The Ballad of the Black Moon - Part 3
3. The Weight of a Love That Could Never Be Forgotten
The man could no longer tell whether he was awake or trapped inside a dream.
Yet one truth was undeniable.
The memories he had buried for so many years were rising to the surface, one after another, as vividly as if they had happened only yesterday.
When they were young, they had loved each other with all their hearts.
They had dreamed of leaving the village together someday, of building a small home where they could live an ordinary but happy life. It was a simple dream—one shared by two people who believed the future would always be waiting for them.
But fate had written a different ending.
A sudden tragedy tore them apart before those dreams could ever become reality. She was taken from his side, leaving behind nothing but silence, unanswered questions, and promises that would never be fulfilled.
From that day forward, he forgot how to smile.
People often told him that time healed every wound.
"The living must go on," they would say.
"You have to let her go."
He tried.
He truly did.
But love does not disappear simply because the years pass.
Time may soften the sharp edges of grief, yet it can never erase someone who has become part of your soul.
As the seasons came and went, his longing only grew deeper.
On quiet nights, he found himself wandering the mountain paths without realizing it, guided not by his feet, but by memories he could never abandon.
Perhaps that was why he had come to this forgotten pond.
Perhaps this meeting had never been an accident at all.
Perhaps destiny had been quietly waiting for this night from the very beginning.
The woman slowly extended her hand.
Without taking his eyes off her, the man reached out with trembling fingers.
He expected to feel nothing more than the icy surface of the pond.
Instead...
A gentle warmth wrapped around his fingertips.
It was soft and comforting, like the first rays of spring sunlight after a long and unforgiving winter.
The warmth spread through his hands, his chest, and finally the deepest corners of his heart, melting the sorrow he had carried for so many years.
At that moment, he understood something he had never been able to admit to himself.
He had never been holding on to her.
He had been holding on to the grief of losing her.
And for the first time since she disappeared from his life...
He found the strength to let it go.
Continue to Part 4 →
