the traces of love

It’s a story as old as one could remember. About a man who to many was only a stranger, to many others – a wanderer, to third – a lunatic; some had never even him seen him. But truth is, everyone had heard of him, or at least of his song.

This was not a song as one would recognize today – it had no melody and no rhyme, but its words…were magic.

…

It was at the time when the village was devastated by the plague. There was almost no one on the streets anymore; people had lost all hope for happiness. Their lives had ended.

Only one man was still out there. Nobody knew exactly who he was or if they did, they pretended he didn’t exist. No one was ever fond of outcasts. But he didn’t care. He loved people; all of them. He wouldn’t mind if they cast him away or simply ignored him; he wouldn’t mind if they cursed him and ran away as if he were the devil. No. He’d actually walk by with a smile and look for a way to make those people believe that they should be happy.

…

He was out in the woods one day as an idea came to his mind. He kneeled next to a pine-tree, sliced a thin layer of bark with his knife and carved in the words that he believed were life’s driving force:

There’s a someone out there whose heart beats only for you

The message had to be passed along.

Only few people in the village could actually read and one of them was the priest: the next morning the piece of bark had already ended up from under the door into the hallway of the church.

“There-s a some-one out the-re who-se heart beats on-ly for you,” he read the words aloud. He then thought about them and smiled. A message from God? He had always known that love existed and was determined not to let it die.

The priest was indeed the right person to carry on these words.

He waited until darkness had come down over the village and headed for the merchant’s house. It was not more than 10 minutes away from the church. Once there, he stopped in front of the door, pictured the coming conversation in his mind ahead of time and then knocked. The merchant’s footsteps were quiet but the priest heard them reach the entrance and come to a halt.

“Who’s there?” he asked, his voice frightened.

“It’s me, you can open,” the priest answered.

The man on the other side of the door seemed to relax and turned the key in the lock.

“How can I help you, father?”

“I need to speak to your daughter.”

“To my daughter?” the man’s face went completely pale. She was his only child. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all,” the priest’s matter-of-fact smile did not seem to calm the man down. “I would only like to ask her how she is doing.”

“She’s fine.”

“In person.” Battle won. He was allowed into the house.

Anne was a beautiful 17-year-old girl.

Her blue eyes turned to the door as the priest knocked quietly.

“Come in,” the girl’s high voice echoed from inside. “Father!” she was happy to see a familiar face other than that of her parent.

“I am here to tell you something,” he told her as he sat down in an armchair. “An angel spoke to me today.”

“A real angel?” Anne was astounded.

“Yes, a real angel. He told me something that I would like you to remember…now and forever.” She moved closer to him and he whispered the words in her ear. Her eyes sparked with excitement, her cheeks filled with blood.

…

Time passed. People came out of their hiding places, but they couldn’t let go of the fear. Anne, however, seemed to shine. She was happy. She had made her best friend believe that there was a someone out there who lived with the constant thought of her.

And it went on from there. Her friend told her neighbor; he passed it along to a relative from the town nearby, she – to her children, her children to their children. The words often changed, but their message stayed the same.

“An angel came to Earth years and years ago and told a man that love is for everyone,” they would say. “Never forget it and make others believe in it as well.”

They did and they still do.

They are all singing the same song – a song written centuries ago by a man who lived with his heart. A man whose heart saved love.