion, but at the same time, she remembered feeling strange. Like there was something she should have noticed but that she'd missed.
Perhaps she’d unconsciously known that her life was about to change forever.
Hope you enjoyed this piece of writing, if you did please please leave a comment, I love getting feedback on my work!
-IndigoSky
...She guessed it was because she always thought of meeting him as the beginning, the moment that set everything that followed into motion. Thinking logically she knew that that was wrong; everything that happened would have happened anyway even if she'd never laid eyes on him in her life; things would have unfolded in exactly the same way. But she couldn't help thinking of the day that she'd met him as the day when it all started.
That was why, even after many, many years had gone by, she could still remember a million pointless details about that particular moment. She remembered the way the warm spring breeze had ruffled her hair and played with her skirts, the way the birds sung joyfully in the trees, the way the air was filled with the sweet smell of blossoms. She remembered that her parents had been discussing the change in the weather recently, and she remembered the exact words her father had spoken to introduce his work colleague that they'd just bumped into while walking in the park, and the words the colleague had used to introduce his wife and son.
He'd been wearing white; a daring choice, but then again he'd always been bold, reckless. The white of his suit made his black hair and dark eyes stand out even more. He'd caught her eye while their fathers loudly discussed business and their mothers made polite small talk. He smiled, a small smile that was half irony and half exasperation; she got the sense that, like her, he found their parents' conversations trivial, unimportant, boring. That when he talked, he preferred to have deeper, more complex conversations. She couldn't understand it, but she felt like she'd found a twin soul; someone like-minded to her, someone who would actually understand her, unlike the rest of the world who, no matter how hard they tried, couldn't quite comprehend her thoughts.
She'd been wearing black; a stark contrast to his white, but then again, they'd always been opposites. They contrasted and complemented each other, that was how it had always been. She was calm, he was always full of energy; she was sensible, he was reckless; she was ice and he was fire and that was why they were so suited to each other.
They didn't speak a word to each other on that day that they first met; in fact they wouldn't exchange a single word until weeks later, after they'd seen each other a few times. She wondered what they would have said if they had spoken that first day. She wondered if, deep down, they'd known exactly what would come in the future and their roles in it. If they'd known the importance they'd have for each other in the years to come. If they'd known that many, many years later, it would just be her and him standing alone in a world that no longer quite belonged to them, facing a future full of uncertainty.
She liked to think of that moment as the last moment of normalcy in her life, the moment before chaos was unleashed, the moment before she took that one step that took her from a normal life to a life unlike anything she could ever have imagined. Years and years later, long after he'd disappeared from her life but never disappeared from her heart, she remembered his ironic smile and felt tears in her eyes as she thought of their innocence at that time. If only she could go back to being that innocent, that carefree. That full of hope.
As her family and his family said goodbye and carried on walking, she’d had no idea that a chain of events had just been set into motion, but at the same time, she remembered feeling strange. Like there was something she should have noticed but that she'd missed.
Perhaps she’d unconsciously known that her life was about to change forever.
Hope you enjoyed this piece of writing, if you did please please leave a comment, I love getting feedback on my work!
-IndigoSky
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