Not a Love Story

A young girl sits with her friends and they watch the young musicians perform in praise of the Lord. The performance is enchanting and the girl is caught in the enchantment when her gaze suddenly meets the gaze of the flute player in the troupe. That moment lasted an eternity and the flute player skipped a tune… no one noticed the missed beat or the skip of heartbeats across the temple courtyard except two young souls. They went home that day on their separate ways and wondered why that night sleep wasn’t easy to come by.
The next day the girl returned to the temple courtyard hoping in her heart that the flute player might have felt the same way she did. There were throngs of people gathering in the temple to lay their offerings but as her eyes searched, she couldn’t find him and her heart got weary. She decided to go home and hoped she would forget this episode. On her way out while she was wearing her slippers, a figure stopped abruptly in front of her and was taking off his slippers. She looked up and saw the flute player in front of her. Both were shocked to find each other this way. She almost said something and he almost replied but a wave of silence held them. And then he told her that he was going on a tour outside the village and would return in a couple of weeks’ time. Would she wait for him? That’s all. Nothing was spoken apart from that and he headed hurriedly towards the temple. The girl looked on… he didn’t say anything but she heard every thought he had expressed.
The days passed by and turned into an excruciatingly long wait. News reached a fortnight later that the troupe had been dismantled as their teacher had passed away in a tragic accident. There was going to be a prayer meeting in the temple the next day in his honour and everyone in the village including members of the troupe would come to pay their respects.
She was excited about the prospect of meeting him and felt a little guilty about being happy in a time like this. The next day she was full of excitement and she had butterflies in her stomach.
That day many turned up to pay their respects. She waited near the temple gate hoping to catch a glimpse of him. The day was drawing to an end and still there was no sign of him. She was beginning to feel a little foolish about her situation but her heart still yearned. She decided she might as well do what everyone had come there to do. She walked up to the temple pedestal where a throng of people were laying flowers. As she reached the pedestal, a few flowers fell from her hand. She bent to pick them up. When she got up to place them, she was greeted by the sight of the flute player.
It was encased in a frame and a familiar flute rested in front of his picture.