Broken Heart

"He was gone, vanished in thin air, which made me feel those beautiful memories taste worse than bitter." Mira sobbed. Her heart was smashed by an iron hammer. Cold wind clashed with her untied hair.

A white tissue appeared in her vision. "Ah… take it, wipe your tears, young lady!" said an old lady who was sitting beside Mira on the bus stop bench. Patting Mira's trembling back with her soft hands, "Don't cry so hard! Your throat will hurt," her voice was raspy but kind.

Mira took the tissue from the old lady. She raised her head and saw the old lady give a warm gaze with the kindest smile to Mira.

"Thank you," wiping her tears, Mira said.

"It's okay, dear. Why are you crying? What happened?" the old lady questioned.

"It's a long story…" Mira replied, as if she didn't want to tell her heartbroken story to a stranger, her voice slightly broken.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, dear," the old lady said in her soft voice. "I know some things are just too heavy to carry alone. But sometimes sharing a burden, even with a stranger, will help you to lighten the load. Just like letting a little bit of pain out into the open, so it doesn't bother you inside again." Her smile was gentler.

Mira's fingers tightened on the worn fabric skirt she wore. She still tried to lock her pain inside, but the old lady's soft words made her open up.

"I was so naive to believe everyone blindly. I knew that he was using me in the start, but I fooled my mind by saying he liked me again and again. But he destroyed my pure love for him. I can't blame him because I'm not the only one who likes him," she sighed. Biting her lips, the taste of salt was a bitter reminder of her broken heart.

Holding her trembling hands, "I can understand your feelings. When we trust someone blindly, if that person breaks it, it feels worse than tasting shit. Is it your one-sided love? Why did he reject you? Did he tell you his reason for the rejection?" the old lady asked.

Mira closed her eyes, took a deep breath to steady herself before talking, gulped while looking up at the sky, which was fully covered by rainy clouds.

"That was my first day at university as a freshman. I chose to study jewelry designing as my major. All seniors acted nice towards me. After a month, some of my classmates started to bully me day by day. At first, I thought they were just playing with me… until…" Mira struggled to speak.

Her throats feels dry, her heart beat and sounds fell into her ears. She bit her teeth to control her fear. "That day I went to the canteen to buy a coffee. In the corridor, some girls from my class cornered me and tried to pick a fight. I managed to not fall for their dirty trick. That time, a tall girl in that girls' circle came forward, grabbed my hair, and raised her long arm to slap me." Mira stopped talking again.

"And then they heard someone say, 'What's going on here?' with his commanding deep voice, and you tried to see who was that, and that was your crush. Am I right, young lady?" said the old lady, picking something from the ground.

Mira's eyebrows raised with confusion. "How do you know what exactly happened there?" She threw a suspicious look towards the old lady's face, searching for a clue.

"Let's just address it as patterns echoing." She lit up the place with her faithful smile. "Now continue your story, dear," she said in a soft voice.

Mira continued, "His name is Krish. He is a handsome man in the university in our faculty. Many girls tried to talk to him, but he never paid any attention to them. But he came out of his own way to talk to me every day, helped me with my studies, always called me cute. I started to believe he had a crush on me. So, I naively told my best friend Kiki about him and introduced her to Krish. One year passed, my affection towards him became stronger and stronger, so I decided to talk about my feelings for him." Mira's eyes again started to fill with tears.

She continued…

"I planned to express my feelings towards him. I invited him to Peradeniya Botanical Garden. Kiki accompanied me to go there. I tried three times but failed to tell him. My legs started to tremble, my voice became high-pitched and nervous. I ran towards the bathroom to rehearse before trying again." Mira sighed. Her dried eyes looked like dead fish.

Pushing her large, old-fashioned eyeglasses up her nose, "I think you didn't express your feelings towards him. Something happened in front of your eyes, so you ran from that place and ended up here. Am I right?" the old lady asked.

"Are you a witch or something?" Mira looked at the old lady up and down.

"You said what happened there, don't say it's just another pattern echo," she said, her voice trembling.

The old lady didn't say anything. Mira continued her flashback story again.

"You're correct! When I came back from the bathroom, I saw Kiki and Krish hugging each other tightly. It didn't look like a friendly hug. His hands moved possessively over her body. She wrapped her arms around Krish's neck. My heart stopped a beat for a minute. I couldn't believe what I just saw with my eyes. I closed my eyes while praying, 'It's not true, I was just dreaming.' When I opened my eyes, I saw… Krish kissed Kiki's lips, and she also enjoyed it." Mira sobbed and started to cry again.

"First, I thought Krish was the one who forcefully kissed Kiki, and Kiki didn't want to kiss him back. How stupid I was," Mira sighed, crossing her arms while leaning back.

"Krish just peeked at her lips, but she pulled him towards her and sucked his lips. In the end, she said, 'I loved you so much. Whenever I tried to express it to you, that dumb Mira always interrupted. I really waited so long to kiss you like this badly.' Again, she started to kiss him," Mira said, her chest feeling tight.

"After kissing her, holding her face with his hands, he said he just acted clingy to me because he wanted to get to know Kiki. I was the only close friend for her, so that's why he chose to be my friend. He fell in love with Kiki at first sight, and he used me as an excuse to tag along with Kiki," Mira said with her broken voice. Biting her lips to control her emotions, her fingers trembling like a chicken shocked in rain.

"Sometimes the truth tastes like sour candy, but you need to taste it too. Your friend Kiki knew that you liked Krish, but she enjoyed his kiss without feeling guilty, which means she never treated you as her friend. So, be careful when you have to deal with those kinds of persons again in your life." The old lady handed a silver-colored wristwatch to Mira. "I just picked it up on the ground, is this yours?" the old lady asked.

Closely looking at the watch, "Yes, it's mine, but how did it fall off my wrist?" she said while picking it up from the old lady, wearing it on her hand.

"Don't worry, dear! Today, everything will turn good. You'll meet the treasure of your life too, if you're open to it," the old lady said, looking at Mira with her side eyes.

Mira was irritated after hearing the words 'treasure of your life.' She rolled her eyes. "I don't want to fall in love again," she said.

"I've seen so many people who are saying the same sentence after being rejected by their crush. Without testing rejection and betrayals, life will be boring, dear. Try to enjoy it and never make the same mistake again. I wish you to meet your true love soon," closing her handbag zipper, "Don't forget to tell me when you find your true love," the old lady teased Mira.

"Don't mention the word 'love' again. Every time I hear that word, Krish and Kiki come to my mind," Mira roared while turning her face towards the old lady.

"Wait… what!??? Where did that old lady go?" Mira's eyes raised a wave of confusion. The old lady who sat beside her disappeared from there within a moment after hearing Mira's story. Her face faded away. "Even the old lady can't afford to listen to my story," she murmured.

When the bus arrived, Mira boarded it and went home. She changed her clothes, put her wristwatch on the table, picked up her phone, and the next moment, she started to spill all the tea with her unknown online friend, who helped Mira learn Thai.

That online friend was from Thailand. Both of them remained to keep their profiles low, so they didn't say their true names or share their pictures with each other. They both knew each other well. They called each other 'Bubble' and 'Toffee.'

"Hey, Bubble, do you know something? My crush proposed to my best friend," Mira messaged her online friend.

"OMG! It must be hard to accept that situation for you, Toffee. Don't worry, one day you'll meet your true love too. You deserve better, dear. Don't be sad," Bubble replied.

They both spent a couple of hours chatting and finally decided to sleep. Both said 'good night' via voice message. Mira went to her bedroom, laid down on her cozy bed while hugging her soft teddy bear. A few minutes later, Mira fell asleep.

Then the watch she put on the table started to tick faster and faster. A bright light appeared from inside the watch. It became brighter and brighter. It covered the whole room.