Seven Lifetimes and Still You

There are moments in life when love is not measured by how tightly we hold on, but by how gently we let go. For Mia, love meant stepping away. For Arick, love meant waiting for an explanation that never came. And for both of them, love became a story carved by time which was too short, too fragile and painfully unfinished. Mia had always been the soft kind of sunshine in Arick’s life. She laughed at things too easily, cried at things too deeply and trusted the world even when it gave her reasons not to. Adrian never understood how he got lucky enough to be loved by her. 

It all started when Arick was an ambitious photographer, someone who could freeze time with a shutter click, someone who believed memories could be preserved forever. He met Mia on a cold December evening when she walked into one of his photo exhibitions wearing a bright yellow dress and a smile that could light up the darkest corners of his life. She wasn’t loud or dramatic. She was gentle like a leaf floating on water but her eyes held galaxies. She was strong but gentle, carrying the elegance of someone raised in privilege yet the sadness of someone who had never truly been free. (CAN BE SUMMARIZED)

Her father, Mr. Jack was a powerful businessman whose influence is across the country. He controlled everything including her education, her career, her friends and even the man she would marry. Her mother, Mrs. Avilan Jack is a very known personality in the society. Mia’s parents' marriage was quietly toxic, built on emotional starvation. Jack believed providing money and stability was enough, while Avilan longed for affection, communication and partnership. His cold distance and the family's rigid expectations turned their home into a place where she felt invisible. Mia suffered being with them and she was scared of the idea of marriage or even love. 

When Arick approached Mia, “In your eyes, I see my future and in your smile, I find my happiness. Will you be my partner for life?”. Mia froze and straight up said “No”, because she was afraid that her marriage would turn out to be like her parents’. However, as day went by their bond became stronger and Mia felt a connection with Arick and he gained her trust. A few weeks later, they fell in love, the way rain turns into a river. He became her home. Shortly after, they married even after Mia’s parents opposed it. They married quietly. They hoped loudly. They lived carefully. They lived happily exactly of what they dreamt off. They were blessed with a baby girl, Jennie, she was the light of their lives. Years went by, Jennie turned 5, they still loved each other loudly and still Mia said to Arick, “You make my heart smile and my eyes shine even after many years, thank you for being my world.”  But one day, she completely changed and it was very weird.

The shift was so subtle that he almost missed it. A shorter smile and a quiet distance. At first he thought it was stress, the usual heaviness of adulthood pressing on her shoulders. But then she started distancing herself, she stopped communicating even at home and she stopped answering his calls as quickly. She cancelled dates. She avoided his eyes when he looked at her too long. One evening, she simply told him, “I think we need a divorce.”Just like that. He broke down and he was shattered. He was so confident that nothing could make them apart. The very next day, Mia told Arick that she is going to the nearest church. Later, Arick went to a nearby shopping mall with his daughter and Arick saw Mia with another guy at the mall. Arick was confused and he had a lot of confusion with questions. “Didn’t she tell me that she is going to a church? Did she lie to me? Or did she have any other reasons?”. But Arick went back home quietly and didn’t utter a word to Jennie.

It was almost 12am when Mia came back and Arick asked her, “Where were you?”, for the very first time Arick heard Mia screaming “Why do you care?”. Arick froze and he didn't know how to respond. In the heat of the argument, Mia left her phone in the bedroom and walked away. Soon, Mia received a call from “My Love”, Arick was shocked and couldn’t believe what he saw. He questioned Mia, “Who is this,Mia? What is happening?” Mia just said, “He is my love, I don’t want you anymore, I’m bored with you, my happiness is with Jeremiah who is the love of life, I don't even need Jennie”. Arick broke down and cried but all he heard was the sentence that Mia said which was echoing in his head repeatedly, "my happiness is with Jeremiah who is the love of my life”. To Arick, he prioritizes Mia’s happiness more than anything and he would go to any extend to give her happiness. After careful consideration, he decided to give her the divorce she wanted and took custody of Jennie. Mia promised that she would never appear in their life again and she disappeared just like that.

Five years later, Jennie turned 11 years old and still Arick would tell Jennie how unconditionally Mia loved her everyday. But Jennie was confused on why the separation happened as Arick has never told her about it. For a few months after the separation, she wrote letters to Jennie. Then fewer. Then none. Jennie was clueless but all she knew was that her dad, Arick, was a hero and Mia is someone who abandoned her.

One fine day, Mia’s mom, Avilan called Arick who has never spoken to her before. Arick was shocked seeing her call and she told him, “I want to meet you, I have something very important to share with you”. Avilan quickly agreed as he was clueless too and went to her home. She greeted him and asked about Jennie, Avilan was surprised because he knew that she hated them. Later, she told Arick that Mia contacted her a few months before the separation and told her that she needed a divorce from you. Arick replied, “Did she tell you any reason behind that separation?”. Avilan started crying while holding Arick’s hand tightly. Avilan said, “I know the real reason”, Arick questioned her about it and she told him to be strong. Avilan exhaled and told him, “Mia had lung cancer stage 4.” Arick froze and his eyes filled with tears. 

Avilan continued, “It began with headaches. Then fainting spells. Then she got to know the diagnosis that shattered everything. But the condition worsened faster than anyone expected. She didn’t want you and Jennie to know about it as this could hurt you guys badly and she didn't want to be a burden, she wanted you to move on and lead a happy life again. So she came up with this idea of distancing herself from you so that your love for her would disappear slowly but it didn't and she decided to pretend like she was in affair but she knew that you would still love her so she used the sentence that mentioned that she is not happy here because she knew that you would prioritize her happiness even it does hurt you. As she said, everything happened exactly and you gave her a divorce. Shortly after that, she passed away, Arick.” 

Arick stumbled and broke down right there hearing all these while saying, “I knew there was something wrong. Why didn’t she tell the truth? I need my wife back” he screamed. Avilan said “She left behind a letter for you, just for you. Here it is”. Arick opened the letter with trembling fingers.

“My Arick,
If you are reading this… then I am no longer in your tomorrow. But I am still and will always be, in your yesterday. I wish I had the strength to stay. I wish the world had given me more time with you. I wish I had been brave enough to tell you the truth. But I was terrified of becoming a memory while still breathing beside you. When the doctor said ‘stage 4,’ I felt the ground disappear. But the first person I thought of was you. ‘How will Arick survive this?’ ‘How will Jennie survive this?’ I knew you would never let me go. You would hold me, love me, fight for me. Arick, I did not want you to fight a battle that was already lost. So I did the one thing that would break your heart because it was the only thing that could save it. Forgive me for not being strong enough to stay. Forgive me for not being brave enough to tell you. Forgive me for pretending to love someone else. Forgive me for hurting you in the name of loving you. You were never boring. You were never not enough. You were my blessing in a world full of curses. I left because I loved you too much to make you watch me die. I left because I did not want Jennie’s childhood filled with hospitals and tears. I left because I wanted you both to live. Freely. Happily. Without waiting for my last breath. But know that not even death could stop me from loving you. If there is a world after this one, I will wait for you there. Seven lifetimes and still you. If there is none, then my love will still reach you in ways you cannot see. Take care of our Jennie. Tell her I loved her with the last heartbeat I had.
And you, Arick…
you were my whole story

Yours,
Always yours,
Mia”

Arick pressed the letter to his chest and fell to the floor, crying in a way he had never cried in his life. Every truth he begged to hear for five years had come crashing down in a single fragile piece of paper. Avilan gently rested a hand on his shoulder. “She suffered a lot, Arick. But she died loving you. She died loving Jennie.” Arick wiped his face, unable to speak. Unable to breathe. Unable to believe the world could be this cruel and this beautiful at the same time. “She asked me to give you one more thing,” Avilan whispered. She handed him a small wooden box. Arick opened it with trembling hands. Inside was Mia’s wedding ring, the one she had never taken off, even when she pretended she no longer loved him. A label on it read: For my Arick, when you’re ready. Arick responded, “Thank you, thanks a lot” while crying.

Jennie found the letter days later, tucked beneath her father’s pillow and as she read Mia’s trembling words, her small body shook with the weight of a truth far too heavy for an eleven year old's heart. She ran to Arick, sobbing, “She loved us, Papa… she loved us so much,” and the two of them held each other as if trying to hold together every broken piece of the past. A week later, father and daughter stood at Mia’s grave quietly, lonely, surrounded by wilted white lilies and Arick placed her wedding ring on the cold stone, whispering, “You didn’t have to die alone.” Jennie pressed her cheek to the tombstone and whispered, “Mommy, we’re okay now. You can rest.” As the wind brushed past them, carrying the faintest scent of Mia’s perfume, Arick realised love doesn’t end with goodbye, it just learns to live in the silence she left behind, in the small hands of their daughter and in the forever they never got to finish.

1971 WORDS      NEED TO BE REDUCED TO 800 WORDS

CHECKED BY : FATHIN NUR ALEESA BINTI ZULKIFLI