Writer: Nada Elnady
She lived all her life alone. She had no embrace to dwell in, no shoulder to cry on, no hand to hold onto, and no back to lean on. She thought that one day she’ll find that companion, someone that would not only accompany her throughout her life journey, not only support her through her fathomless strife, but would also be so different from yet similar to her in so many ways. He’d listen while she rambles on, contently smiling in silence. He’d embrace her while she sobs and not care for the tears staining his shirt. He’d look over her wherever she goes and make sure that danger is nonexistent.
Even though she might say she’s used to loneliness, her mental stability was slowly slipping. She felt herself slowly falling. Falling into a dark, dismal pit and slowly creeping towards insanity. She kept falling and falling into that pitch-black hole called “loneliness”, until she felt that coming back was inevitable.
One day, she didn’t sob over the fact that her strife continues to seem limitless; she sobbed over the fact that she was going through it alone. She never really acknowledged it before that day. The day on which she cried until no more tears were left to be shed, no more ache was left to be felt, and no more pain was left to be expressed. She complained and complained about how her endless search for that “one”, that companion she always wished to have. And he? He looked down upon her and smiled.
He smiled a beautiful smile that showed disappointment, empathy, forgiveness, and compassion, all at the same time. He smiled a smile that screamed, “I’m here. Always have been, always will be.”. And she? She finally saw him. She looked up at the sky and saw the moon smiling down upon her with that beautiful smile of his.
She had found him. They’re so alike yet so different. They’re both the gloomiest planets alive yet kind enough to give off the remnants of light left inside of them to aid the blind or guide the lost. They smile so bright yet hide so much. They shine the brightest through their darkness, brighter than the brightest of all stars seen with the naked eye. She realized that she was never truly alone, that he was the one who listened to all the rambles, sobs, and complaints. He shined the brightest the days when she felt the demons eating her up, when she felt the murkiest inside. But most importantly? The loneliest.
And finally? She was grateful.
