It wasn't love at first sight. I didn't even see him at first. But that one word, that he texted me, it felt like someone lit a spark in me.
I didn't fall for his smile but I fell for the smile that word brought to my face.
I didn't drown in the depth of his eyes but the depth of his words.
I didn't see his hair flow with the zephyr but the flow of his fingers over the keypad of his phone, I could feel them, like waves ebbing and weaving on the shore.
Trust me, butterflies are nothing, I can feel the whole zoo in my stomach while I see he is typing. We never wished each other good night, because our conversations always ended after midnight and that too just so we could see each other in dreams.
He never woke up beside me in the morning but I always kept my phone beside my pillow, and trust me, if I see a good morning message from him in the morning, it was enough to light up my day, the sun could just take a longer nap.
At times, I needed him to hug me, when it was chilly at night when I was scared of the dark, not possible, right? Oh, but his words draped me and gave me more warmth than a blanket could ever give, and I no longer needed the stars to keep me awake while I count them, I could just see his words twinkling.
The times when we send the same message together, coincidence, you say? Oh, I think not. That is the thing that proves that no matter how much distance comes between us, we are connected by hearts.
Late night walks, having coffee together, going on rides, these are the dreams we saw with open eyes, we lived them. You know, when you're with each other, you realize you are in this world, but when you are away yet connected by a medium, and you live your togetherness, that's when you enter another world, that's your own. A world where you can meet, dance together, cook together, sleep together. The world that defines us.
At night, we send our pictures to each other, the moon no longer has to do anything with making my night gleam. Because the moon is glancing right from my screen. Do you ask why we send hearts? When we blush, that redness from our cheeks falls as hearts on the keypad. It just happens without knowing. He can never be here to wipe off my tears. But isn't it strange how person miles away can make them stop with just the words he says?
Isn't it strange how people sitting beside you think you are doing good when a person far away can say you're not okay by just the messages you have sent? Whenever we type a message succeeded with a bunch of full stops, the other comes to know, they are the tears falling from the eyes.
I never felt his lips over mine, he never caressed my cheeks, never got the chance to pin back my hair, still, I can feel drenched in his words, like he has poured all his syllables of love in my soul. Ending every conversation telling each other that they love them is not a habit or to make the other belief in it.
People say when you do it repeatedly, it becomes a habit and that it drains the feelings. But no, those words hold magic, they can play with your heart. When you have felt his touch, the wrapping of his arms around your waist, the caressing he does, it's all you look for. But when you are still awaiting those moments, every other feeling you get from your surroundings makes you think that he is present around.
When the wind blows, it feels like he might just be here when the sun rays awaken you, it's like his bright smile is cheering you up to wake up when you smell the flowers, you wonder what he smells like, it makes it all so magical. When you have already experienced being with him, you know it's for real. But when you haven't, that's when you get the taste of fantasy.
This made me realize that love needs no presence, no voice, no gifts, it's just the silence. Those words held in those messages are the medium of our feelings enough to express the love we share, we don't need the physical feel, it's just the internal feeling and it's the best. Those words are powerful beyond measure.
The silence speaks it all, it's just the smiles and the blush that speak a language of their own. This is how I fell in love with the first word. And with every word of his, I drown a bit more deeply into the ocean of silence and swim across to the shore of love.