Love drenched in blood

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Chapter 1: The First Meeting

This is a story from a time when the world never stopped, but hearts often did — at the very first glance of love.

Zahra, a beautiful yet simple village girl, had innocent dreams in her eyes and a quiet sadness in her heart. Every morning, she would go to the river to fetch water, never knowing that one day, the river would quench not just her thirst, but also her longing for love.

Haider, a young man from the city, was a sorrowful poet who came to the village to escape the wounds of war — emotional ones that scarred his heart. He had turned away from love, but when he saw Zahra, his heart began to beat again.

Their first meeting was at the river. A clash of eyes, the magic of silence, and time seemed to freeze — Zahra thought to herself, “Who is he, who captured me before I could even blink?”

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Chapter 2: Slowly, Slowly...

Haider turned Zahra’s smile into poetry and sent his verses to her like birds delivering messages. He would leave poems on a rock near the river, and Zahra would find them and press them into the pages of her heart.

A few days later, Zahra left a small flower in return. The next day, that flower had become a poem.

Time passed, and their love grew silently. No confession, no vows — but everything was understood. They became whole in each other's presence.

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Chapter 3: Opposition

When the villagers found out Zahra had fallen in love with a stranger, it was as if the earth had split open.

“She is no longer our daughter!”

“That city wanderer has bewitched her!”

“This is a sin!”

Zahra’s father locked her away. Haider was threatened and accused of being immoral and deceitful.

Haider tried to distance himself from Zahra, but his heart wouldn’t allow it.

“If she believes in our love, I’ll fight — till my last breath,” he said.

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Chapter 4: The Escape

One night, Zahra slipped out of her house. The moon was full, and silence draped the sky.

They ran away together — far off, to a deserted place where only mountains, rivers, and solitude remained. They hid in an abandoned house.

Those few days of love felt like a dream. No city noise, no village restrictions — just the two of them and their breath.

Zahra asked Haider, “If we are ever killed, would you be afraid?”

Haider smiled, “If I die with you, even death will feel like poetry.”

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Chapter 5: The End

But love rarely lasts long when the world becomes its enemy.

Someone gave away their hiding place. The villagers, armed and furious, the so-called guardians of honor, reached the mountains.

They tried to escape, but were caught.

Zahra’s father said, “Either you leave her, or we’ll kill both of you.”

Haider looked at Zahra. She smiled — a smile that said she already knew everything.

“They’ve stolen our right to live, but will they steal our right to die too?” Zahra said.

Hand in hand, they walked to the edge of the river. Haider recited one final poem:

"If love's punishment is death, then we accept it,

At least we’ll take our last breath beside each other..."

And then — they jumped into the river.

The water swallowed everything. Only their shoes remained by the shore. And a paper, soaked and torn, with a poem written on it:

"Love is a debt that remains, even after it's been paid..."

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The Ending

People say the two lovers died. But even today, sometimes a poem appears near the riverbank, and Zahra’s laughter echoes in the sound of the stream.

Love doesn’t die with bodies — it lives forever in fleeting moments.

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