The lady And The Peasant

"There once was a man who had not a penny to his name." A young boy no older than six raises his hand.

"Yes, Isa-el?" an old man, who wore kind eyes and a calming smile responded.

"how long ago was it?" the other kids started to murmur amongst themselves, after all, the old man had claimed it to be a true story as he always did with all his other stories.

“Long ago” he smiled and shut his eyes as if trying to remember when happened. “it happened long ago.”

“way before you or eye were born.”

"before you!!" one kid shouted, his name was Lial, he had a short attention span but loved the stories the old man told.

"yes even me" he tried to snuff the small giggle that came from him, his tone suddenly changed, it was his storytelling tone.

The story takes place a long time ago in a land long forgotten, there, in a small village with fewer than five hundred people, our story takes place.

  The young man had a rugged look his unruly hair flared like a ball of fire in all directions. On him was a belt and on that belt were several animal hides, he had gone hunting for food. The town was not far, but he couldn’t just waltz In, the lord had come to town and he was hunting unlawfully. He didn’t have a choice, the lord didn’t want anyone other than him to hunt on the grounds. The man was poor very poor, hunting was his only way to eat.

  Since he couldn't go to town, he decided to enjoy exploring the forest, the parts he wasn't very familiar with and the parts he had never gone through at all. His exportation fascinated him for longer than he was expecting and before he realized it, the sun had begun to set and the moon was not yet clearly visible in the night sky. "Beautiful." He thought as he headed back to town.

  Halfway back to town, he remembered something. He remembered a place he had not gone to in a long time, he couldn't remember why he had forgotten it, but the sudden beauty of the moon reminded him of an equally beautiful scene.

  “If remember right, its that way.” As if some mysterious force compelled him, he walked towards the place that would change his life forever.

  It didn't take long for him to get there. It was as beautiful as he had remembered. Four trees stood slightly turned with flowers growing around them and along their elegant vines, they stood like an archway towards the river. The river glimmered under the moonlight, it was so clear he could see the beautiful stones that lay below the surface.

  Just as he had closed his eyes to immerse himself in the scene, he heard a rustling behind him.  Someone was coming, in his confusion, the young man jumped into the river hides and all.

  He held his breath as long as he could hoping that the person wouldn't find him in the river, this time more out embarrassment than fear. But destiny has another plan for him, the person from his view was a woman, she wore a beautiful white dress thought the detail for fuzzy to him, but he knew that it was beautiful. The woman jumped as soon as she saw him. She had already turned around when the man jumped out of the water.

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  He was soaked, and his clothes were heavy, but he couldn’t let her go, he had to say something. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to see this place again!!!”

  She stopped, her ears twitched for a moment, she was wondering if she heard right. “you say you’ve been here before?” she didn’t turn to face him, her voice was weak and although he couldn’t see it, her cheeks were red.

  He thought her to be the easily frightened and knew he would have to choose his words carefully if he ever wanted to see her face. When had his goal changed, he wondered why he wanted to see her, he had never met her and yet he wanted with all his being to see her face. His instincts told him that if he saw her face just once he could die happy.

  With a small gulp, he answered, "Yeah I don't remember it well, but I use to come here a lot when I was younger." He told her of the many times he visited the small piece of Eden, the times he use to play or just sleep below one of the trees. He told her of the times he had come there to cry or to scream with joy. He wondered why he had forgotten such a wonderful place.

  “did you ever show this place to anyone?” her voice had more force, he didn’t know if he heard anger or fear, or something else. But he answered her calmly as he always had done with others.

  “I don’t think I have.” He couldn’t remember that ever happening, he remembered the times he was alone and the time he cried but he couldn’t remember ever being with someone, let alone ever showing it someone.

  "so you don't remember." Her voice was low but just high enough for the man to hear her. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" he looked at her back, she was trembling, and her fists were clenched. Then, almost as if her mood before hadn't been real, her body relaxed and she turned to face the man.

  "No we've never met!!" she rose her voice far beyond she thought could come from such a quiet girl. His heart beat faster, the moment he laid eyes on her, she was more beautiful than the Moon, more beautiful that land he stood on.

  There was only a single flaw on the perfect beauty before him. Her beautiful face was blemished with misery and covered in tears. She was crying her heart out as if she had lost something dear to her.

“What’s wrong.” He softly spoke as he stepped out of the river.

“Don’t come closer.” The woman wiped away her tears with a single hand, she had regained control of her heart.

  "I just want to know if you're okay." He took another step closer, she took a half step back, she didn't want to run away from him. "just stay there please!!" She yelled, the sudden anger that emerged from her voice was enough to stop him for a moment, but it was only a moment.

  “what are you doing, I said stop” She pleaded for him to stop but he continued walking forward as if he was going to lose something if he didn’t push forward.

  She hadn't moved an inch but the man, by that point, was already face to face with her. She was forced to look up, otherwise, she would have had to stare at his chest. "Why were you crying." The woman furrowed her brows and crinkled her nose, she was trying to look angry but her quivering lips that shifted from a frown to grimace every other moment and her eyes that glistened from her tears betrayed her true emotions.

  She felt sadness an overwhelming sadness that wanted to eat her whole and it was succeeding. It was the kind of sadness that could end a life, she thought she had forgotten that emotion, but it returned just as painful as she remembered it.

  She looked at him and his soft smile, he wanted to comfort her, this only made it more painful for her. She raised her trembling arms, her clenched hands in the form of a fist. The man was ready to take her hits at any time, he felt that he deserved it. But the woman didn’t strike him, she had instead wrapped her arms around his back, tightening her grip on him. She held him as if he was going to slip away from him, she held him like as if she wouldn’t allow it to ever happen. Her trembling stopped, the man couldn’t feel her tears from the water but he knew that she was doing just that.

"I hate you. I hate you so much." She whimpered theses words, never for a moment releasing the man from her grip.

  "Promise me you won't leave me again." Again? He didn't remember, how could he forget such a beautiful woman, how could he make her cry, he didn't understand what was happening, but none of it mattered, there was only a single powerful thought that overshadowed the others.

  “is it all right if I hold you?” he didn’t wait for a response and embraced her. He could feel her warmth, in his hands. Water began to drip down her dress but neither of them cared. They held each other for as long as they could, the sun was already gone and the world had darkened, only moonlight remained. It shined on the two like a ray of light, a ray of light that only belonged to them, that was only meant for them.