It was a time when hatred filled the hearts of many for reasons that were fierce and deep yet also vastly misunderstood. A time of wars between towns, and cities, of friends and all mankind. A darkness filled the earths aura like the tainted smoke from a smoldering forest fire. A time of strain. Of stress. Of pain and separation. And at times the joining of the most unusual of hearts.
He had watched her from a distance, never to get close. As she belonged to another, enslaved in his fortress of demands and commands in exchange for her survival. He watched as she worked, with a gentle care that not many possess. Her heart on her sleeve as she tended to her gardens and cared for her charges. He watched her suffer the wrath of those more powerful than her but never saw her crumble as she grew stronger with every swing of their emotional anvil.
He soon found himself thinking of her as he forged his way through his day. Fighting his demons within and his dragons circling. The thought of her smile. Or the day dream of her touch guided him through the viscous territory he was forced to endure.
Little did he know she had seen him as well. And while they appeared vastly different, there was much to pull them together. While around them people were sick and dying, their invisible bond drew them to each other like poles of a magnet.
There came a day when they should meet. A circumstantial meeting yet one seemingly mastered by an energy more powerful than the intensity of the collision of societies around them. Through the jagged fence that separates man from woman, race from creed, safety from demons, life from loss they found their space and place. Together.
She would sneak from her sanctuary of insanity to search him out in his sweat shop of safety. Even just for a glimpse to help her to feel grounded and safe again. Her heart certain he would save and protect hers when the time came.
As time passed and the wars continued, so did their affection from afar. Brief moments captured seemingly benign to those who happened to observe but ones that planted roots that grew deep. He became her shelter during the storms and she his light in the darkness.
Does love conquer all? Or does the complexity and war of life stretch beyond their limits, their capabilities, their capacities. Because love “should” be easy. It “should” make for the happy ending. But in the world that can be uprooted in a moment how sane is this possibility?
Keeping (in)Sanity 