“Aeternum Amorem”

Elara’s POV - (Age 12) I sat on the worn, velvet cushion of the window seat, my legs curled beneath me, watching the flickering shadows of the evening stretch across the floor. The orange glow of the setting sun filtered through the curtains, casting a soft light over the room. My mother’s voice filled the space, warm and soothing as it always was when she told me stories. She held the old, leather-bound book in her hands—its pages yellowed with age, the edges frayed from years of use. I could almost feel the weight of the story it carried, as if it were more than just words on a page. It was something ancient, something that reached beyond time. “Two souls” my mother began, her eyes glinting as she looked down at me, “born under the same stars, destined to meet across many lifetimes. Their love was called (Aeternum Amorem) an eternal love. It was a love that could not be bound by the passing of time, nor by the breaking of hearts.” I leaned in, eager to hear more. The story was familiar, but each time she read it to me, it felt new. The idea of love lasting forever, through the twists of fate and the pull of distant stars, was something that filled me with wonder. “Victoria” she whispered, as if the very name was magic, “this love was not always easy. It tested them, pulled them apart and brought them back together again. But through it all, they found each other. Again and again. Across every lifetime, through every struggle. They knew— no matter what, their love would never die.” I glanced up at her, seeing the distant look in her eyes. She wasn’t just reading anymore. She was lost in the world of the story, the very story that had captivated me for so long. "But why?” I asked softly. "Why did they have to go through so much pain to be together?" My mother smiled, a soft, sad smile that only she could wear. She closed the book for a moment, her fingers resting gently on the cover as she turned her gaze to me. "Because, my dear, love that lasts forever isn’t the kind that’s easy. It’s the kind that chooses you, even when you don’t understand it. And when it chooses you, you can’t turn away from it. No matter what. It’s Aeternum Amorem —and it’s the kind of love that will find you, even when you think you’ve lost it." I felt a strange flutter in my chest, a mixture of excitement and confusion. I didn’t quite understand it all, but I could feel the weight of it in my heart. The story was more than just a fairy tale. It was a promise—something deep and unspoken that tugged at me, even at twelve years old. I wondered, Could there really be someone out there like that? Someone who could love me forever, even through time? As my mother began reading again, I turned my gaze back to the window. The last of the sun dipped below the horizon, and in the quiet darkness that followed, a single thought lingered in my mind, a whisper I couldn’t quite shake. What if that love... was waiting for me? And, in the depth of my young heart, I knew I would spend my whole life searching for it. Aeternum Amorem