When the heart stops beating, everything becomes nothing. Just like that.

I'm sorry. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough to be the friend you needed. But I tried, really. I couldn't and can't understand my reluctance to do so. Guilt was no longer my nightmare. Pity wasn't too.

I'm different. Perhaps I live in a fairy-tale world. Perhaps I am the Princess in that secret garden with the charmed life. Things always go well for me. I won't understand what it's like being ordinary.

Yes, it's a rich, fulfilling life out there. And it gets tedious and monotonous. But you know you can always slip into that secret garden and have tea with me, and imagine, at least for a while, that life can be dreamy and romantic, just like we said it would be.

Do we pick people like we do furniture? Do we look for real unique, one-off pieces that might cost more, whether in terms of the legwork needed to hunt it down, or how much we actually pay? Or do we just settle for something convenient, and possibly, popular?

An antique dresser - just when you think you've learnt to appreciate every nook and cranny, you chance upon another hidden drawer, to find a beautiful brooch left behind by its last owner. Sometimes, you see a scratch that you've never seen before, though it might have been staring you in the face since day one.

A relationship has many turns and bends, and it never ceases to surprise with beautiful, painful, and touching revelations. It's unique and one-of-a-kind, and it takes a whole life's work to preserve and enjoy it. And for something of this value, it's damn well worth it.