Amongst that handful of handpicked toddlers were two very different children. Not only in the obvious sense of being girl and boy but the fact they presented very different families, backgrounds, appearances, nationalities and reasons to be arriving there that day. Yet neither of them sensed on that initial journey that within those crumbling, cold walls before them they would find something which beyond all measure they’d long for; yet at every turn there would always be another hurdle, bigger than before, harder to jump. For life isn’t a happy stroll, it’s a long hard slog and for some it’s a painful limp.
* * *
They’d always been aware of each other, even from the very first day; well when a normal classful is your year group you know everyone – or would like to think you do.
In the beginning they were like any toddlers playing together, nothing mattered. Next came that awkward stage; the stage where you’re never seen dead with one of the opposite sex. But, throughout those ten years both hadn’t just blossomed into delightful, well-mannered young people; something deeper had begun to take its hold. It was something which till this day they’d never be able to escape. Although they would never understand what held them together like Velcro.
* * *
Her butterfly delicate body was illuminated by a blinding ray of sunshine whilst power and wealth oozed out of his immaculately groomed, arthritic figure.
Successfully dancing the dance of life she answered to the name of Mills. She’d caught his eye in the past but never had her beauty lay as bare as it did that night. Her tiny figure was fragile as precious crystals and her evenly bronzed skin shimmered in the moonlight. Whereas her teeth were as white as pearls; her ebony black hair mirrored the midnight sky outside. With her beautiful poise and grace she captured, commanded and enchanted every soul’s attention in the room that night, just as she did where ever she went.
But behind her picture perfect frontage lay something even more amazing: her inner beauty. Twinned with her natural cleverness, her ability to charm hadn’t just won Boon over but everyone she’d ever met. Boys loved her, girls wanted to be her; and together this made her Queen Bee. She seemed to fit in so perfectly here yet she always kept everyone at an arms length. She’s surrounded herself by such a protective barricade he saw no way in. For what did he have to offer a girl like her, the girl who always had the upper hand?
Powerfully pounding the path of life he answered to the name of Boon. Deep inside she’d always liked him but tonight he made the flame in her heart burn brighter. His toned, sporty figure was oxen-powerful and his pale white skin as soft as precious silk. His bright blue eyes sparkled like a summer’s lake in the midday sun and that midday sun would be the perfect colour of his lusciously curly hair. He was perfect in her eyes. Yet her eyes were blinded, blinded to his obvious astigmatism. Although everyone else who crossed his path saw the true him.
For behind the surface of her wildest dream, his tools of trade were in one way even more spectacular. He’d go a long way in life with his unusual compassion to care for everything around him and his strange politeness. There was no hint of a stand-off attitude, yet a ruthless streak would soon rise to the forefront. A streak which would control, overpower and pain the beauty of her every move. But for now he had everything in life to live for. Girls idolized him. Boys envied him. Proud and noble, he was the school lion.
Across that crowded room their gazes meet with grace and just for a moment life and time stood still. Silently, but in perfect synchronicities, they snaked their way through the bustling dance floor, until before them stood their wildest dream. However to everyone else it looked more like beauty and the beast.
“Hey,” whispered Mills, it was barely audible amongst the commotions around but he heard. Shyly, a smile crept onto his face as he slowly lifted his eyes to take in her beauty. For the first time in his life he was truly lost for words, well apart from the time when he suffered from aphasia. Eventually, after what seemed like a lifetime to her, he warily began to speak.
“H… H… Hi,” was all he could manage as the overwhelming power of that moment brought his stutter to the forefront. Desperately, he tried to suppress his rage. He couldn’t show her yet. First he had to woo. Though that shouldn’t be a problem for despite any deep uncertainness her lover’s gaze hadn’t faltered as images of a life ahead flashed before her mind.
So there, in that single moment dreams were created. As together, they’d laid the first foundations to a life long journey down a twisted lover’s path, which would ultimately become too deep to trace as it embedded itself deep inside their hearts and minds alike.
* * *
As with all the lives which have gone before me, I now know a dream is just a dream. In reality, life’s path is never simple and “love may not conquer all but it guides you in knowing what’s worth fighting for.”
And till this day and forever more I, Mills, guided by the fact “true love is blind” will fight the good fight… even in the face of pain… even if I wake-up and find my life has been a cliché-ridden dream.
For just a moment we were true lovers. We were Mills and Boon.
