The power of love

Love.

The most mysterious and sought after thing in the world. It's free, yet it's so hard to earn. It can make or break people. It's what gives this life meaning, and liberates human beings from living a pointless, mechanical existence.

But love comes in so many different forms, it's easy to get led astray and believe that those silly infatuations and crushes can be love. Nowadays, people use that word so easily and frequently, it makes one wonder just how sincere they really are.

Let me tell a story of true love, adapted from Stephen King's "The Green Mile".

There was a pair of twin girls, who fit the angel stereotype perfectly to a T. Blond, curly ringlets framing their cherubic, rosy faces and azure blue eyes lit with an infinite sparkle. It was in the middle of June, and the summer heat blazed through the days and nights, making people sticky and uncomfortable. On this unfortunate night, the twin girls requested to sleep on the patio, where they would at least get some relief from the stifling heat. Who can say no to them? Sweet, slightly chiding voices with plenty of "I love you!"s and "Please, Mommy?"s. That was the last time their mother ever heard their voices.

The next morning, with the sun already high up in the sky, the brother was sent to the patio wake them up. He returned trembling, his face as pale as spoilt cheese. "They...they're gone." Search parties were immediately sent out, while investigators collected blood samples and hair to identify the time and cause of death. Not that they had to scour very hard. The whole patio and adjoining doors were splashed with their blood, already turning black and congealed under the withering heat.

A few days later, the results were out. The girls had been raped and killed by a psycho who calls himself Billy the Kid. He had recently escaped from a mental asylum and not only had the blood of the twin girls on his hands, there were also many who met their untimely fate before them. Their battered bodies were recovered from a ditch not far from their farmhouse, naked and broken.

The last piece of the puzzle has yet to fall into place. Why hadn't the girls cried out? Why didn't they scream? Tests revealed there wasn't any drugs in their bloodstream, so they were fully alive and kicking when they were brutally raped and killed. Investigators were baffled.

It was only when the authorities questioned Billy the Kid that the ultimate story of love was unveiled. Before he raped his victim, he placed a knife on her throat and told her,"If you scream or make any sound, it will be your sister that I kill, not you." And the love for her sister was so strong that she died with her mouth clamped shut.

That, to me, is what I really deem as love. Undiluted, strong, sacrificial love. And that is what I hope I can give , and have somebody give it back to me.