Prologue

I wasn't always like this, you know. Once, I was just like you. Enjoying my life to its full extent, thinking about such matters as death, life, love, only when there was a need — which in average was equal to none.

And then, one day, everything changed. On that day, I lost everything that was dear to me. My love, my life, my soul ... Why didn't I kill myself? I don't know. Maybe somewhere inside, I felt that there might come a day yet, when I could be rescued. Me, a man, rescued. How ironic. I, who begged for something different from the very beginning ... but no. This had to happen. Mark my words, whoever you are, reading this, one day everything ends. One day you wake up and instantly know that the world you're in is not what it used to be. Not for you, not anymore. And then you are ready ... For what, you do not know. But one thing is certain: you are going to fall ... and it's going to hurt ... bad.

When I recall that haunting, painful gaze of my dearest, with her ever-knowing smile, as if whispering, "No matter where you go, I will be there. We will be together..." So common, yet so out of place...

This longing memory, She, was my life, my universe, my soul ... Gone. All gone because of them. Needless traits: anger, greed, betrayal. Fancy words indeed. And so, we are toying with them, unaware of the consequences. It was your past? Fine. We can always manipulate it, as we feel fit. Until it just becomes a memory, then a forgotten legend. And there will be no one who knows. No one will tell you, who you really are. No one will ever show you, and the generations after, who she was. Of course not. Nothing is fair, you should know that by now. But who values being fair anymore. Who would say, without hesitation, that yes, I am fair. There is no need to look. You know the answer already. Yet, when I think of her, itching to look into those eyes, ever so gentle and refreshing as a summer breeze, feeling her smile warming my soul ... The gentle moments we spent together, praising the world for blessing us with such unimaginable wonder and joy...

She was ready, as ready as she could be. Ready to fall, graciously, like a stone sailing over the railing of a bridge, granting one more wish of the caster before accepting the embrace of cold, forgiving water. I was the caster. My wish, a sliver of hope. But hope was nowhere to be found. My wish, I could not set free. And I ... I was far from prepared, for all the grief to come.

On that day, her fate was sealed. Gazing back to the past, I realise now: hers was the most cruel fate among all.

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