Have You Ever

  The house has never been so quiet. The kettle hums in the background, and I half expect your hand to touch the small of my back as you sneak a biscuit from the tin. But you're not here anymore. You were my beginning, you know. High school sweethearts—what a phrase, so quaint, so true. I still remember that shy smile when you stood at our front door, hair combed, nerves visible beneath your pressed suit. Navy blue, if I recall correctly, with your grandfather’s cufflinks. I wore the pale pink dress I’d spent weeks sewing, with lace at the collar and a little ribbon around my waist. My father glowered behind me, arms crossed, giving you that stare— “Ten o'clock, son. Not a minute later, or else.” You swallowed hard and said, “Yes, sir,” then offered your arm like I was royalty. You always treated me that way. We built a life from next to nothing, but what we had overflowed with love. I remember the birth of our middle child—my body trembling, complications pressing down on...

  Longing and desire are intertwined forces that drive human emotion, shaping choices, relationships, and even identity. Longing is the ache of absence, the weight of something lost or unattainable—a silent yearning that lingers beneath every thought. It is the space between what is and what could be a perpetual hunger that refuses to be sated. Desire, on the other hand, is raw and urgent, a fire that demands fulfilment. It is passion wrapped in need, an unrelenting force that propels us toward what we crave. While longing is reflective, a quiet ache that stretches across time, desire is immediate, pulsing with the thrill of pursuit. Together, they create a cycle—longing fuels desire, and desire fuels longing, each feeding the other in a never-ending dance of temptation and restraint. In the context of forbidden romance, longing and desire become even more potent. The unattainable heightens both the pain and the pleasure, making every stolen moment more intoxicating, every absenc...