Love at the end of the universe
They met at the beginning of the war. Her hair was entangled in the mystic fire of the setting sun. She was a hippy at war, and he was going to commit suicide after his parents perished in the bombing.
He was about to jump off into the beautiful lake 500 feet above sea level. It was how it was going to be. He will take his life because it was so painful living amidst war and beauty. It was as if nature was mocking him for being completely ignorant of his pain. Not a leaf rustled or a storm came down, the sun went up as usual, and the dazzling beauty of the daybreak started with the flutter of birds and their song. Nothing cared about the one broken building that he used to call home.
It was a fairytale house he lived in, above a hill where they could only see the immense crystal clear lake water. At night the lull of the lake would put him to sleep, and no one in this small village that has been reduced to rubble by Russian bombing had any idea what bad weather was.
As Raskolnikov walked towards the edge of hill that was a 300 foot drop to the lake he heard someone walking behind him. And then he heard her run and then she grabbed him and pulled him away. He fell over her. She hugged him tight and told him don’t jump.
And she was strong or he was weak, whatever it was his tears gave in, she hugged him tighter. She must have hugged him for an hour and he felt her beat in his ribcage and he fell asleep. When he awoke he saw she was making a fire and she had rabbits she was skinning.
Ow you are awake
Rashkolnikov didn't meet her eyes. She left skinning the rabbit and came without wiping her hands and met his downward gaze, stooping in front of him and looking up. I know what you have gone through. I knew your parents. My parents died last month and they sent me food and cloths. I even slept at their farmhouse down there, she pointed at a broken house down the road. You know your family gave me love, and care their heart was made of gold.
I felt so much sadness, and I was processing my own grief, but in times of war you have to process grief faster. I wish I had taken the time to thank them. I heard the shelling, last week while I was in the jungle camping there because I was too afraid of the bombs, I didn't dare come out before this morning and found you. When I saw how everything was destroyed I knew that my worst fears had come true.
Please don’t take your life. I am here for you. Come here and she hugged him again as tears fell from Raskolnikov’s eyes. And she was crying too, she told him all we had was each other.
The shops are gone and the nearest shops would a three-day trek. I don't know why they would bomb this paradise. Only the devil would want to do that. Putin was devil incarnate. Such an egomaniac. I wish I would stab him in the heart and watch him bleed to death.
What did we do to deserve this?
Rashkolnikov stayed silent. He was Russian, he lived in Ukraine, his whole life has been turned upside down by a monster claiming to be a Russian.
The world would never listen to our wailings. We are all by ourselves. You and me. Help me skin this rabbit, I have some spices we can burn in fire and make a barbecue.
To be continued…
