Love Knows No Bounds

By Tuhin Guha

“Such a beautiful day”, sighed Samantha, alias Sammy, as she looked out of the window to the lovely sunny morning, which was quite rare in the UK. As a person with a disability, she was confounded about being in her house, unable to go outside and live a normal life, and if she ever had to be outside, she needed an escort, which was either her parents or her bff. All these factors greatly hampered her personal life, for which she never dated or had any partners.

As she sat brooding there, her musing was suddenly interrupted when her room’s door flew open, and in came her ever-hyper friend Abigail. “Sammy, Sammy you will not believe what I saw”, shouted Abigail in her squeaky sugary voice. Before Samantha could formulate a response, Abigail continued, “Our favourite band ‘Mumford & Sons’ is here. They are holding their concert at the town hall and guess what the entry fee is just £5 a person.” Abigail said with a squeal of happiness. Samantha’s eyes lit up with joy but dulled as soon as she remembered her inability to walk because ten years ago Samantha met with an accident while she was on her way to school, making her paralyzed from her waist down and dependent on others. Seeing her friend’s diminishing mood, Abigail sat beside her, tenderly grasped Samantha’s hand, and said, “don’t worry, I am with you”. Samantha nodded her head and the two friends began to plan what to wear that day.

Soon the great day came and Abigail came to Samantha’s house to pick her up. After comfortably settling her and keeping her wheelchair in the carrier, the two friends happily drove to the town hall. After having a fun-filled time, the two friends began to return home. Abigail was helping Samantha drive her wheelchair down a ramp when suddenly she tripped on her dress and fell, rocketing Samantha forward. Samantha screamed and tried to stop the chair, but all in vain. She was dangerously getting close to a lamp post, so she closed her eyes, covered her eyes, and braced herself for the painful bone-breaking impact when all of a sudden, her wheelchair stopped with a lurch. Time seemed to have stilled around her and Samantha could swear she couldn’t even feel the wind blowing. Feeling a little brave, she opened her eyes and saw that there was just an inch gap between her and the post. As she turned her head to thank whoever helped her, the sight that met her eyes made her feel that angels were singing the evening choirs in her head. The person was a prime example of handsomeness with chiseled jaws, wide shoulders, muscular body, and deep stetted aquamarine eyes. As she fumbled and stuttered to speak, the man spoke in a gravelly voice, which made her melt in a pile of goo. “Are you all right miss?” The man asked. “Did you hurt yourself somewhere? Shall I call a doctor?” Before Samantha could reply, Abigail arrived at the scene and profusely began apologizing to her. Samantha somehow managed to calm her down, but when she turned to thank the man, he was gone. Samantha asked Abigail whether she had seen the man, to which she replied negatively and suggested that since she had arrived the man must have left. Samantha nodded absently, but could not shake off the man’s image in her mind.

That incident had a profound effect on Samantha’s personality. Before that, she rarely ventured out of the four walls of her home, but now she used to look for excuses to rush out, and if she didn’t go out, she would wistfully stare out of the window and smile. Her condition alarmed her parents so much that they called all of Samantha’s friends in the search of answers. When they called Abigail, she revealed all that had happened at the concert. Seeing their distressed state, Abigail offered that she would talk to Samantha and rushed to her room, leaving behind Samantha’s bewildered parents. Inside she found her friend sitting like a statue in front of the window gazing at the beautiful garden below. Clearing her throat noisily to announce her arrival, she sat beside Samantha, waiting for her friend to say something to her. Abigail didn’t have to wait long because, after a few seconds, Samantha spoke softly, “you do remember the incident at the concert, right?” On receiving her nod, Samantha continued, “it is quite a turning point in my life. Before this, my whole world is collected in the house’s four walls, but that chance meeting changed everything. It ignited a flame inside me which is making me restless.” Suddenly turning towards Abigail, Samantha roughly grabbed her hands, frightening her. Then with a plaintive voice, Samantha begged Abigail to help her. Freaked out by her friend’s weird behavior, Abigail somehow said yes and bolted out of Samantha’s room.

The next few days, Abigail began looking for the mysterious guy who had stolen her bff’s heart, but all in vain. She felt she would tear her hair due to frustration. Soon the breaks were over and the duo had to return to the university. Samantha had, by that time, spiralled into depression and separation agony and nothing had helped to take her out of that condition. When the day came for the two girls to go to the educational institute, Abigail had to drag an almost comatose Samantha to the car. After helping her friend sit in her wheelchair, Abigail went to look for a parking spot. Samantha sat there brooding when suddenly she heard a familiar voice. Turning around she saw the same handsome lad; her heart skipped a beat. The man came to her and offered his hand, which Samantha shakily took and shook hands. By that time Abigail had returned too and Samantha introduced her to him. The man then introduced himself with the same gravelly voice, which sent tremors down Samantha’s spine, “my name is Mark, I met your friend weeks ago at that concert. She was going to hurt herself if I had not stopped her in nick of time.” Mark then had some idle chit-chat with girls revealing that he had moved with his family a month ago. Abigail then asked him which classes he was taking, to which said that since he was a student of science-based forte, he had enrolled in those classes with science as a base. Hearing that Samantha’s stomach somersaulted as she and Abigail too were in the same classes. She was so dazed by that revelation that she missed the comment passed by Abigail saying that they too were in the same classes. Mark breathed a sigh of relief and confessed that as he was new, he had no friends so he didn’t know if he could find the rooms all by himself. Immediately Samantha jumped into the conversation, surprising Abigail, and said that he could come with them, and Mark readily agreed. The rest of the day passed in a blur as the girls came to know Mark and he too familiarized himself with them. Soon it was time to return home when suddenly Abigail had a call. She then told Mark that some urgent assignments came up and requested to take Samantha back to her house. He readily agreed and conveying her apologies to Samantha, Abigail left. There was an awkward moment after Abigail’s departure until mark cleared his throat and said he would help Samantha to get into the car. The car ride was of complete silence, with exceptions when Samantha gave directions. As soon as they reached Samantha’s house, Mark hastened to help her sit in her wheelchair and drove her to the porch. Mark then shyly took Samantha’s number and promised to call her and drove off. All these interactions were watched by Samantha’s mother, who shed tears of joy because she could guess that her daughter had finally found the love of her life. And true she was because, after that event, Mark became a regular visitor to their house.

In that way, many years passed by and many changes happened in Mark’s and Samantha’s lives on which the most painful one being on their last day of university when Abigail and her parents lost their lives due to a tragic automobile accident while returning home. Samantha was inconsolable for days and during that period Mark stood beside her like a pillar of support. Another noteworthy incident is that of Mark’s love and care, Samantha could finally leave her wheelchair and could walk with a stick though most of that credit goes to Mark’s mother who was a renowned physiotherapist and helped Samantha on her feet.

Today was the day when Mark and Samantha could stamp their love with an official seal and step toward a new life, they were about to get married. Samantha specially chose the day 14th of February, most specifically known as valentine’s day, for their great day and the venue was the same parking lot of the town hall where they first met. As the priest spoke the wedding vows, Samantha’s parents shed tears of delight because they knew their daughter was in good hands and would keep her always happy, and as the priest stopped to seal the vows with a kiss, amid the loud shouts of celebration, began the new chapter of Mark’s and Samantha’s lives.

By Tuhin Guha