Baskadia

Journey in Tonight

(This story is not based on true events as the characters are fictitious but the setting is real and familiar)

Like love and lust, Yin and Yang were intertwined. Yang saw a little light in a person full of darkness. Instead of letting that little light shine, she consumed him with her darkness. “ I could burn the whole world just to see the fire in your eyes again” said Yin after seeing that Yang's golden flair has faded. Yang gave Yin not only his heart, but his soul too. Now he had nothing left to give. So he decided to write an open letter, not necessarily addressed to Yin but even a blind man could see who the recipient was. “ Here I am, on a dark unending road as the thoughts of your shoving a spear right through my heart became my daily bread. They ricocheted time and time again until my life was on a stand still. Venting out on a piece of paper may be the only closure I’ll ever get. The only shoulder I’ll ever cry on. My heart still aches 8and calls for you.” This was how the letter began. “ You sent shivers down my spine and our souls became intertwined. My heart bled for yours and your heart was nowhere to be found. You were the melody to my beat and I was your blanket when you needed heat. I was always on the edge because I was scared of losing you. When you left, My heart felt guilty for choosing you.” he continued. Yang's soul was pure, full of light like a full moon on a pale afternoon. He was dark skinned and had eyes that when starring at you, it was as if he is starring at your soul. He didn’t talk much even though in his heart he had conversations worth a millennium. He loved the finer things in life and viewed love as the cleanser of mankind's hearts. “ each and everyday that bleeds into nightfall carves eternal scares with you not by my side" he wrote. “ even though you shattered my soul, if I could turn back the time I would change nothing. Being loved by you is the only thing that has ever make me feel truly alive.” This is how his letter ended.

Yin’s real name is Tumelo Swarts, mostly know as Tumie. She is from a town called warden in Free State. Yang’s real name is Qobolwami Nene from eNquthu in KwaZulu-Natal. They were both doing their second year in The University of the free state QwaQwa Campus. Tumie was doing Bachelor of Arts while Qobolwami was doing Bachelor of Education. Qobolwami describes the first time he saw Tumie in the Dining Hall as a sight for sore eyes. “ It wasn’t those love at first sight moments, but it was those I want to spend my whole life with you moments.” He said. But little did he know that fate had other things in-store for him. Everybody they knew wanted to have what they had. Those who were jealous tried breaking them apart but some bonds are heavenly made. They did everything together and were the true meaning of the saying “ birds of the same feather flock together”. This was our very own modern fairytale. But as we know, in every fairytale it gets darker before dawn comes. There are hurtful ends in these lustful delights. Their love was like paper fire in a greasily storm. They knew it wouldn't last but at least it kept them warm. Time went by and Tumie started to feel ill. She kept taking aspirin hoping that the headaches would stop and she would feel better soon but she got worse. She then decided to go see a doctor. As the loving partner Yang was, he accompanied her. The doctor did a full checkup and did lab tests and told her to come back the following week to get her results. Yang couldn’t stand to see the love of his life in such pain and agony. If he could take her, he would have. Days went by and the doctor's assistant called her to inform her that the results were back and she must come back again.

The fear of the unknown drove her into deciding to go alone this time. Her heart was pounding, and judging by the look on her doctors face something was wrong. She sat down and waited for the doctor to tell her what was wrong with her. “ Miss Swarts, it pains me to inform you that your results are not good at all. “ said the doctor. “ please doctor tell me. What’s wrong with me ?

Said Yin with so much fear and sadness in her heart. “ The lab reports show that you have cervical cancer. And you’ve had for quite some time now. There’s not much I can do but we could put you on treatment, do a surgery and chemotherapy.” Replied the doctor. She just sat there stunned. She did not know what she had done to deserve something like this. “ Do you have somebody you can talk to. Someone who will support you through this tough time? Asked the Doctor. She immediately thought of Yang, her other half. But a part of her felt reluctant in telling him about all this. She thought he wouldn’t love her the same. Days went by and Yang hasn’t heard anything from Yin. He was now very concerned and worried about her. He called her a thousand times but she never answered nor returned any of his texts. One evening Yang received a text from Yang saying “ I love you but I have to let you go. You deserve much more than me.” Yang was confused, sad and heartbroken. He did not know what he had done wrong. “ is it because I didn’t accompany her to get her results, she never told me the date moss “ he thought to himself. He called her again and again, he even went to knock on her door but she didn’t live there anymore. She moved from off campus residence to on campus residence.

That is when Yang wrote that open letter. He posted it on his Facebook timeline hoping that Yin will see it and maybe reconsider her decision. As bad luck would have it, Yin deleted all her social media platforms and focused on her health. He had no way of reaching out to her. He did all he could and when he was about to give up, a mutual friend saw the letter on Facebook and immediately showed it to Yin. Her heart was torn apart when she realized that she has brought nothing but pain to the only person who did nothing but love her. Each and every word she read was followed by a tear from her eyes. She had no way of reaching out to Yang and show how sorry she was other than writing a letter too. “ In a parallel universe out there I know we had our happily ever after. I could not let you bare the burden of seeing me at my lowest. The doctor diagnosed me with cervical cancer and it’s in it's final stage. I could not let you watch me get reduced to nothing.” Yin wrote. It took all she had to write this letter. It was reliving her ordeal all over again. She could not bring herself to writing any more than she has already did. So she ended by saying, “ if fate decides to visit my door, I hope it brings you along with it.”

We were told that love can conquer all. But in this cruel reality there are some things that are just bigger than love. In a parallel universe, we all get our happy endings