61 ~ Hindsight is 20 20

As Young stood at the counter, caught up in watching Asha operate in her world from the outskirts of it, he wondered. Many things flit through his mind, memories, questions, random thoughts. The main thing he wondered though was ‘what if the spirit of the universe is really the spirit of her heart laid out in a trillion pages?’ Despite being shown her more negative lives, Young didn’t trust that the council had been telling him the whole truth. Watching Asha in her natural habitat, searching for her heart in the pages of those who left pieces of their souls to be examined, he wondered. He wondered how could someone with a spirit that shone of the brilliant balance she’d lived in every life could be so important to the parts that were so unbalanced. ‘How could someone that took in the broken boy and who searched for the shattered man belong to the evils of the world?’ She had every opportunity to give into her rage, despair, and vengeance with him in life and death, but her

Last Updated : 2024-12-11

62 ~ Red Flags Look Green When You’re in Love

Coming back into his body from the minefield that had become his mind to witness Asha finally taking a seat in the nook she’d filled with books eased his spirit for the time being. He watched as she looked for whichever book that she just had to start reading right now before starting the harrowing task of sorting the rest to make space for her to get comfortable. Young joined her in the love seat, simultaneously placing her in his lap and putting the book she set aside in her hands to read. She gave him a look and thought better than to speak whatever had popped into her head as he started sorting her books out on the table and window sill.By the time he had finished his task of sorting the books so that it’d be easier to pick them up, she’d settled into him and was a few chapters in. Young sat back and eased into the feeling of having her in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. The turning of the pages created a peaceful lull that Young hadn’t experienced in

Last Updated : 2024-12-24

63 ~ Distorted Mirror

The older couple had continued to watch them from their little alcove connecting the back room with the rest of the store. Both happily joined Asha and Young, giggling like teenagers at the obvious care they both shared. To them it was comical to be able to see themselves in the young couple. Siphoning some of the frivolous fun being young and in love naturally procured. They had always been able to maintain the innocence of their bond, but it was couples like Asha and Young that added a little kindling and a lot of reminders as to why those moments were so important.As Young stacked the mountain of books on the counter, the older woman rang them up while the man gently bagged them in their custom tote bags. Young was surprised to find that the actual name of the shop was ‘Book Haven.’ It came extremely close to Asha’s description of ‘book nook.’ “Find everything alright?” she asked.Young paused his unloading to watch Asha’s face light up like the sky on 4th of July.“Yes! It was s

Last Updated : 2024-12-29

64 ~ Don’t Pop the Bubble

Little did they know, both Asha and Young had the same thoughts on their mind as the older couple. Though they were playing out the day as if they could easily pick up from where they left off, as if there had been any normal part of their relationship in Young’s life or afterlife, they knew otherwise. It seemed they were constantly on a rollercoaster, going from ride to ride as the struggles and challenges got more and more advanced so did the frightening twists, turns, and plunges of their rollercoaster. But they both knew that this was yet another pivotal moment in the history of their relationship. Despite all they’d survived both together and separately to be able to get to this moment of forced normalcy, it was fragile. The question running through their minds was the same, ‘Could and would they last long enough to grow old and grey together?’Asha’s mind kept cycling between that question and ‘what if Young never grew old despite a successful release from his demonic sentence’

Last Updated : 2024-12-30

65 ~ Bubbles Can’t Be Preserved

Young was grateful that the restaurant was a good trek away from where they started as it gave them plenty of time to enjoy this experience and each other. He had this feeling in the pit of his stomach that just wouldn’t abate since they got to the bookstore and now that they were getting ready to close out the day, it made him more anxious. It was like all the work he’d done to make Asha more comfortable with his new title and create some sort of normalcy was getting ready to be washed away. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his balls itch. Neither was a good sign, but he was determined to ignore it so that he could give Asha the best day possible. She deserved to be pampered after all the shit the people around her had put her through, him included.Asha had wanted to pout about not being able to experience what it was like to first set off on a voyage via carriage, but she kept her brattyness in check. As Young pulled her into his side as close as po