you stole my shadow..

I sit there on that stone bench staring at the distant you. You look like a dream. A poem. A dream. A dreamy poem. Are you for real? I sit there spending every moment. Every hour. Looking at you. Sometimes looking for you. I find you. I lose you. I dream. I continue doing it. For me. For us. I come to that stone bench every day. I simply sit there in silence. I sit there expecting you to turn around and break the silence. I fail. The leaves fall on me. Sometimes it rains. Sometimes it shines. All I can feel is the snow. Cold. Chilling. Deadly. I pursue. I wait. I dream. In silence.

Is it autumn? Is it winter? Is it spring? Or is it just you? How long should I sit here. Counting the leaves. Chasing a dream. Wishing at stars. Warring at every heartbeat. Where did you go? When did you come? Why am I dazed? Why am I silent? I smiled at you. Waved at you. Took a step or two to sit beside you. I made my mind. Tamed my heart. Took the steps. Almost a million ones. Walked up to you. Was I blinded? By your smile? Or was it the glint in your eyes. Or was it mine? I moved closer. I lost my senses. Briefly. Was it the aroma that you carry? Was it just my sense that had a lapse?

It took a moment or even two. To push those clouds that crowded around me. To chase those butterflies that crowded you. You were gone. Just like that. You disappeared like you never were there. Into nowhere. Everything seemed empty around me. Everything seemed like a painting on canvas. A canvas without you. I stood there like a painter who had just chopped off his hands after painting a masterpiece. I looked around. I searched. Not all over. Just inside the canvas. Where you belonged.

I walked back to the stone bench and perched on it. Lost you somewhere. Lost my heart. My mind. I continue to sit there in silence. Waiting for you. Waiting for the moment. To see you. To be with you. Not a lifetime. Just a moment. I would die a million times. For that one moment. One word. Or just one moment of silence together. I would die a million times.

What went wrong? Why am I still waiting? For you to come back? For that one single moment of silence? I’ve been awake all night. Looking at the moon. You might have been looking at it too at the same time. Just a consolation thought. The stars laughed at me. I felt at home. Missed you. I sit there looking at the sun rise. Blinds me. My mind. Another day. Brand new. The wait continues. On that stone bench. In silence.

I hear the dried leaves whisper. Your arrival. My dawn. I turn around. I see no one. I turn back. I see you on that stone bench. Near. Yet so far. Ecstasy. I want to run. To you. From me. I take a step forward. One backward. Fear of losing you again. For now. Forever. I sit there in silence.
Watching you play with the dew drops. Leaves. My heart. I see it running around your feet. My heart. It likes you. I think. Yea, maybe. I smile. I wait.

I see someone. A shadow. Walks towards you. Sits beside you. My heart goes invisible. I see you. Him. Your laughter. Your hair fluttering in the breeze. Your smile. Your eyes. You. Where am I? I thought I was all around you. In a moment, I felt myself invisible. Like I was dead and gone. Ages ago. Never to return. To see you like that. I still wait for the shadow beside you to disappear. It did. Few years later. I continue to sit there. On the stone bench. In silence.It hurts. To wait. To not have the courage to walk to you. For the fear of losing you. For the fear you will disappear. Why can’t I just sit here? On the stone bench. In silence.

And watch the moon smile and the sun rise. All alone. Yet with you. A little far away. But I make up my mind. I took few steps forward. Many steps backward. A million times. Finally I stood there. Behind you. My shadow fell right before you. You feared. You didn’t look back. You decided to go away. I moved. You froze. You wanted to run. I was ready to chase. You sat again. Looking at my shadow. In silence. I stood there. Raising my hand. Placing it on your shoulder. You didn’t react. I moved closer. I wanted to whisper in your ears. A million stories. Defeating the 1001 Arabian nights. I moved closer. I whispered. You didn’t react. My eyes welled up. A tear fell on your pristine body and ran down your hand. You looked up. It drizzled. Camouflaged my tears. I retrieved. I walked back. To the stone bench. Sat there in silence. Looked at you. And my shadow that stayed with you.

I smile. Through those tears. I live here with your memories. You live there with my shadow. I sit here in silence. You sit there with my silence. I lost my mind. My heart. Now my shadow. What next?

- the girl.