And I chose her!

It was in the wee hours of early morning that I was studying in the library. I perused through the old books, studying in depth the contents of the books. I loved old books, especially their smell. I can peruse them for hours, sniffing the musty smell and reading.

An old book grabbed my attention. It was a romantic love story, and in one of the page (where romance was passionate), I found someone had kissed gently and left her lip imprint. A woman must have left the stain to ignite the hearts who read in future. I stared at the soft luscious design of the lips and wondered who the woman was! The redness of the mark left me with subtle feelings. She could be good, she could be bad, but she couldn’t be ugly!

I continued reading the book with great fervor. At the end of the book, I found someone had written in a beautiful flowing ladies handwriting with pencil-Please do not destroy public property with your romantic kiss!

This was a woman for sure! Now I was in dilemma. There were two women I had never seen and I had formed an opinion of both. The former must be beautiful, coquettish, glamorous and romantic. She would be a strong feminist and experiment with life.

While the latter with the beautiful handwriting like a flowing stream ought to be simple with a strong character; a feminist, but someone who would give up her seat to an old man in the crowded bus. She could be beautiful, she could be ugly, but she couldn’t be bad!

It was a matter of choice whom to seek, or rather I had a choice to seek the adventure of my life. Either I go for the beautiful handwriting or the beautiful lip marks. It was obvious the lip marks had come before the handwritten note. So it would be quite easy to predict who was who, if not many people had borrowed the book. I went up to the librarian, and asked him to see who had borrowed the book earlier.

There were two women in the list who had recently borrowed. I had to cajole the librarian to get the address of the two members. They say everything is fair in love and war- I believe it so, so long as you can justify your conscience. I wasn’t harming anyone with the information I gained.

Now it was a battle between two wonderful emotions that crept in my mind. The aroma of the red lip marks haunted me. While the beautiful writing evoked a serene emotion, making me seek goodness in the world.

Basically we humans are good or seek goodness. The conclusion comes from an old philosophy, from the fact that if a person sees a child about to fall into a well, what does the person do or think? The first reaction as a human is to save the child. Does any benefit or some form of reward cross the mind before saving the child? I rather hope not, mine surely doesn’t! So the compassion and goodness is an inherent property in man. It is experience that makes us seek wickedness, lust and villainy.

I was having a fresh experience, so I chose to write a letter to one of the two women. I leave it to my readers to guess which woman I chose!

Dear Miss X,

I apologies for the sudden interference in your life. But then I would be glad to meet you once. It would be a personal enlightenment to meet you and know you.

I described the circumstance which led me write the letter.

I was curious to know the girl. I started imagining her in different forms. She came in my dreams (though not vividly), and became more of a dopamine to my brain. Her imagination filled me with excitement and hope. I could wait for her all my life – I know I was being stupid – but then it is highly scientific to be stupid in love. The neurotransmitters that are secreted when a person is in love, makes him drop his guard!

I waited for a fortnight, but did not get any reply. So I thought of writing a letter again. I wrote a letter every week. People would say it to be madness, but I didn’t care!

After a month I received a reply. I was extremely delighted like I had discovered America. With high hopes I opened the letter to read –Please do not disturb us with your letters. I am not what you think to be!

Anyway, it was a sign, a hope! A reply had come; there was definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Now I started writing a letter every day.

Finally one day I received a letter, asking if we could meet. I was more than enthusiastic. Finally a dream was about to come true! I could meet the woman, I had longed for so many months. I was overwhelmed by the thought. But then the climax of my life also brought some anxiety with it, in me. I felt something was not right. How could everything go so easily? She had asked me to come to a particular place, on a particular date and time. She would be wearing red, with a book in her hand.

At the stipulated date and time, I was at the place. I was nervous. Strange to feel nervousness at just meeting a girl!

There was a lovely girl in red with a book. Wow! I felt enchanted. But wait, there was another beautiful girl in red with a book. I was confused; I wondered it was some weird game and I was being played. After some hesitation I turned up to one of the beauties and asked her by the name. She smiled, and beckoned the other lady to come to us.

“Maybe, you are in a hurry. Listen, the surprising fact is that one of us wrote the line on the last page and one of us left that lips mark. As you have been so persistent in your letters, we want to see if you can stand the test. Guess, who is who?”

I wished I had knowledge of cheiloscopy and graphology, or rather a bit of astrology to deduce that the stars and moon had aligned in a peculiar fashion. It was a moment that would have a huge impact on my life, or rather to say would change my life forever! I couldn’t afford to fail, and neither could I randomly guess – a fifty percent chance was too high worth a risk.

I looked at them carefully. One wore the same colour lipstick and the other had a pencil in her hand. I knew my answer, but had they exchanged places? So I looked at the lips and fingers of the two beautiful ladies closely and carefully. I couldn’t be wrong. I made my decision, and I chose her!