a young couple being forcefully parted and handed over to their respective families. the guy was slapped for good measure by indulgent 'older and wiser' people, and the girl admonished for doing something so silly as attempt to escape the folds of her family for the circle of her lover's arms.
they boy tried pathetically to hold on to his cockiness. to be a man for the still-watching girl; in the end only to watch helplessly as she, head bowed and cowed, was driven away.
they were but kids, both of them somewhere in their late teens.
who decides what is love and what is not? perhaps the fact that being near that one person can make one feel invincible and immortal is enough for it be named love. perhaps it is the dawning incoherent realization that we are but cosmic flotsam on an endless trajectory - some fated to find kindred spirits, some not so blessed. so what if this search for meaning and belonging can sometimes end in sadness and litter the floor with broken hearts? one has to close one's eyes against the yawning deep and just leap off, trusting to god that one learns to soar and won't drop as dead weight into the chasm.
as we grow older, this courage to trust another person with the strings to one's sanity wears thin. we get pragmatic and watchful and ration our affections against guaranteed returns. we seek minimum collateral damage.
we call it the dawning of wisdom. funny.
being young and vulnerable is the worst state to be in, perhaps.
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