Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-24821182-20140921163945

– We can go to Macy’s if you want. That scarf you talked about, the red one with the gold-laced embroideries? I’ll get it for you. Consider it a token of appreciation, or a parting gift, whichever you think suits our predicament, Marc said as he gestured towards the department store with his hand clutched, the many plastic bags held tightly in his fist.

– Love the sentiment, but I don’t want to go there. You know how I feel about the decorations. I’d rather steer clear of that place for a while. I know it’s weird, but I feel really strongly about this, Freya responded. I just can’t stand having to look at the red glass hearts and the pine tree branches everywhere. If they’ve already found a Santa, it’ll be so much worse.

– You don’t like Christmas, then?

– On the contrary: I love Christmas. I love the red and green colors, and I love the holiday spirit and general good will shared by people. I love how in spite of December being the coldest month of the year, we never feel warmer. It’s precisely because I love it so much that I don’t want to see decorations in late October. If Christmas is celebrated all year, it’ll quickly lose it’s beauty, and it just so happens that since it’s a commercial holiday too, companies in search of cheap profit are making that a reality. In the long run, retailers like Macy’s will screw themselves over by sabotaging the appeal of Christmas, and then they’ll have to invent some new holiday to profit from, kinda like what the florist industry are doing with Mother’s Day.

– See, I never knew you felt that way. I think you’re reading too much into it, but if that’s how you feel we can go somewhere else. There’s a quiet coffee shop not far from here where we can sit down for a while, and I could really use a break from carrying the spoils of your shopping spree.

– I never knew it was tiring for you to be carrying my stuff, either. Been putting up that macho façade a little too long, haven’t you? You really shouldn’t, though; once people come to expect certain things of you, failing to live up to those expectations can cause a load of problems. Oh, the things we learn today. And I thought we had just about figured each other out.

– I don’t think us humans are so superficial that one can ever truly know everything about someone. It would kill relationships as well, I think. Just imagine how trite it would be to know exactly what you can expect from your spouse, and that nothing your spouse does ever surprises you. What kind of love would that relationship have?

– Hollywood-love. The shallow and idealized interpretation of love that many think is the real thing, the kind of love that is neither built nor breaks. Eternal and unfounded love supposedly based around mutual devotion, when it’s actually just a cheap imitation of the real deal. How many women have fallen victim to this false idea being beaten into their heads in all of literature and all of the movie industry?

– Like I said: humans are complex beings, and when you boil down our emotions and powerful concepts like love, the end result will always be insufficient. And when you then try and spoon-feed that insufficient interpretation back to us, we end up becoming as two-dimensional as the characters of fiction.

– You didn’t say all that!

– Well, if you followed my pattern of thought then…

Freya laughed ever so lightly into the palm of her hand, looking at her boyfriend. She really did love him, but not literally everything about him. She knew Marc loved her as well, but not blindly and unconditionally. Their relationship had been years in the making, and they had undergone many hardships along the way. They had built up trust in each other, committed stupid mistakes and then lost trust in each other, only to have something stronger rise from the ashes. Come to think of it, it wasn’t mere love in the sense that people understand it, but something otherworldly.

They had met each other when at their weakest, rejected by the world and left for the vultures. On their own, neither Marc nor Freya had had the strength to rise from the abyss, but together their souls could resonate and give birth to a new force of life altogether. They saved each other, befriended each other and eventually came to love each other. At one point, they had planned to marry each other as well, but certain circumstances arose and shattered this dream. Nevertheless, they were happy together.

Had this been a Danielle Steele novel or one of those chick flicks operating by a distorted view of reality, they would have triumphed over every hardship, lived happily ever after and never worried about being alone again, but that was not the case. Their love was not counterfeit but true, and with true love you don’t get everlasting joy. You won’t be aided by a fairy godmother or saved by divine intervention, and you won’t be able to sweep aside all sorrow, but who would honestly ever want life to be so easy, anyway?

– And besides, eternal love is overrated, Marc said. It’s just like what you said about the Christmas decorations, actually. Beauty really is supposed to be fleeting, or else it’ll become monotone in the long run. I think Cinderella probably tired of her Prince Charming sooner or later. Who wants good things to last forever?

– They say you only appreciate the good things in your life once you’ve lost them. You and I can certainly verify the truth of that, Freya said. I know it’s really juvenile for me to say this, but I honestly believe I could go on loving you forever. You’ve been the only reliable person in my life, Marc, so what am I supposed to do when you’re gone?

– You’re going to find someone else and fall in love with. Someone who’ll treat you with all the love and respect you deserve. No one’s irreplaceable, and the sooner you realize that the better. If you really do love me, you won’t let our parting ruin your life. There’s so much more for you to do, so many more Christmas decorations to get pissed at, so many more bags of superfluous bathroom accessories to make people carry for you.

– Will I find someone with a better sense of humor, too?

– No. I’m the funniest guy you’ll ever have the privilege of dating. No one can beat me when it comes to firing lame jokes. Do you think it’s a coincidence that “Maverick” has all the letters needed to spell “Marc”?

– Oh my God, it really does!

Freya laughed out loud now, and people looked at her as if she was mad. Let them look, she thought. Let them go home and tell their families that they saw a crazy woman today, laughing to herself on the sidewalk. Let them enjoy their phony holidays and their phony feelings. She couldn’t care less, because what she had was real. She wasn’t in a fairy tale, nor did she strive to meet an impossible ideal. Her life wasn’t magical and it didn’t have to be, only genuine.

– Hey, Marc?

– Yes?

– Is that coffee shop nearby?

– It’s right around the corner. One sip and then I’ll have to go. 