Windows to our soul
Our twin souls rotated in the void,each complementing the other. Yin and yang in perfect harmony,our love as timeless as eternity. The blueprint of our existence dictated that we needed to experience other levels of being. We parted. The pain of separation lanced through my heart. "I will always love you,I will search for you," I cried. Then my awareness of her was no more. My first recollection was at an early age. I dreamt of her one night,an Indian beauty from North America or the Indian sub continent. Coal black hair,an oval face,silk soft skin and kind brown eyes. The qualities I remembered most of all were kindness and intelligence. Each night that I went to bed,I willed myself to see her. Come the morning,disappointment and heartache were my only companions. The years rolled by and I arrived at my middle teens. We were living in Wembley then. I used to take the underground from Wembley park all the way to Ealing Broadway. From there I would take a bus to Southall,the main Indian community in London. I wandered up and down the pavement looking at the girls as they went by. It was on the third saturday that I literally bumped into mister Patel. I spied a girl on the other side of the road whose waist length hair shimmered in the sunlight. In my haste to cross the road,I collided with mister Patel. "Steady on young man,what's the rush," he said. "I am looking for a girl," I replied. "At your age,you should be concentrating on your school work,marriage is a major responsibility". "I am not going to get married". "And what will you do when you find her?". "It's a long story", I said. "I have all morning," he replied. "Ok,I will buy you a snack." We seated ourselves in a corner table and our fare arrived. Over the snack,I recounted the story of my search. When I had finished,mister Patel leaned back in his chair. He had a thoughtful look on his face,then went on to explain what he thought of my story. "Have you ever heard of the term,soul mates?",he began. "That's two people who are close friends." "Yes,but they are more than close friends." "What do you mean?" "One school of thought is that we are souls who are housed in a physical body and we experience many lifetimes in the physical." "Reincarnation," I blurted. "Right." "What has that got to do with soul mates?", I said. "Everyone is searching for their soul mate and for some it takes them many lifetimes to find them." "But why?". "People crave for love,a soul mate will give you unconditional love." "So from what you say,I am looking for love with my soul mate!" "Yes,said mister Patel. I think the dream was telling you that she is on this earth at this time and you will know her when you see her." "How do you know that I will know her?". "You will know her by her eyes,for our eyes are the windows to our soul," replied mister Patel. At eighteen I left home,my itchy feet took me to Germany. I ended up in a town called Werl and worked as a porter in one of the hotels'. I got friendly with some British soldiers up the road in camp six. We used to go to the disco at various towns in the vicinity. One night,we went to a nightclub in a town called Soest. We were waiting to get in and just fooling around with some American soldiers. The doors opened and a girl with long black hair took my eye. She caught me watching her and told everyone that I was her friend. She was my first love. Our relationship lasted for three years. I can't remember how the relationship ended. When it did,we finished as friends and promised to keep in touch. Over the months,the letters gradually dwindled and eventually stopped. At thirty, I got into a relationship which I should not have been in. You know how it is,you have been alone for some time and you think that being with someone is better than being on your own. At forty-seven,I am on my own again,renting one room in a house. It feels terrible,I miss the love and affection of a relationship with the opposite sex. Apart from my work,ninety percent of the time I am on my own. Except for one day. I will always remember that day. It was a quiet sunday and I had run out,would you believe it,of toilet paper. I went through the aisle of the supermarket and bought a twelve pack tissue paper. I went to pay for the goods at check out number seven. Ahead of me stood a woman with shoulder lenght coal black hair. A thrill of anticipation ran through my mind. She opened her purse to pay the check out girl. A coin fell from her fingers. I retrieved the coin and gave it to her. She turned round to thank me. My gaze fell on her oval face. Sweet Juses I thought,she is the one. I lifted my hand to stroke her silk soft skin. I stopped. Look at the eyes man,look at the eyes. The strings of my heart tightened across my chest. I breathed deep gulps of air into my lungs,my head spinning out of control. Our eyes met,the memories of our previous existence flashed into our minds and then I was lost in her embrace. 24258210
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