Six days had gone by in the blink of an eye. Jovan trained the lucky group of warriors that were selected for the task that awaited them. The task wasn't easy. Nor would it be any less challenging than what Jovan usually trained for as a Navy Seal. But, it was different this time. Why? Because it pertained to someone who began to matter to him, whether he was willing to admit it out loud or not.
Oddly enough, it was Kinga who seemed to realize it. What's more, Jovan also saw a change in her in the few days that passed. She was still as stubborn as before, but somehow she seemed less negative toward him. But he still didn't know why. The answer to that question came to him in a form he would not have expected. It came to him in a dream...
Sitting by a rocky and nearly-frozen waterfall he had never seen before, Jovan tended to a small campfire that had just begun to burn. It offered more smoke than warmth, but the flames were resilient and growing little by little. He sat there, alone. By himself. And felt the growing feeling of loneliness overtake his aching heart. All the thoughts of his recent failures flooded his mind, and he reached toward the fire in hopes of feeling even a smallest bit warmer. Lost in his thoughts, he did not hear the calling of a familiar voice. The voice grew closer and closer, and it called out his name.
"Jovan," the voice repeated his name in an almost echoing manner.
"Who's there?" Jovan asked, convinced he had been all alone just a moment ago.
"Is it fitting of my own grandson not to recognize me?" Bojana appeared beside Jovan.
"Grandmother?" Jovan asked the moment he saw her. He stood up at once and leaped toward her.
"You would think I raised You better than that. Have You forgotten already that You should not to use my age against me? Where are Your manners?" Bojana smiled as she held her grandson in an embrace that he didn't seem to want to end.
"Forget manners!" Jovan exclaimed and loosened the embrace only briefly to look down at her. "It really is You!"
"Who did You expect?" She raised her eyebrow, which made him bellow out a laugh. He picked her up and embraced her even tighter.
"Heavens know how I missed Your sense of humor. How I missed You!" He set Bojana down on the ground, and breathed a tremendous sigh of relief.
"Why would You miss me if I am always around You? Or have You already forgotten that as well?" Bojana scolded him in her usual manner.
"It is one thing to remember it, and another to be able to see You, if only for a moment." Jovan grew sadder and Bojana heard the undeniable change in his voice.
"My dear boy, one's presence in Our lives does not end upon crossing over. It lives on in the hearts we leave behind. I am here, and very much alive, as long as You choose to keep the memory of me in Your heart." Saying so, Bojana brought her hand up, and caressed away the tears in Jovan's eyes.
"Ahh, Your poetic wisdom. I might have to write Your thoughts down someday," he smiled sincerely.
"Better to carry them in Your heart. Written words fall short of their mark when eyes no longer choose to see them," she inclined her head to prove her point more valid.
"That is very true," Jovan grinned and embraced her once more before she gestured for them to sit down by the campfire.
"So, Jovan the Valiant, huh?" Bojana asked with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
"Go figure," Jovan raised both eyebrows and added a few more sticks to the fire.
"You seem surprised?" She asked, intrigued at his disappointed and withdrawn stance.
YOU ARE READING
THE TIDES OF TIME
Romance⚔️ "Being born and raised to respect life and its rules, Jovan Galanis made something of himself. He was ambitious, outgoing, disciplined, and righteous to his very core. His parents died when he was a young boy, and having been raised by his Macedo...
