Eternity: Chapter Six

(Author's note: This is the sixth of a seven part story featured in my blog. To make it short, basically in the first five parts are different time periods and events in history, i.e. civil war, Spanish colony of Manila, etc. In these events were lovers or they were meant to be lovers but were always cut short by different tragedies and circumstances.)

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June 12, 2005, just past midnight.

The tides roar against the beach clawing into the sand before being pushed back to the sea. On the shore, the sounds of festive music and festive people are prominent amongst the dead of night. A boy and a girl walk by, getting their feet wet by the warm water. It's the same old story: Boy likes girl and girl likes boy. The current setting should be the perfect time for boy to reach out for the girl's hand. However, we all know nothing's that easy.

Finally, they stop and sit by the white sands and stare out into the horizon. The boy talks as the girl looks on.

"You know, I wonder about fate. Do you think it's real?"

[I don't know. Maybe], says the girl.

"For some reason, I've been thinking about it lately. Jim told me about this play he saw before in New York called Aida. Aida was this Nubian princess who's land was captured by Egypt and she became a slave for the conquering general named Radames. Now Radames was engaged to be married to the Egyptian princess, who he didn't love, but was arranged by his father as a political move for Radames to be king. Are you still with me?"

[Yeah, go on.]

"Okay. So Radames is this adventurous general and Aida is this strong-willed slave, so naturally they fall in love. Matters are complicated when Aida's father, the Nubian King, was captured and jailed. Aida and the other slaves now plan to release the Nubian King and escape. Radames, who knows nothing about the planned escape, is currently at a crossroad of his own. He could either marry the Egyptian princess and be king or drop the engagement altogether. Aida begs Radames to marry the princess and be king so he can have an influence on the future fate of Nubia, Aida also secretly plans to use the celebration to break his father out and escape."

[So what happened?]

"While Egypt is celebrating, Radames decides to sneak out to see Aida. He then discovers the prisoners as they try to escape. Seeing Aida with them, he aids them as Egypt guards are about to close in on them. Aida now, seeing that Radames is about to be arrested, decides to stay and share the same fate as Radames. In the end, they are buried alive together. In the epilogue, the setting is in a modern museum showcasing Ancient Egyptian artifacts. In the showcase, a male visitor bumps into a female visitor and they stare into each other's eyes and the lights fade out as if to symbolize that Aida and Radames' love still lives on."

[Well, I don't believe in reincarnation, if that's what you're saying.]

"No, it's not that. I don't think they're saying that those modern visitors are Aida and Radames reincarnated. I think they're saying that we all have soulmates and that because it is so distinct, it draws parallels through time. For example, I have these batchmates that have been together since high school. Even today, they're still going strong and are still so in love with each other. Now let's say they end up together until they die of old age, we can make a decent case that they could be soulmates. Now what I'm saying is that their love is distinct that they were probably instances in all the Earth's history that were similar and rivaled their love."

[I don't think I've ever heard you talk that much about something like that.]

"Well, like I said, I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

[Was all that to try and tell me something?]

"Uh.. What do you mean?"

[What I mean is did you talk about all that just to tell me that you like me?]

"I don't know. Maybe."

[Because it's not like this is news. What I'm curious of though, is what makes you think we measure up to Aida and Radames or to your batchmates from high school? What I'm saying is what makes you think that applies to us?]

"I don't know. Like I said, it's just something I've been thinking a lot about."

[Okay, so in that sense, do you think we're like that?]

"Are you saying it's going to end up as tragic?"

[It was your story.]

"Well, who knows? Maybe it ends here. Maybe all throughout time, there were assorted guys and girls who were perfect for each other, but just couldn't end up together because of society or war or even death. Maybe that's us, flirting with the idea but never really ending up anywhere."

[Maybe.]

[Come on, we have to go back. Glenn's about to have some shots for his birthday.]