I have received a number of weird phone calls throughout my lifetime. Once a friend called to tell me to bring a pair of pants to a nearby pub. He strictly ordered me not to ask him anything concerning the matter. Though I suspected he had shit himself and sadly enough my suspicions were confirmed later on. Another time a friend of mine called me at 3 am to tell me that the sun will rise at 6 am. He was definitely high on something. However, regardless of how unique those calls were, the weirdest call I ever had was from a friend of mine. Let’s call him “Nick” claiming that he can’t leave the house because he will fall in love.

Nick had taken supper as usual. Then he studied for an oncoming assessment test. After which he finally hit up some of his hoes on various social networks before falling asleep. The unexpected is a funny thing, isn’t it? The poor dude didn’t think he’ll have a dream let alone one that would seem like a vision. As he snored away he dreamt that he was walking on a road with people passing him by. You know, those normal dreams that make absolutely no sense. You just assume it’s your brain messing you up for the fun of it, but then a clear voice from out of nowhere told him that he will meet the love of his life come the next day.

Now, for most people this dream or vision would be welcomed gladly. That’s because most of us believe in love at first sight. A Prince charming sweeping you away from that boring daily routine of yours. Or a beautiful girl who’ll fall into your arms and pledge her body and life to you in an act of immeasurable love. Yes, most of us are suckers for love. Most but not all, Nick was a major exception.

The was literally nothing that scared Nick more than the idea of love. He believed that love existed but he wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Nick once told me ‘I’d rather die than live with someone for the rest of my life

Well, his idea of love was a little off but regardless of how hard I tried to make him see the beauty and existence of love, he’d have none of it.

Nick called me early the next morning, he told me about his dream and that he felt that the dream was more of a vision than an ordinary dream. I laughed, I laughed really hard. I am sort of superstitious but there are some things my mind can’t comprehend, I didn’t believe him one bit.

“What are you gonna do bro?” I finally asked after my laughing fit had died down.

“I don’t know man, I’m scared,” he replied.

Now, I had known Nick for a long period of time. Whenever something happened to either of us we’d joke about it and crack up till the matter seemed less serious. However the way he said he had no idea what to do and the way he acknowledged his fright without any hint of humour in his voice, I knew that this wasn’t a joking matter.

“What are you scared of?”

“I don’t want to meet the love of my life man. I am happy the way I am.” Those words were directed more to him rather than to me. This amused me, I wanted to rush over to his place and drag him out by the legs all over the streets until he bumped into the love of his life. I pictured him crying as I did this yelling out “PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME FIND LOVE, DAMMIT.”

I suppressed a laugh and asked him in a stern voice, “What are you going to do Nick? Lock yourself in the house and stay there all day?” I asked this jokingly, I wanted to cheer him up a little, take the edge off, get him back to normal.

“That’s a great idea man, thanks so much, I knew I could count on you for a solution,” he said cheerfully and cut the call.

After he hang up, I was left confused. Part of me felt that he was being sarcastic. Whereas another part of me felt like he was going to take me up on the suggestion and lock himself in the house for the entire day in order to avoid meeting the love of his life. I hoped it was the former and not the latter.

As I went over to his place later on in the day, my mind raked over the idea of love. I came to the conclusion that people have different opinions. As the famous Alfred Lord Tennyson said, ‘It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.’ Alfred was clearly just airing out his opinion on the issue of love. I’m sure if Nick sat down and thought about a quote that would counter Alfred Lord Tennyson’s quote. His words too would have been swept away by the unforgettable gaze of history-making them echo through eternity. People have different opinions about love. Trying to figure out whose opinion is right is like looking at the number 6 and 9 from different ends.

Nick opened the door for me after I solemnly swore that I hadn’t brought a random girl from the streets to his place, after he peeped through his curtain folds to confirm my swears he finally let me in. Nick wasn’t being sarcastic when he said he would stay in the house all day. He didn’t want to fall in love, he feared the idea of love between strangers far more than he feared contracting an STI.

He made me laugh with talks about how he had contacted his male neighbor to bring him breakfast and lunch supplies from shops. Claiming his feet hurt him. It was quite funny how he paused to listen whenever footsteps were heard approaching his door. He didn’t want a random girl knocking on his door asking for directions or salt or anything because of the off chance he might fall in love the minute he set his eyes on her. He was a frightened cautious man.

“Why do you fear love?” I asked him after our joking around had died down. I felt there was more to his story . He sat back and inhaled deeply before telling me about his friend from home who had commited suicide because a girl he loved didn’t love him back. Apparently the joking around and the humor in regards to love was all just a cover that hide trauma.

I tried explaining to him that that circumstance doesn’t really mean that every scenario of love would end in pain or suicide. He told me that he knows that already. However he finds not loving anyone at all to be easier than taking the risk of falling in love.

I was going to launch an all-out attack defending love and emphasizing on its importance . However I realized one thing, we all have opinions, choices and destinies. Alfred Lord Tennyson had his opinion when he talked about how amazing it is to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Nick had his own opinion that not loving made life easier than loving. This are two different people with two different opinions regarding the same topic of love. But you know what? It is okay, it’s okay to have a different opinion regarding anything and it is okay to live your life how you want to.

I bid Nick farewell and told him he was mighty brave. I admired his will as it takes a lot of courage to denounce your need for love.