When the dawn will lose its crimson.

Trust me it’s far more upsetting than it sounds. The dawn grips its reputation and magnificence primarily because of its crimson and if you excise its only wings how would the bird fly? What if the flowers lose their fragrance? What if the sun loses its light? What if a love story loses its love? What if the morning dew loses its purity? What if the seas lose their tides? What if the trees lose their shade? What if the snail loses its pace? What if the Hulk loses its green? What if the Iron Man loses Jarvis? What if NFS loses its cars? What if a computer system loses its processor? What if a mother loses her maternity? What if the soil loses its fertility? What if the summer loses its heat? What if the winter loses its chills? What if the monsoon loses its rain? What if the beautiful loses its beauty? What if I lose you?

Let me take you to the time when species other than humans could talk and had emotions. In a certain kingdom, in a certain land, in the countryside, in a little colony, there lived our hero. He was no different than any other eusocial insect belonging to the Formicidae family and yet he was not similar to any one of them. Unlike the other male ants of the colony he did not prepare his body just to hook up and pollinate a female ant and then pass away. He believed that a male ant’s life wasn't predestined but it was in fact what they chose it to be. When the other male ants chose to breed, he chose not to be farmed in incarceration to serve some explicit purpose. He willingly chose to be a warrior and serve the colony as some of the female ants did.

Seeing him take interest in the happenings of the colony for a noticeably long extent, the queen had established a soft corner for him recently and had decided to promote him from being a soldier to a troop leader. He was perhaps the first male ant in the times gone by, who had stepped forward and made a choice of not following nature’s traditional convention. His story was inspiring to other folks of his species and had voyaged across the country through different colonies. Since the last few weeks he was serving the colony in the best way imaginable. But alongside this inspiring story of his, there was another story that was being woven in the past few days. A story of love.

After having joined the army as a soldier, he had fallen in love with a fellow soldier of his. She was eventually the most beautiful ant he had ever come across. He had instantaneously fallen in love with her right after looking at her for the very first time. It was exactly what we call love at first sight in our world. He had conveyed his feelings to her very divinely and she, after making him wait for a considerably long duration had been engaged with him. They were the first couple in the family of ants who were together not just to make love and then separate but were together for an entirely new feeling. The feeling of love. It had never been since the establishment of the very first colony that two ants of the opposite sexual category were together because they were in love with each other. For a change, this was beautiful.

They were together because they desired to be. There had been talks and there had been walks. There had been cuddling and there had been fondling. There had been fights which were resolved at some point. There had been daybreaks and there had been nightfall, which were all beautiful. There had been lunches and there had been dinners. They spent their days working hard for the colony and they devoted their evenings to each other. Their story was no less than a fairy tale and was celebrated amongst most of the colonies across the country. Love was in the air. Other male ants were motivated to look beyond their bound lives and identify female ants as someone more than their sex mates. Everything was happening impeccably until one day.

It had been precisely two months since they were a pair. It was their eighth anniversary and he was truly pleased that they were together for so long. Yes, I know you must be wondering how they could celebrate eight anniversaries in just two months. Let me answer you. First of all this is my story and so I can make them celebrate any number of anniversaries I want. And secondly, as ants have an average lifespan of two to six months, he had decided to celebrate his anniversary every week.

The dawn had just cracked and the blackness had started to fade away. He could not sleep much the last night thinking of the recent alterations in her conduct. She was not as warm as she used to be in the initial days of their relationship. In fact she had become somewhat impolite. She did not talk much to him and if she did, the conversation would somehow be led to a dispute further being led to a fight. And moreover, lately their relationship had lost the element of romance that it used to have previously. He could feel this. He was unable to comprehend the reason behind this turn of events but deep down he knew it that she loved her. He could always see that in her eyes.

Nevertheless apart from all these, he craved to celebrate the day with her. After all he was the first ant to complete two months of being in a relationship that involved love. He peeped out of his slumbering shack. There was no one in the dormitory. “Everyone must be asleep.” He said to himself. He strode out into the dorm and advanced towards the gigantic common area. The labour ants were all asleep along the floor of the common area. He had to land his steps cautiously on the ground without tripping over anyone. With utmost care he paced onward and was nearly halfway across the hall. “Hey! Why are you up so early buddy?” asked a labour. He looked around to trace the cradle of the voice and spotted the only labour whose head was up. “Why are you awake so early buddy?” he fired back the same question in a controlling attitude. After having realised that she was talking to no companion labour ant but a soldier, the labour ant promptly shut her eyes and said, “I have got a nightmare to finish, sir. See you later.” He smirked. Being a soldier wasn’t that bad after all. If he had to lookout for the colony all day putting his life on stake for other ants then in return he would get some respect. At least from the labour ants.

He was standing on the bank of the love pond. That’s what she used to call it. It was two ant-miles due west from the colony. Every week on the day of their anniversary in morning hours before going off to duty, both of them would meet up near this pond and wish each other. This was not some kind of regulation that either of them had defined but it had developed on its own. There are numerous habits that ripen in a relationship which are not anticipated but they make the relationship beautiful.

A bead of dew fell into the pond crafting ripples which demolished the reflection of his face for a few instants. He was looking into the water. He would do this every time and she would sneak in from behind him and he would see her face’s reflection next to his in the pond. He would smile. She would smile back. They would look at each other and in no time his lips would be on hers. And then after the kiss they both would wish each other. He treasured whatever they had because to him these were the most beautiful sentiments he could ever imagine of.

The sunlight fell upon the meadow spread alongside the pond’s bank and the drops of dew on the blade of grass shone like tiny cherries. The water of the pond ensured a shade of crimson due to the deep red light which looked blissful. The crickets were producing high-pitched sounds. Birds were chirping all over the place. A yellow canary was sitting on the branch of the tree directly above his head. The fusion of the red light of the dawn with the golden feathers on the canary’s body had turned the picture into something enchanting. He smiled, looking at all the gorgeous things around him expecting the upcoming hours to be beautiful in a similar fashion. Meanwhile a massive frog was sitting on a lotus leaf floating in the middle of the pond, singing something non-understandable in the eeriest manner imaginable. There was something devious about this particular frog. Although he was singing continuously but his gaze kept spinning in all probable directions as if looking for something. He was possibly out here for his morning breakfast waiting for a fly or an ant. “What! How did I not think of this? He could be here to eat me up.” thought our hero. Though he was reasonably far from the frog but he was still bothered about the tongue. This frog had never sat anywhere near this place in the past two months. It was the first week of July and the monsoon has just hit the seasonal calendar so it must be the rains that had brought the frog back from hibernation. He merely wished that the frog didn’t spot him midst the lush towering green grass where he was waiting for her. He turned out to be lucky enough.

Two hours had passed away and he was incessantly awaiting her at the very place but there was no sign of her presence yet. His smile was slowly being transformed to a frown and the enthusiasm of the day was turning into tension. He looked around. The sun had escalated further up and the redness had vanished letting a bright golden shade spread into the sky. The dawn had lost its crimson. The dew drops were all vaporised and the chirping of birds had stopped. The temperature had begun to rise. The element of romance was diminishing as the clock ticked. But what concerned him the most was that she was still not there with him because she had never been late on any of their past anniversaries. She hadn’t wished him yet.

Time dragged itself with a snail’s pace. Each passing moment felt to him like an eternity. He decided to head back to the colony assuming she must have been in some kind of problem. All along the way his head was dropped down and his gaze scanned the path he was walking onto. He was unhappy. He walked past the colony’s front gate and proceeded towards the assembly area. There were hundreds of soldier ants grouped together awaiting their troop leaders. He marched up to his troop and stood at the end of the already formed line. The line which was formed had to be perfectly straight such that when looked from the front side of the line only the head of the first ant could be seen. This was a rule which was to be followed very strictly and fell underneath the disciplinary standards of the ant army. He looked to his right to spot her in her troop. There she was, at the fourth position from the front. She was looking straight ahead. He didn’t quite understand this course of conduct of hers. First she didn’t show up near the love pond and now she wasn’t even looking this side knowing that his troop would always be on her left. There was something not on track.

There was still pretty much time left for the troop leaders to arrive. He disengaged himself from the end of the line and walked towards her. His heart was beating like a drum set on an orchestra as he neared her. He was afraid of what she would give as a reason for what was happening since morning. After having approached her he spoke, “Hi!” “Hey! Good Morning fellow soldier. How are you doing?” she greeted him with a friendly tone. But there was something about her gaze. He noticed that she did not look into his eyes while greeting him. Nevertheless she was smiling and looking at him. He smiled back at her and said “Good Morning baby! I am doing pretty well. The morning…” He paused, still looking at her. She hadn’t wished him yet. A series of thoughts were being fed to him. Why wasn’t she wishing him? Did she forget? But she had never forgotten their anniversary. It wasn’t something to simply forget. She wouldn’t ever forget their anniversary. But then why did not she show up near the pond? What if she is doing it on purpose because she had planned a surprise for him? It could be this.

But he could not contain his urge to ask her. He spoke up, “Baby, aren’t you forgetting something?” She was still looking at him but did not look him in the eyes. “Forgetting what?” she put up a question in response to his rhetorical question. “We were supposed to meet up at the love pond in the morning. You didn’t come.” He said. “Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed. “Yes, I am sorry I forgot.” She continued. “You forgot?” he repeated what she said in an appalling tone. He was taken aback and could not think of anything to speak up. He remained silent. She was silent too and didn’t speak up either. He looked at her. She was looking straight ahead. The gawkiness of the moment was beyond the confines of his understanding. “Happy eighth anniversary!” he said in a delightful way, controlling his exasperation. “Oh yes, same to you.” She replied. This time she looked into his eyes. He felt good. There was something special about her eyes. Whenever she would look into our hero’s eyes he would instantly fall in love with her at the very moment, over and over again. He felt complete from the inside.

“I have something else that I want you to know.” She paused for an instant. For this single moment his heart pumped way more than the usual. His antennas stood up straight.  “I can’t do it anymore. I am a soldier and I am not supposed to fall in love with a male ant or for that matter just even mate with him. I am neither the queen of this colony nor is this a gamergate colony. Moreover even if I am supposed to fall in love I have realised that this is not what I always desired. I mean you are not the one. It’s harsh but sadly it’s the truth. I don’t love you. I wanted to tell this to you long ago but I could not.” She said. His eyes were fixed on hers and he did not move at all. He could feel his body turning cold and a certain eeriness trekked down his spine. He did not like the emotion of the moment. His feelings were mixed. He felt petrified, wretched, unaccompanied, an ache in his heart was born and he wanted to cry. But he did not. “What do you want, a break-up?” he asked her. There was a pause and it was the longest pause he had ever confronted in his entire lifespan. It was scaring him. Every fragment of his heart was screaming and telling him that she would refuse and call out the prank she was playing on him. “Yes I want a break-up!” she said it coldly. “All soldiers in the line! March now, one-two, one-two…” a sharp but loud voice filled the entire assembly area. It was the leader of her troop commanding them to march towards the fields. She along with her troop marched away. He stood there, traumatised.

It had been two days since she had broken up with him and she did not try to contact him. He did not try to contact her too but he craved to. Maybe she too wanted to. It was a pleasant morning and he was sitting near the pond staring into the motionless water. After what had happened he botched to do any serviceable task and would just sit idle, quietly. The sky was red and the birds were chirping. The crickets were singing and the dew drops were shining. But none of these things could fascinate him like the way they used to earlier. Gloom was upon him. He hadn’t cracked a smile since then and had felt sad all the time. He was in love with her way too much to let her go. Why would she break-up with him? Many thoughts like these would keep troubling him all the time. He was facing a terrible time and deep inside he knew that she was facing a terrible time as well but this was just what he felt at heart, not the reality. He believed that something terrible might have come across her and due to that she had to end what they had. Although her words were unpleasant and impolite while she broke-up but her eyes told an utterly different story. He had seen a shade of sadness in her eyes which very well defined the pain she was going to abduct after that.

“Thud-thud, thud-thud, thud-thud…” a steady and unified sound of feet-stomping filled the noiseless surroundings of the pond. It was a troop heading towards the west of the colony. The western fields was the area from where the odds of foreign attacks were minimum and so only one troop from the army was sent there every day. The grasshoppers preferred to attack from the north-eastern side of the colony because the granary was in the North wing. A major part of the ant army was deployed in that region to protect the granary. He ignored the disturbance and continued to gaze into the water. He looked at his face which had lost its magnetism in the last two days. He tried to smile. Physically he was smiling but emotionally he was not. A drop of dew fell from a grass blade next to him into the pond disturbing the stillness of the water. A series of concentric circles was bred and when the water was still once again he could see two faces in the water. It was her.

He turned around in excitement and found her standing before him. The source of the marching sound a few moments ago was from her troop. He realised that her troop had marched away and it was just him and her on the bank of the love pond. He looked at her. She was beautiful. Her smell was intoxicating every bit of the moment. If he could describe her in a single word, he would call her his life. His heart began a journey, the moment he looked into her eyes and the very next moment she took his breath away. He was happy to see her. He smiled.

“See I am not here to re-build whatever we had demolished two days ago. But on the other hand I don’t want to lose you entirely. I want us to be friends. I have heard about many couples of other species who turn out to be great friends after they break-up and…” He spoke up without letting her finish, “I don’t want to be great. I was happy with the way things were between us earlier.” His smile faded away. “Why don’t you understand that I don’t feel like the way you feel for me?” she put up a question, rhetorically. “Well we should not talk or meet up ever then.” He replied. “Okay fine. Whatever suits you then.” She fired back. She was firm. She marched towards west where her entire troop was headed. He looked at her walking away.

Before she could fade out of his vision completely he shouted out to her and asked her to wait. She stopped. He came up to her. “Will you do me a favour?” he asked sustaining the dignity of the love he had for her in his heart. “Yes, say.” She replied. He gulped. He looked at her. Her expressions were plain and did not deliver anything. He tried to gather every drop of courage left in his body to say this. “I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that you do not love me. I promise I will walk away at that instant without bothering you on this again.” He said. She looked him in his eyes and her lips moved to say, “I don’t love you.” He face turned pale. “Okay. Do not stop me, now that you don’t love me.” He said.

He turned away from her and started walking. Tears rolled down his face making their way down to the ground. He felt a clog in the centre of his chest. He wanted to cry. He stared at the grass beneath him and kept walking. His heart was shattered to pieces but he still loved her with all those pieces. He was hurt for he will not have her by his side ever but she was the pain that he won’t ever give up. Thousands of memories were being played in his head thinking about all they had gone through. After all it is really hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember. He was missing her already. He was silent yet he was crying. The dawn was losing its crimson once again.

He felt something soft in his hands. Another hand perhaps. He turned around. It was her, holding his hand into hers. But before he could say something, she spoke up. “Yes I love you. I have loved you always and will keep loving you.” His tears flooded down his cheek and he leaned forward towards her face. He kissed her and she kissed him back. Their antennas curled up. It was the kind of kiss that made them realise that they never had been happier. Deep within they knew that they loved each other with a love that was more than love.

And yes of course, they lived happily ever after.