It had to be her. The face was unmistakable, unforgettable. She looked thinner than he remembered. A bit weary and her hair no more had the shine. Her eyes spoke volumes of her patience yet still and calm, so deep that they would drown an ocean each.
He stood still, his grey temples pounding. The bruises and scars from the bloodshed marred his creases that once she fell for. His skin had lost its life. He looked pale. The unshaven chin made him appear older than she remembered. His heart suddenly found a voice. He felt warm just like the little bird that survives the winter to sing in the spring . In a long time he felt alive.
She saw him. He forced out a bleak smile. She shifted her gaze back to the sun that was almost setting now and closed her eyes and mumbled a prayer. She must be seeing things. The wait had lasted for over two decades and her eyes fooled her every now and then. She no more could sense the real from the illusions her heart wished were true.
He advanced towards her and he could have sworn each step weighed a thousand tonnes. His footsteps grew heavier,her cheeks reddened. He advanced towards the lean figure on the platform. She stood still. He stopped when he was a foot away from her. He could hear her breath and her heart throbbing as if it conspired to beat right out of her breast.
"How have you been?" he asked.
She shivered as she reached for his hand. She held his hand and caressed her cheeks wetting it with the pearls she had been holding back into those ocean deep eyes. She had to see if it was real, if he was real! She leaned her head into his bosom.
She whispered, "I knew you would come!"
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he held her face in his palms and kissed her.
The sun glided down the horizon somewhere behind the distant forest as the smokey machine pulled out of the platform hooting and leaving behind it a cloud of smoke. Dusk approached, but for the once departed-it was just dawning!
A lot of things change over time but then, there are things that are beyond time!
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