The Love I Share with Julite.

Seated in the old wooden pews of the local church, Fabrice found himself in the middle of a quiet little town called Bamenda, surrounded by lush greenery and rolling hills. Sunlight poured through stained glass windows on a Sunday morning, creating vibrant patterns on the stone floor. Fabrice's gaze drifted across the praise-singing choir and he noticed Julite standing across the aisle.

Her eyes, which were gleaming with warmth and generosity as she joined the chorus of voices filling the hallowed space, were a vision of elegance and beauty. Fabrice realized he had fallen completely and irrevocably in love at that same instant.

With quivering hands and a hopeful smile, Fabrice approached Julite after the service, his heart racing with apprehensive anticipation. His voice was barely audible above a whisper when he offered, "Would you care to join me for a cup of coffee?"

Fabrice felt a connection beyond anything he had ever experienced when he sat with Julite in a charming café, sipping drinks and exchanging stories. Fabrice was relieved and delighted that Julite accepted. They lost count of time as they laughed and chatted about their concerns, aspirations, and goals for hours on end.

Fabrice plucked up the strength to tell Julite how he really felt, letting his heart break with a flood of emotions as the sun started to drop. She revealed that she, too, sensed a strong connection between them with a soft smile, much to his delight.

Weeks followed by months as Fabrice and Julite's love deepened and expanded with every day that went by. As they strolled hand in hand through Bamenda's streets, the noises of the busy town blended with their laughter.

But then catastrophe hit, straight out of the clear blue sky like a thunderbolt. The news that their village was engulfed in flames of conflict reached Fabrice's father, a well-respected elder in the neighborhood. He sent Fabrice away to the relative safety of Yaounde, a place remote from the turmoil and destruction devouring their country, with a heavy heart and a heavy sense of obligation bearing down on him.

Fabrice, who was devastated and torn apart by Julite, vowed to see the love of his life again as soon as possible. However, destiny had other ideas, and the years flew by as Fabrice devoted himself to his studies with the goal of pleasing his father and seeing Julite as soon as possible.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Fabrice's studies came to an end, and he made the journey back to Bamenda with hope in his heart and a ring in his pocket, ready to ask Julite to be his wife.

But as he approached her doorstep, his steps faltered, and his heart sank like a stone in his chest. For there, in the fading light of the setting sun, stood Julite, her hand entwined with another man's, her laughter ringing out like a cruel mockery of the love they once shared.

With tears stinging his eyes and a pain in his chest that felt like a dagger through his heart, Fabrice realized that he had lost Julite forever. She had moved on, found happiness with someone else, while he had been trapped in a world of studies and obligations, unable to hold onto the love that had once been his entire world. He had become enmeshed in his studies and responsibilities, unable to cling onto the passion that had once consumed him, while she had gone on and found happiness with someone else.

With the memories of Julite's love weighing heavily on him like a smothering blanket, Fabrice turned away, resolved to keep Julite's love with him always as a bittersweet reminder of what might have been but was never intended to be.