The Lost Photograph

The Lost Photograph

                There was this girl I keep on seeing for the last three weeks now. She was sitting on the farthest corner of the bus. She has hazel brown eyes and long, straight, black hair. She’s always staring at the window and I wonder why.

                One day, I sat beside her, hoping I could see what she sees outside the window. I can feel the warmth of her skin. But I was bothered by her sad eyes, sadness that I only see in her and I realized that I’ve never seen her smile at anything. She sees a different world, a world where only sadness exists.

                The next day, she was gone. She wasn’t there on her usual place. It was like it’s my routine to gaze at her, and it is only broken now. So I tried to sit on her place. Like her, I stared at the window. But there’s nothing there. I only see my reflection, a guy who had been asking so many questions about this girl I barely knew. But sometimes, I ask myself, who is she? I hope someday I could know her name.

                Next Sunday morning, there she was again. I don’t know why I suddenly smiled. I hope she didn’t see it. And so I sat beside her again. Can she sense that I’m staring at her? Curiosity filled my mind and her scent filled the air around us.

                On the next stop, she got off the bus. On her seat, I’ve noticed something white that must have fallen from her bag, a lost photograph. I looked at it and saw a girl who sees beyond happiness, a girl who knew nothing about grief and a girl so different from her, but one thing is for sure, this is the same girl I’ve been watching for a while now. At the back of the photo, there was a note saying:

Goodbye to this sweet little smile of mine.

Goodbye to the love that I thought would transcend time.

Goodbye to the so called destiny of ours.

I was hypnotized by our love and it is slowly hurting me.

I thought you’ll never let me go and I was wrong.

At the end of our road, this is my one last goodbye.

                                -Czarina

                Czarina-- she was a sad girl. I really hope I could stand beside her and give her a shoulder to lean on. I know she doesn’t know me but why do I feel like I know her a lot? I don’t know the story of her life but someday, I would want to be a part of it. Czarina. I want to tell her that I already fell in love with her.

                Wednesday-- I’m running late but her thoughts are still running on my mind. When I got on the bus, there is only one seat left…..and it was beside her. Is this destiny or what? My eyes are focused on her as if she is the only girl I see. There it is again, her scent, slowly capturing me. I was staring at her and to my surprise, my notebook fell on the floor. It fell open showing her picture clipped on it. My heart was racing. She saw it and I didn’t know what I should do. I picked it up and apologized trying to return her photograph. She just looked at me and for the first time in my life, I saw her smile at me. She really did smile at me. I was speechless.

                “Maybe this really is the destiny I’ve been looking for,” she said, her voice like a melody to my ears.

                “I’m Josh,” I replied with a sweet smile.

                “Czarina,” she said shaking my hands. This is the start of our love story that would last for an eternity.