Great love...

One day, as I was walking along the cracked and speckled footpath, I felt something land on my shoulder. I swiped at it, as I was feeling blue, and did not want a nuisance in falling foliage. But again, I felt something soft gently settle on my shoulder. At the same time, something landed on my brown crazy curls, and got caught in the blue leather of my handbag. As I kept my eyes down, brimming with tears, I tried to reason. Perhaps I had walked under a shedding tree, but there were no trees along this isolated road. Perhaps I was caught in a mini whirlwind which was picking up school yard debris and letting it settle on my tightly wrapped green jacket. But there was not a whiff of breeze. I tried to soothe my aching heart with the kind of upbeat words friends use to bring back a smile, but the bruising only deepened. It was only as I lifted my gloved hand to my cheek that I noticed something strange. It hadn't been leaves falling from the sky, nor muddy debris picked up of the ground. It hadn't been the raindrops that had been threatening to fall from the sky only moments before. I reached out my hand in front of me, slowing to a stop by a brightly coloured swing set. They were love hearts. Falling on me. Hundreds, thousands, falling just on me. Some small, some bigger, all falling like the first snowflakes of the season. Everything was muted in the afternoon sounds, and as I paused, for just one moment, covered in hearts in shades of ruby, cerise, raspberry, merlot, scarlet, blush and cherry, I was happy. Everything was simple. For love had found me. In my sorrow, in my pain, in all my perceived loneliness, it had sought me. Hunted for me. Pursued me. And when it had found me, instead of berating me for loosing faith, it covered me with a softness, with colour, with beauty. And it gave me hope.
I stood there for an eternity, billowing piles of hearts covering my feet, my ankles, my knees. When a gust of wind came rolling down the street, my breath stopped in alarm, for I wasn't ready for this moment to finish. My heart was yet to heal. But even as I had this thought, as the hearts began to shift, as the colours began to reflect the light and bounce into shades unheard of till now, I knew the best was yet to come. They filled the air, they filled the air with music unheard, with colours unseen, and with gay abandon. I lifted my arms and my face towards the fluttering sky, amongst the mess of reds that swirled around and around, lifting my hair and brushing softly against my face. As my eyes closed, and the wind picked up, I could feel the love hearts, whipping against me in the softest way. It was exhilarating. I felt alive, I felt joy!
The wind eased, and I opened my eyes, a smile cheering up my tearful eyes. And they were gone. Gone forever. Yet I did not feel sad, I did not feel blue. I noticed, under my old leather boot, a tiny little red something flapping in the soft breeze. I bent down to investigate, and found the smallest heart of all. This love, this great love, had not left me. It had left part of itself. And as I tucked it in my pocket, close to my heart, I returned to my path, with all the joy one can possess. For this love, this great love, had returned my missing piece.

Image via le love