MY SOUL OF THE MOON - Chapter 3

To whom was my heart and soul endeared? Her name was "Anna". The very name still makes my heart race, my blood pump and my soul weep. It happened all so fast. I was not expecting it, not wanting it, but, nonetheless, it happened. I was marked forever by her radiant smile, beautiful eyes and cheerful spirit. I knew without question, from the moment I saw her and our eyes first met.......that I was going to a place I could not return. My love for her was undeniable, eternal and was the most powerful emotion I had ever known. Nothing, and I mean nothing......including the death of my father, could compare to the raw emotion of love that had filled me. No bond had been so complete in my entire life. I can't explain it, nor can I explain why I could not stop it! I could only assume that the heavens opened up the doorway to my soul; to which I had no answer, no control. I was lost.....so lost....and from that moment on...my life was consumed by thoughts of "Anna". Thoughts and feelings that have not dimmed with the passage of time. I was now a prisoner of love. The strongest emotion in the human world had me caged within its' walls. There was no escape. No parole. No pardon that could free me from its' grip. I was not unlike a fly caught in the beautiful and dainty web of a garden spider. So beautiful and delicate to look at, yet stray but an inch, and all that was, would be no more.......... and in love's grasp, I could not see, nor hear what was about to come.

It was so innocent at first...playful flirting...long looks and the like. In an ironic twist of fate, it came to pass that "Anna", and her best friend had been assigned to the room next to mine. Our lives were separated by but a few inches of drywall and paint. As the days went on, the looks became longer, the emotion stronger. Yet, being the shy type, I was restrained to some extent in the beginning. At times I would catch parts of conversations between the 2 friends in which I was the topic. As it turned out, our class was split into 2 groups. At times, my training was conducted apart from the group in which "Anna" belonged. On those occassions which the 2 groups would train together, such as firearms training, there were times when I knew that the friend was giving "Anna" updates of my status. This, I thought, would bode well in my courtship. And so it went for about the first month. I remember during that time I once observed "Anna", and 2 classmates sitting at a table during a break. I approached and began to talk. "Anna" would look at me sheepishly, but did not speak. I had told the group that I had returned from fishing in a nearby river and had caught a rather large catfish. Then, to my surprise and wonder, "Anna" stated to me that she would like to go fishing with me some time. I was ecstatic and responded that as soon as the weather improved, I would take her. So far so good. I was thinking that perhaps my dream was in sight, that somehow our relationship would grow. Still I thought....all was well with the world.

I was the happiest I had been in many, many years. But fate had another plan...a secret plan....a plan that would set in motion the most unfortunate series of events I could imagine. Events that would shake the core of my world, my beliefs, my sanity.

To be continued..................