“Where are you going? Why did you walk away from the tour group?” asked Nargis, running behind Ruslan.
Ruslan did not reply. His legs moved involuntarily into the deep forest. He stopped in front of a statue, staring hard at it. Memories came in a rush. Sweet thoughts of Yalda! The tribal warlords sparring over their love, deciding to bury them alive. When was this erected?
Nargis was still staring at the statue, shocked by her husband’s uncanny likeness to one of the faces. Ruslan looked at her sadly, realizing that she was not his soulmate.
This was written for Rochelle’s friday fictioneers. Photo by Claire.
call2read 
Beautiful, I can feel the sensations and emotions that he is feeling as he stands there looking at the statue!
Thank you, Penny. just about to read yours:)
Nice
Thanks, Boomie!
its a masterpiece padmini! your short stories are amazing!
That’s kind of you to say, Sharmishtha..Thank you very much
will be waiting for the next one.
Are you also interested in participating?
no, right now i am playing only one such contest, david’s visual fictions, thats enough for me at present. i am too lazy for these things!
okies:)
Ah! The story of rebirth it is if I’m guessing it right.. ? Nicely done. So sad for his wife though now that he knows his love was (or is) somebody else.
Yes, it is the story of rebirth..If Ruslan is reborn, maybe Yalda is too..and it is certainly sad for his wife. Thank you very much, Muzer
This took me a couple of goes to work out, but once I did, I thought it was lovely. (I think you might have an missed the h off ‘his’ in this sentence: ‘realizing that she was not is soulmate’)
Thanks, Claire..corrected now..Thank you so much for the comment
Nicely done.
Thank you, Sandra
Interesting take on the prompt. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much, Rochelle
Just few lines can carry insightful and forgotten feelings.. well written nightlake, I loved it.
Glad you enjoyed this, Zahret..Thank you very much
A bit too esoteric for me to comment, other than to appreciate the prose, and aspects of the ‘Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ type theme, which is very popular now – but not, I’m afraid, with me.
well, it is a story of reincarnation..thanks, anyway, for reading and commenting
Great story. hopefully both can find their soul-mates.
yes:) Thank you:)
So, I’ve been thinking this one over while vacuuming… First of all, reincarnation isn’t typically my thing, nor is falling out of love with one’s spouse. That is completely a personal preference thing, so don’t take it personally when I say my initial reaction wasn’t overly enthusiastic. The thing is, I think your concept is really cool. I often read these stories with “What kind of novel could this make?” in mind. I could see your story as a novel about this couple finding this statue, Ruslan remembering his previous life with its dramatic romantic tragedy, but not realizing that his current wife is, in fact, Yalda. So now contemporary Yalda has a problem… How to get Ruslan to fall in love with the woman he’s already in love with. Maybe she knows, maybe she doesn’t… Either way, it could be a beautiful story set in two different periods.
Okay, I hope I wasn’t too harsh. The main point is that despite initial reservations due to personal preference, I think you’re on to something here! 🙂
That is a very interesting idea here:) when you think of it as a novel..Thank you for the indepth thinking and the comment on this story..
this is the perfect exerpt for the book jacket.
Do you really think so? Thank you so much for the kind words of appreciation
I do. If I read this on the jacket of a book, I’d want to open it and start at the beginning.
very motivating..Thank you for that:)
This is really good.
Thank you so very much
You managed to convey the mystery of love, lost souls and more in very few words. Well done.
Thank you very much for reading and commenting
I only hope he will still treat his wife well, even after his discovery. It’s not her fault she’s not the ‘one’, after all.
Yes, me too:) Thank you so much for the visit
I love this….that should be enough. I really love this. Ohhh let me say it one more time…I LOVE THIS!
Tom
Thank you so very much..very kind of you to say so..Thanks for stopping by once again..
A brilliant idea. If reincarnation is true, the memories of previous lifes could be devastating.
have heard of a few people remembering events from their previous lives..don’t know if this is true or not..yes, it could be very unsettling indeed. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts..
I agree, brilliant idea and scene well-cast. I used to wok with a Nargis and Ruslan in Azerbaijan…so quite uncanny!
have heard of these names in India too:))Thank you very much, Pirate..
That was interesting. Very interesting.
Thank you so very much, Shirley
Lovely tale. It could be telling of one of those incidents that represent an opportunity to work out some ‘karma’ perhaps? A crossroads tale. Even, perhaps, the realisation could come that there is no such thing as a soulmate. Many possibilities here! Ann
Yes, this tale could have many possibilities..Your ideas are interesting. Thank you so much, Ann, for reading and the kind comment. just read yours and found it well written.
Oh, this is so sad….!
So very well written, Padmini… Sad, and yet a joy to read..
Hi, Carolyn, Thank you very much. Waiting for your next post. How are the dance practices coming along? Wish you a great weekend!
Next post??? Haven’t been inspired as yet..! I’m sooo busy. Dance practice is going quite well. We have new routines for most of our dances. This means practice, practice and more practice.
Thank You; the weekend goes well. The same to you; may the weekend bring you joy..!
Thank you, Carolyn:)
Dear Nightlake,
Realization come oft late to we humans. makes for sad nights and strange bedfellows.
Aloha,
Doug
very true..especially as far as this story is concerned. Thank you so kindly for reading and commenting
Powerful story of love and loss. Ron
Thank you so much
You make me wonder how the next conversation begins. What a powerful read.
Thank you! Your take on the prompt made an interesting read.
Powerful memories of another life. Bittersweet story of love lost, told with great feeling. Lovely.
Thanks for stopping by and reading. Thank you so much
Sensational post.Sad yet meaningful.Thank you for stopping by.Best regards.Jalal
Thank you so much. Glad you stopped by