Songs of Glass

Narea was of the descendants of the stars– a Canticle, gifted with ethereal beauty, longevity and a voice that could soften the steadfastness of mountains. A tradition filled her tongue, a song of many generations, of love, loss and time taught to her by the ones before her and kept her connected to those ones.

Thalik, once again, looked on in awe of his childhood friend. The way her towhead blonde hair flowed as she danced in circles with her tribe, the way her voice made the wind subject to her like a siren’s call. He was a rock human, descended of humans and mountains. He could be with them but never fall in love with them because it was known to cause nothing but heartbreak, destruction and ultimately, death. But, he couldn’t help but love Narea. Narea also felt the same. She loved Thalik's kindness and strength, his loyalty. But, to give in would mean disaster. The heart of a Canticle being was fragile glass that couldn’t bear the weight of such powerful emotions like love, anger.

Time passed as their love grew– stolen moments, stolen words, stolen kisses under the gaze of the moon– yet still knowing it couldn’t fully exist. Inside, Narea had already given in. Her heart got even more weak by the day, a new tiny crack developed on the glass heart every morning as it held up the burden of love never to be.

The day of the festival was here. The smells of corn had faded away as a bonfire was lit for the traditional round-about songs. Narea had found herself alone in the surrounding forest, looking up at her ancestors– the stars as her friends chanted around the fire.

“I’m sorry,” she said to the stars. A shining tear ran down her cheek.

Her heart had been losing its pieces long before– the shards kept in a small handkerchief in her apron pocket with its first piece collected five years before. By this time, the broken heart had only had one piece left to crack. She collapsed.

“Narea?!” Thalik yelled, seeing her unmoving figure in the grass and rushed to her side. He saw the dull look in her eyes.

“Narea,” he whispered a sob. “Please, come back. I’d give anything to be with you, to hear you sing one last time for me. I can’t live without you.”

Narea felt the tears pour down her face. She reached out and took Thalik's hand in hers.

“I love you too, more than you could ever know. But I told you we can’t be together, not in this world.”

“I see that now,” he cried as he held her close.

“Here— my heart,” Narea said as she gave the handkerchief of glass shards to Thomas.

“And the rest of it,” she said, taking the last few shards and putting them in his hand. “I love you.”

Thalik's eyes brimmed with tears, his chest heaving with the weight of their impossible love and his lost loved one. He held Narea in his arms as his heart broke. Both loving figures turned to stone as their hearts stopped beating— a memorial of true love, one that others still rest their bouquets of flowers at their feet. Thalik would have given those flowers to his love.