Eternal love and waiting
I still remember a white-haired old lady who lived next door when I was young. She had no children and lived alone, depending on no one. Every day, she would sit on a stone bench by the roadside, basking in the sun and looking in the direction of the road, as if waiting for someone.
One time, I approached the old lady, and she told me a story. I listened attentively.
A long, long time ago, a boy and a girl grew up together. They went to school together and played together. Their days were carefree.
As time passed, the boy and girl gradually grew up. The girl blossomed into a beautiful and graceful young lady, while the boy became handsome and dashing. Growing up together day and night led them to develop feelings for each other. Naturally, they fell in love.
However, the good times didn’t last long. Just as the boy and girl were about to get married, the village started recruiting soldiers to go to the front lines, and the boy had to go. Before leaving, the girl prepared his clothes and food, and she gave him a pair of cloth shoes she had made herself, hoping he would wear them and come back soon.
The girl and boy hugged tightly, unwilling to part even for a moment. The call to depart sounded, and the boy had to leave. “Remember to wait for me. I’ll marry you when I return,” the boy said, leaving a warm kiss on the girl’s forehead. The girl, crying, said, “I’ll wait for you.”
After the boy left, the girl sat on the stone bench at her door every day, waiting for him, looking in the direction he had gone. One day, one month, one year passed, and the girl continuously asked returning soldiers about the boy’s situation, but there was no news of him.
Someone told her that if he hadn’t returned, he might have died on the battlefield. The girl’s tears flowed like a breached dam, continuously streaming down her face.
The girl didn’t believe it. She didn’t believe the boy wouldn’t come back. She was determined to wait for him, wait for him to come back and marry her.
Many young men in the village proposed to her parents, but the girl rejected them all. She believed the boy was on his way back.
Time quietly slipped away like this. The girl’s jet-black hair turned as white as frost. Her once pretty face became deeply lined. Now, the girl had become a faltering old lady, but she still believed the boy was on his way back to marry her.
When she finished, tears flowed from the old lady’s eyes. I looked at her and felt she was very pitiful. As a child, I didn’t understand why the old lady cried when telling the story. Now I understand, the story she told was about herself.
The old lady passed away many years ago, but her love story has always stayed in my heart. A story of waiting for love, waiting a lifetime for love.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
