He asked her," What is love?"

She replied, "Mmmm, love is beautiful..."

"No! That's not an answer. Oh okay, explain it. How is it beautiful?”

She fiddled with her hair, fingers and thoughts, "Yes, I meant it. Love is beautiful ... It is as enthralling as petrichor, as mesmerizing as the soft wet eyes of a father who holds his newborn princess for the very first time, as captivating as the cooing and smile of an infant, as beautiful as the first rain, first snow ... as inviting as the blessings of an old woman...”

He was now closer to her, "No, you are manipulating your answer! It is like you are recollecting what you read in books ... Now tell me, what is love?"

"Oh, well, love is beyond all words, expressions, similes, metaphors and imageries. It is like that amusing moment when you and that special someone sit under an old oak tree in the moonlight, with mossy leaves around you, holding hands and sharing your smiles and worries. It’s like when in a chilly and dark night, you whisper in her ears, that you are there for her. Love is that assurance. It’s when she finds a dad, a friend, a mother, and a granny in you, narrating her stories at the darkest hour of the night. It’s just a feeling you feel while you are asleep or dreaming. It’s a trance ... a trance....Oh! A book can be written on it..."

"Are you in love? Have you ever had that feeling?" he asked looking into her eyes.

"No, if I ever will...you would be the one I’ll share it with first..."

"You are again manipulating! How can you define love ...You just said, it’s a trance ... a feeling. How could you express it so beautifully when you never feel that way?”

She was numb now.

Meanwhile, amidst the sound of the sea waves, she saw a meteor and shouted like a school kid. "Hey, see there! Look at the sky. Hurry, stupid! Ask for a wish...”

"Wish? As far as I know, you don't believe on such stuff..."

"Shhhhhhh .... just close your eyes and make a wish.”

After a minute’s silence, he said, "Happy? Now say, have you ever fallen in love?"

"No...Now just change the topic, please!”

"Okay. Look into my eyes, and answer this question now, ‘What did you wish a minute ago? And now don't manipulate or else the meteor will get angry and won't fulfil your wish. No cheating, just look into my eyes and say what you wished for? And remember, if you lie...."

"Shhhhhhh! You...I wished you..." she replied shyly.

The moon smiled, the sea waves sounded more rhythmic, everything else was still. That was a trance-like moment, bliss, an eternal bliss...love ruled that moment.

 Today she was at the same bridge, and it was a full-moon night again and she was staring incessantly at the sky. It was his seventh death anniversary and she had the same smile on her face, waiting for a shooting star, so that she could wish him again in her next life – a friend, a beloved and a better half. There she saw a meteor and a divine aura emerged on her countenance with that past remembrance of that very moment when she confessed her love for him. She strongly believed that he was still with her in the breeze that whispered love into her ears and he was there in that shooting star assuring her his company in her next life.

That moment was beyond all words, similes, metaphors and imageries, beyond everything. That moment was love... love, beautiful love!