The
clock is ticking and Juliet will be waking up any minute. Friar Lawrence should
hurry up to Juliet’s dim cavern and awake her from her deep slumber. With a
shovel on his right hand and a bright lamp on the other, the old man went out
in the dark chamber where the fair maiden lie asleep. After a few minutes of
walking, he made it near the entrance. But he discovered there’s someone else
besides him there.
“Balthasar!
What are you doing here?” the friar asked the young boy.
“Well,
my master told me to stay out here and don’t ever come back. I’m just too
stubborn to leave him alone,” the young boy told him honestly.
“Does
that mean, Romeo is in there?” the old man asked again.
“Oh,
yes! Maybe you should go, dear friar. I’m actually worried about my master.”
Filled with outmost concern, Friar
Lawrence went forward and saw the lifeless bodies of Romeo and Paris hovering
Juliet’s frail one. And as if on cue, Juliet’s eyes swung open and started
wandering her sleepy eyes. Her eyes shot open as she recognized the friar.
“Friar Lawrence, good thing you’re
here on time. Where is Romeo? Where is my husband?” The innocent voice of hers
just brought more guilt to the friar’s already broken heart. And thinking that
he should relay the painful tragedy her husband had gone through….
“I’m sorry, Juliet. I really am
but……,” the friar moved a bit clearing Juliet’s view of the bloody truth hidden
behind the good old friar’s back.
As she saw the love of her life
lying on the cold hard ground, not beating a pulse, her eyes started to sip
tears. Those tears that would surely dry but leave a painful mark on her face.
Step by step, she approached her deceased lover. Hugging his cold flesh, she
screamed at the top of her lungs the name she wished didn’t exist.
This pitiful scene is what
triggered the friar to just stand there and let the couple have their own time.
Just that not only their families were between them, but even death and fate
would want them to part. It’s so heartbreaking for him to witness this whole
tragedy of love and loyalty. He didn’t bother to budge even when he knew of the
watchmen who were on their way to the tomb.
He was brought back to his senses
when he saw Juliet pulling the dagger from her husband’s clothes and was aiming
for her heart. He argued with himself if he should just let the maiden do what she
intended to do or stop her before she does some rash actions. He picked the
second one and immediately reached out a hand holding Juliet’s quivering pair.
She looked up at him as he shook his head slowly and Juliet getting the hint
gradually put the dagger down. She lifted herself up and run to the friar weeping
at his chest for the loss she had taken that night.
After a very few moments, the
watchmen came. They were surprised as to why the bodies of Romeo and Paris were
beside the tomb instead of Juliet whose body was now missing. No other
witnesses were on the scene except the page of Paris who told them about the
incident. In the end, the mystery behind the unexplainable events on that place
was left unsolved.
Moving on wasn’t easy. Friar
Lawrence took Juliet to a very far land where no one recognizes them both. They
lived a fair lifestyle like father and daughter. At fields near their newly
found house, Juliet was picking some wild flowers to match the cool breeze of
the blossoming spring. That’s what her normal life became. And none of Verona
has to know.
