Heart and the Other

This is a story about Heart finding the Other.  A happy, love story, for once.

Heart returned. It wandered for quite sometime, traveled far and wide, contemplated staying in the deserts, hiding out in the glaciers, and even joining the tribes and becoming nomadic. But that’s what Heart did. Heart needed to explore the world as if it had never seen the colors of rainbow, as if it needed reassurance that home was where the Heart belonged.

So a journey began. It suffered aches, desperate longing, confusion and ultimately it broke into pieces. It fell off the cliff, taking the body and soul with it, it cried, silently. Engulfed with the nightfall, it wanted sun, faith, a healing hand, or simply the morning dew to feel alive again, but instead it was met with disappointment, destruction and demise.

An expiration date was stamped on Heart’s passport, it must depart or it would risk being deported. Heart left in a hurry, leaving unresolved feelings at the conveyor belt, unclaimed and discarded. Heart arrived at home where nothing was familiar. Heart wondered aloud, where had my home go?

Heart went back out on another journey, this time it carried several pieces of luggage. One named Past, one named Present and one named Future. In the Past luggage, it had memories, ghosts in the pockets and tears of sadness and regret. In the Present luggage, it contained decades of friendship, strange sensation called passion and intensity, and lots of misplaced emotions. In the Future luggage, it contained mountain fresh air, clarity and hope. But Heart could not open the Future luggage, and know the content of the Future luggage, for it was locked and the key was left in the cab inadvertently. Those damn New York cab drivers, they drove off before Heart had a chance to yell – “Stop.”

Heart went to remote places full of snow, glaciers and greenery, with few people around but lots of wandering, idle, content deer and moose. Heart did not bother to stop and smell the fresh meadows or the earthy woodland. Heart needed to find a Sharman, a fortune teller, for it was told that one lived in the deep dark forest where sun would not shine. This magical being would be able to provide directions and shed lights in the otherwise dark, endless tunnel. Heart was crying inside every night to sleep. Heart wanted what heart wanted, it wanted the Other, or as we humans called it, the “soul mate.” Heart knew that there must be another, the Other. Calm exterior, collected and reserved but volcano eruption inside, just like Heart. The Other was aggressive and commanding, it told Heart what to do and how to do it. Heart wanted to give up control and be with the Other. it was really that simple. Heart was and had been born a masochist. Heart knew the Other existed, the opposite, the balancing act to counteract Heart's secret desires. But where was the Other? Heart was lost and withering without the Other.

 Sharman was known for finding other lost souls. Her reputation preceded her.  She made heavenly matches on earth.  She had been expecting Heart. Sharman was ageless, one couldn’t tell if she was 20 or 50. She had a permanent fog in front of her, embodying a sense of mystery. Sharman did not speak but she nodded when she saw Heart. She extended her arm to touch Heart, Heart felt a sense of warmth, a sense of reassurance and even a bit of hope as Sharman took hold of Heart. Then Sharman started to chant. Heart waited, and waited. Eventually Sharman finished her chant and Heart spotted a smile, amidst the fog that surrounded the Sharman.

Sharman spoke in soothing, comforting and a bit hesitant voice. “You will find your way. Patience, my dear.”

Heart was angry. “For this I traveled? I could have said it so to myself. I wanted to know where the Other lived, could the Other belong to me? Would the Other want me as much as I wanted the Other? Tell me.”

Sharman replied, “Patience. You must have patience. Let things evolve. Let the Other know that you are here, by being ready. You must be ready to receive the Other. When the time comes. You will know. You will find the way.”

With that Sharman disappeared into the fog.

Heart was broken. Heart bled. Tired of searching, tired of wandering and tired of the no-news news, Heart went back home. New York was full of lost souls like Heart. Heart found companions in every possible way. They were not the Other but Heart settled. It told itself no more tears, no more wandering and no more waiting. Though Heart found no solace in these adventures, it felt empty, and all those wasted energy in those searches became tiresome. Heart wanted the Other, but where was the Other?

One day, Heart woke up and realized that it was time. Enough aimless nights with random souls that meant so little to Heart. Heart left its loft in a hurry and went for a walk. It realized enough was enough and Heart started tending itself. Heart focused, for the first time, on what Heart wanted. Heart wanted inner peace and a sense of direction. Heart found that happiness had to come from within, and could not, and would not come from  others, not even from THE Other, should the Other have ever existed. Heart erased its phone directory – you see, Heart was modern like us, Heart had used phones, texts and messengers. Heart gradually cleaned up its closet, and removed those skeletons and ghosts. Heart stopped wandering the night clubs looking for other lost souls. Heart was healing from inside this time. Heart found solace in spending time with itself, and dancing in the rain.

One day, Heart was out in the park, admiring the sun and rain. Summer rain was always Heart’s favorite. The rainbow formed a perfect arch across the Central Park, and there it was, Heart knew, it was the Other. Heart was delighted by its discovery, it knew, instinctively,  the Other was near. It felt a magnetic pull, drawing Heart closer to the edge of the park, there was a sense of peace, a perfect contentment, a steady heartbeat, as Heart approached the Other.

The Other waved and smiled. “I know you’d find me. I have been here, waiting for you.”

Heart was ecstatic. “Really? How come I didn’t know?”

The Other continued. “Haven’t you recognized me? I’ve been in your life all these years. I’ve always been here, since the beginning.”

Heart looked at the Other. The Other looked quite different somehow, perhaps it was the sunlight, perhaps it was the sound of the heartbeat, perhaps it was, finally, the right time. The Other looked calmer, self-assured, and matured.

Heart answered. “Yes you’ve always been here. I just did not know YOU would be the Other. I remembered how it all began. How you had lit up my world. I ran away the last time. I didn’t want to feel then. I couldn’t afford a heartbreak. But when I left you, I broke down, I was aimless and I went into wildness seeking for you. I'd do anything to feel that way again so I spent the last decade finding your replacements, but in the end, I realized what I needed, all along, was being with you. You knew me at core. You always had me. I was always yours and yours alone."

Heart remembered a passage it wrote many moons ago as Heart first left the Other.

“About a month ago while on an excursion to the wilderness, I brought you back from a nameless river. You were merely a form of energy back then. But somehow you decided to form an image and appear in my dreams, and since then you became a game player. Pretty soon in my dreams you formulated a list of activities and  you demanded me to play with you."

Heart worried the Other was a player. Heart was one itself. So was the Other.

“I told you that I was a cat. I had nine lives to live. Each one of them constituted its own journey. I told you that our journey was approaching to an end.  I was really quite fragile under the tough surface. My Heart was a clear crystal, if you pressed any harder than you already did, it would break into millions of pieces and I would never be able to put them back again."

Heart was onto its 9^th life, at this point, the last and the final form before transformation would take hold. The Other smiled. Heart remembered the smile being somehow foreign. It used to be radiant and carefree, seductive and playful. Now it was full of grace and grateful, grateful of Heart’s return, perhaps, or just being grateful that life had taken a turn for the better.

As the Other did once before to Heart, the Other announced in the same authoritative way: "You are mine, mine alone. You are beautiful now and you are mine now."

Heart did a dance, it twirled like a giddy teenager trying on a new prom dress. And then it said, and yes you predicted right, it said, “I Heart you!”

Heart returned.

Home, as the story would go, was never where Heart lived; it was, and would remain to be, from this day onwards, wherever the Other would be.