I cautiously unlatched the door and swiftly stepped outside into the cool serenity of the night. The full moon sparkled in the middle of the sky; the snowy crests of mountains, seemed to wear silver crowns; the lake glittered with tiny shining ripples of water. The air was mild, with that kind of penetrating coolness, which enervates one who is ready to faint and to be deeply affected without any apparent cause. But how sensitive, how vibrating was my heart at that moment!

As I paced along, my eye caught the sight of movement – a tall figure of a young man was coming closer. With his dark brown hair and handsome complexion – it was Josh coming for me as he promised. I couldn’t help smiling at him when I saw the happiness beaming in his face. Both of us walked on together, hand in hand, and talked about all the exciting things that had happened in the holidays. After a little while, he stopped walking, placed his hands on my shoulders, and looked at my face with tender eyes, saying:

“Natalie, you are so beautiful,”

The touch of his hands and the sound of his voice wrapped around me, and I felt myself sinking into the depths of love. It seemed to me that the mountains, the lake, and the moonlight were singing with ineffable sweetness.

Suddenly, a sound of quick, thumping, footsteps disturbed the silence. We sprang away from each other, as the thumping grew louder and louder. My heartbeat was pounding faster, and I felt the blood rushing to my head. Fear gripped me like the claws of an eagle clasping its prey! Every nerve and muscle in my body was tense. The rumbling footsteps are closer, and I felt grim is somewhere near.

“You stupid, rebellious girl!” my father shrieked as he lunged and thrust me to the ground.

My father grabbed my throat and pulled out a knife. Few seconds after, I was choked on my screams while he yelled his dreadful words in my face, but soon he dashed away.

Frightened by the event, I laid still for several minutes, then got up and walked near the water. I sat down on the grass, and gazed at that vast, melancholy lake. Insatiable need of love and the revolt I felt seized me. How I wish Josh would again clasp me in his arms and embrace me with those deep, sweet kisses! But my father would kill me, and he would not love me anymore.

A pearly tear trickled down my cheek. I felt exactly like that shattered tear, brokenhearted and depressed, knowing that I would never again get a lover.

The sound of sorrow was stopped when a shout of love burst from behind me – it was Josh, but accompanied by my dad. I was petrified, speechless, and cold. “It is the end”, my mind kept repeating. The heart can never be shot twice, and I felt dying.

Dad, with his knife, gripped on me, and said, “You will die kid!”. But before he can ever stab me, Josh got his hand and said, “father, please spare the life of your beloved daughter – do it to me instead, for I know that you hate me. I love Natalie so much, and I will give up everything, even my life, for her.”

Those words struck my dad. He dropped the knife and he was in a state of shock.

Sooner, tears flowed from his eyes, and said “I never found love as true as this. Natalie, I am sorry for what I did. I didn’t know that love would ever get you. From now on, you are free – free to love and to be loved. I entrust you to Josh now, and you can be married soon as you pleased.”

I was in ecstasy. The flow of heat devoured the once icy blood that flowed through me. My dad, so strict and wild, spoke things as tender as feather, that I can’t even realize in my wildest imaginations. My soul, ever so grateful and excited to love – embraced Josh and we happily kissed, in my dad’s presence and affirmation.