The Last Breath of Love

Chapter One: The Fleeting Moments

In the hot summer of southern Spain, where the sun scorched the dry earth and the wind danced among vast fields, Mariana lived in a remote village. Her world was small: olive orchards, fig trees, and golden hills stretching to the horizon, as if they were all that existed in the world. But Mariana always yearned for something bigger. She sought something beyond her simple life, a quest that never ended.

On long summer days, she would sit under the shade of the olive trees, reading books, and deep within her heart, in a quiet, hidden place, she searched for love. Then one day, a man with eyes as dark as the night appeared in the village. Diego, a wandering poet from Madrid, had taken refuge in this remote corner to escape the war. His eyes were full of sorrow, as though he had fled from an endless pain. Diego sat beside Mariana and took her into a world of words, a world of poems that shone like sparks in the darkness.

Every night, Diego would sit by the fire and speak of lost loves and dreams buried among the ruins of war. Mariana would quietly listen, and sometimes, with a silent intensity, she would capture his words in her heart. Days passed, and they spent their time together in silence, full of unfinished conversations and glances that spoke more than words ever could.

Chapter Two: The Separation in the Shadow of War

Suddenly, the threat of war reached the village. Diego had to leave for the front, a place from which no one returned. On their last night together, on the hill where they had first met, Mariana took Diego’s hand and, with tears in her eyes, whispered,

“If you come back, only your name will remain in my heart. But if you do not return, no one will ever heal the pain of losing you.”

Diego lowered his head, and with a quiet voice, said,

“For you, I will write. I will always write, even if I lose myself in this war.”

And that night, when the wind rustled the olive trees and the distant sound of war echoed from the horizon, Diego left. Mariana stood, her gaze fixed on the distance, feeling the loss of him deep in her soul.

Chapter Three: Unsent Letters

Months passed. Mariana waited every day for news of Diego. She stood by the window, gazing into the distance where Diego had once left. Her heart was full of unspoken questions, but she never stopped writing. She wrote letters to Diego, letters that would never reach their destination. In these letters, she spoke of her longing, the pains she silently carried, and the memories they had shared.

Days turned into months, and the more time passed, the more she lost track of Diego. But in her heart, Diego’s words still lived on, like a flame that never went out. She knew that these poems were not just words, but that Diego’s spirit lived within them.

Chapter Four: The Return in Autumn

One day, news arrived that Diego had not returned from the front, but no one knew where he was. Some said he had been wounded in battle and taken to a distant hospital, but no one had seen him again. Mariana’s heart broke when she heard this, but she still held onto hope.

One autumn day, when the yellow and red leaves danced in the wind and the cold air blew through the village, a man arrived. His wide-brimmed hat was dusty, and his face was marked with the wrinkles of time. Mariana saw him, and the moment she did, she thought of Diego.

“Diego?”

Diego, with the same eyes now even more filled with sorrow, gazed at Mariana.

“I’ve returned, but it’s too late.”

He recounted the years of his disappearance. Diego had been wounded in the war and transferred to one of the most remote parts of Spain. There, he had lost all contact with Mariana and had lived every day with her name in his heart. But when he returned, he realized that for both of them, time had run out.

Chapter Five: The Silent Farewell

That night, on the same hill where they had first met, Diego and Mariana stood together. For a moment, time seemed to stop. There was no sound except for their breaths, and nothing but their gazes intertwined in the endless night.

Diego, now broken and weak, softly spoke:

“Mariana, all these years, I’ve always thought of you. In all those dark days, when I whispered your name in my heart, I remembered the promise I made to come back. But I didn’t know that time was so cruel.”

Mariana gently placed her hand on Diego’s hand. Her eyes were full of tears, but no sound escaped her. She merely nodded, softly saying,

“Diego… You always returned, every day, every moment, with every word you wrote. But… there was always something between us that we could never reach.”

Diego smiled faintly, and with his gaze fixed on the distance, he continued,

“Maybe this is how it should be… maybe the love between us was always meant to remain in that separation. Like a flame that does not burn in the wind, but never goes out.”

Diego lowered his head and slowly pulled his hand away from Mariana’s. Mariana’s heart clenched, as if something deep inside her had shattered. She reached out her hand to Diego, but it seemed that he could no longer feel her touch.

Chapter Six: The Final Breath

Diego slowly rose to his feet, taking a step forward, but suddenly a deep cough broke from his chest. Mariana rushed to him and caught him in her arms. Diego, now limp, collapsed against her. His breaths were ragged and sudden, as if each one brought him closer to the end.

“Diego? Diego, how can you leave like this?” Mariana whispered into his ear.

Diego could only fix his fading gaze on Mariana. A bitter smile lingered on his lips, and, in a voice barely above a whisper, he said,

“Mariana, I… belong no longer to this world. But in your heart, in these poems I wrote for you, I will always live. In every word you will read in memory of me, in every breath you take in this earthly world… I am still with you.”

Mariana gently caressed his face with trembling hands and softly said,

“You will always be with me, even when nothing else remains.”

Diego closed his eyes, and in a silent kiss to her forehead, he peacefully passed away. In that moment, the wind suddenly picked up, and the leaves of the olive trees scattered like golden tears in the air.

Chapter Seven: The Eternal Farewell

When Diego passed away in Mariana’s arms, everything fell silent. Even time seemed to stop for a moment. Mariana held Diego in her arms, swearing to never forget him, even though now only a shadow of him remained in her memory. She promised him that she would carry his love with her, even if now there was no longer any time left.

Mariana sat beside Diego’s lifeless body, and tears streamed down her face. In the silence of the night, beneath the same starry sky, she remained, but her heart was with Diego in those final moments.

Days passed, and the olive trees bore fruit again, but Mariana never returned to that hill. From then on, every day under the same sky that Diego had once gazed at, she searched for him in her heart. In every word she read, in every breeze that blew, in every note that Diego had left in her memories, he was still with her.

The End: The Eternal Love

Years later, Mariana passed away in that same village, in the same house where she had once lived with Diego. In her final moments, as her body grew weak and the sounds around her grew quiet, she still held Diego in her heart. She still carried his poems within her. When people asked her what she had done all these years, she would only smile softly and say,

“Love is the only thing that remains forever in this earthly world.”

And on that day, on the same hill where Diego had passed, his name was carved. In the heart of the earth, in the sky, in the stars. Forever.