A Box of Love

It was a brilliant day out. The sun was shining and the air was perfect. The breeze wafted gently across the scurrying people, and gently cooled the body. We had been having a heat wave, and the air had been heavy, today was the first day in weeks that it felt just right. I had decided it was the perfect time to go for a walk in the park.

People were enjoying the weather just like me. Some were walking their dogs, others playing frisbee. There was an incredibly nervous looking man pacing back and forth in front of the fountain. He looked like a cat on a hot tin roof, so jumpy he seemed like he might just pass out. Finally this beautiful girl walked up to him and hugged him so tight I thought he would explode. He visibly calmed down as soon as she did.

It looked to me to be a lovers hug at first, but then they started furtively looking around, both of them showing signs of nervousness. It peeked my curiosity. Why would two young people seem so secretive and scared. Especially on such a beautiful day. Not that a beautiful day really mattered when it came to life, but for some reason it just seemed wrong to feel anything but calm and happy on such a day.

They darted off into the wooded section of the park, and headed down an old path. I followed from a distance, when I saw them enter into a building that I never knew was even there. It looked to be a mausoleum of some sort. The outside was tan adorned with flowers covered in butterflies. It seemed to be old, but well built. Once again I kept my distance and when they didn't come out right away I finally ventured closer to the building.

Looking around I made sure that no one else was there. I mean what were the odds that more than one person had decided to follow them, but then what were the odds that I would decide to. This was out of my element, but it felt like something I had to do.

Inside the building there was one lone plate, indicating that there was someone buried inside the building. The plate had a small figure etched on it. She looked to be a small child not much older than 3 and she was adorable. The birthdate on the plaque indicated that she was 3 years old when she died. She had died over a 100 years ago.

Looking around I could not see where the two people had gone. At the back of the mausoleum there was a tiny stained glass window. It was beautiful, little butterflies everywhere in all shapes a colors. Underneath it on a small plaque was inscribed in loving memory of the butterfly girl Oka Arin Aldin. I was surprised by this, because 100 years ago most people did not have mixed relations yet. It was still frowned upon.

Sitting under the window on a small table was a brown paper box. It looked like it had been there for some time, and on one hand I felt bad looking inside, but on the other I felt a need to look. I wasn't sure why. It dawned on me that this building had no dust, no breaking down of time. It was as if time had decided to stand still in here.

I opened the box, not sure what to expect and inside it was filled with letters, and etched drawings of an American man and an oriental woman. They were drawn so beautifully that I could see them standing there before me almost. Their letters to each other, worn from reading and re-reading told the story of a forbidden love, the clandestine meetings at the water fountain, the promise to spend their lives together, and the loss of the child. It was a box full of hope and love and heart break, and how they built this mausoleum so they could always be with their child and each other.

I found them in a small room, built into the back of the mausoleum, laying next to each other in bed, holding hands. I left that tiny little home of love and strength and vowed to someday know a love like theirs. I promised to come back and take care of their little haven of hope and life. Like someone before me must have done also. The brown paper box I closed back up and put carefully back where their cherished memories belonged. Knowing someday someone else would also find them and feel like me.