Gloomy Sunday

"Joseph, are you ok?"

"I don't know." He answered quietly, turning toward her. He brought his hands up to her face and gently cupped her cheeks before dipping his head to take her lips softly. He pulled her petite frame against him as the kiss deepened, her arms wound around his neck while their tongues began to dance. They were breathless when the kiss ended and he swept her up into his arms and scaled the staircase two treads at a time.

The bedroom was exactly as he recalled, the massive ornate bed stood in the middle of the room, draped in burgundy and gold silks, and the old Victrola sitting on the side board. He set her down gently and walked to the antique record player, he read the label on the vinyl disc before turning the crank and placing the needle on the scratched surface. The haunting melody began and in that instant the two Eva's became one in his mind.

On that day three years ago she had asked him if he believed in fate and he had been honest in his response, he didn't know if he did or not, but that is exactly what this was FATE. Somehow Eva's grandparent's lives were intertwined with theirs; he imagined that perhaps they were the reincarnation of the original Eva and Joseph or just the essence of their love and as he tried to explain his thoughts to Eva the room began to fade a bit and the air distorted slightly. The victrola stopped but the music didn't and soon the room resonated with the original version and Hungarian lyrics to Gloomy Sunday. Suddenly, the old Eva and Joseph were standing there, the grandmother in her taffeta dress singing to the grandfather decked out in full dress uniform as they swayed and danced together. The young couple watched in amazement as the figures continued to twirl to the slow cadence of the song.

"Grandmother?" Eva finally whispered, the dancers stopped and turned toward them. "Grandfather?"

"Yes, Eva." Her grandfather spoke in a deep husky voice, both heavily accented.

"I don't understand...?" the grandmother in full flesh approached the younger version of herself and embraced the granddaughter as she began to speak.

"My darling child, we are part of a love story that began thousands of years ago. Our ancestors received a blessing by the Gods of Ancient Rome; it was the gift of eternal love and passion. Through countless lifetimes that blessing has been bestowed upon each female child, and in each lifetime she found her true love through the singing of a song and lived out her days with her soul mate.... again and again and again. But I cursed our family line with my suicide and I left your mother alone, a sin far worse than the taking of my own life. I am bound here by my actions and your Grandfather by his love for me, we are... unable to move on to our final destination."

"But you," the Grandfather said, taking young Eva's hand in one and Joseph's with the other; the Grandmother took Eva's to completed the circle "the two of you can reclaim this blessing by completing the cycle of love once again."

With a blinding light the young pair was flooded with the memories and emotions of the all the many generations their spirits had been joined together in love; reliving every kiss and caress, feeling the joy of newfound love and the loss of that love at death each time.

Joseph saw Eva in her many carnations; first draped in a diaphanous toga standing among wheat nearly as tall as she was; raven locks blowing in the warm summer wind. Her delicious mouth formed the words of an ancient song in a language now lost to man. But its meaning was made clear by the emotion in her eyes, the catch in her voice.

Flash forward through the centuries and he was brought back to the Eva who stood before him now. He pulled her into his embrace as their tears fell freely; she had seen and felt the same thing he did and they both knew this was their destiny.

"Will you take charge of this legacy young man? Will you love her and honor the gift bestowed upon you and see that it is cultivated in the next generation?" the grandfather asked.

"Yes, Sir." He didn't hesitate a second.

Twenty two years later, as he walked his eldest daughter, Marta, down the aisle, he realized it had all come full circle. They had indeed restored the blessing by loving one another without holding anything back; they lived each day with passion and raised their 3 daughters in a home where love, song and laughter were always present.

And yes, Marta had a song, too. As will Sophia and Alexandra but those are stories for another day.