The Ink Between Us

Maira, a novelist, was known for her beautiful, lyrical prose, whereas Aditya was a poet who celebrated the brevity of words in a few sentences through succinct and biting verses.  Their first meeting occurred at a literary festival where they met at a book signing event. They were both scheduled to talk about their upcoming works at this event: Maira – The Quiet Between Us and Aditya, The Space Between Us. They initially giggled at the commonality of the titles of both their works.  

 

“How ironic, the titles of our work sound!” exclaimed Aditya to Maira.” “You look like you are about to write an entire novel in your head!” his voice smooth as if every word was carefully chosen. “I’m just trying to make sure I don’t forget to say anything important! Maira exclaimed.

 

 Aditya raised an eyebrow, “You are a novelist, right? I have always wondered what it would be like to pour your heart and soul into sentences; into plot twists and characters.”

 

Maira smiled,” Well, it’s not always as glamorous as it looks. There are many times when I face writer’s block as well!” 

 

“That’s, I guess, alright. I don’t have the luxury of such long writing as I have to stick to short poetic forms. Everything has to fit in a matter of limited words.”

 

Their initial conversation started off this way and went on throughout the day in this manner; discussing different styles of writing, examples and the pros and cons of each type.

 

Maira loved how Aditya could express himself in such few words whereas Adtiya marvelled at how Maira could freely express herself in long sentences and paragraphs at times. The comparison was endless. 

 

After the event ended, they walked to a nearby café; the streets were dimly lit and there was an eerie silence in the air. As they sat opposite each other, enjoying their cold coffee, they engaged in a lively conversation about their professions. 

 

About 15 minutes later, Aditya pulled out a notebook and scribbled something on it.

 

Maira read the lines on it, “In the quiet between the pages where ink and hearts collide I found the words that I never said and now they can’t hide.”

 

Looking up at him, she exclaimed, “Did you just write that for me?”, her heart almost fluttering.

 

Aditya shrugged, almost embarrassed. “Well, I try my best” as he shyly smiled.

 

Maira then realised how much she craved for someone to understand the weight of her words and how the silence at times spoke louder than words. Somehow Aditya was filling that void of silence.

 

Over the next couple of weeks, their conversations became more frequent, almost daily and they challenged each other with writing prompts, trying to engage the other in their own style of writing. Slowly though, they didn’t realise how they were writing each other into their daily lives!

 

One night, Maira sent Aditya a short story to which Aditya responded with a short poem: 

 

“Perhaps my dear,

We are both the silence and the story.

Written onto each other’s pages.”

 

Their love story had certainly taken off and Maira and Aditya were interwoven in each other’s lives. Love wasn’t just written in words; it was written in the silence between them and in every sentence, every verse and every quiet moment that they shared.

 

Maybe, just maybe, the best love stories were the ones that took a lifetime to complete!