forget me not series – The Romance of Ayin & Will
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
Anais Nin
Dear Future Ayin,
You would be glad to know that, in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic, we found our bit of happiness in writing this web series.
Our first, by the way.
After about 8 years of being stuck in a wordless rut – uninspired and silent – you thought you were done with writing for good.
But then, the Great Pause happened.
Like everyone else, we were on lockdown and forced into introspection about…
…the things that really mattered;
…of how life was indeed too short;
…and how memories, in the end, are what keeps us going when most things are lost.
So, for the first time in what seems like forever, I opened a word file again and started to write this. For us.
For me to combat the current madness by remembering one of the most beautiful period of our life and to honor the love we found unexpectedly.
And for you — before you forget it all.
Our mind is a tricky thing, especially as we get older. How are you by the way? Still remember me?
Or, you know, just in case you’ve forgotten the love already and have taken for granted our life partner.
Hence the title, “Forget Me Not – The Romance of Ayin & Will”. Too long, I know, but… you get the message.
May this serve as a reminder that even if life and love are always in motion, we also have our constants — our family and our soulmate.
Whenever you feel like strangling him like I do now sometimes, please also remember that in that moment we made our choice 10 years ago (counting from this year), when you beautifully said, “Yes, I’ll take you, I’m yours” — your life was filled with joy and peace in recognizing a kindred soul.
The relationship is far from perfect but you finally found someone to share your own kind of crazy and weirdness and that is a rare thing.
Surprisingly, this has been the easiest and most fun writing experience so far in memory.
So happy to be writing this without an editor, too!
You know what that means – no word limits and cuts. Just plain storytelling as much as our heart wants to.
We should have written this sooner, though. I’m sorry, but after 10 years, the memories are no longer that detailed.
So take it with a grain of salt.
At the core, this is our real story, yes, but these are also mere shadows of our experiences.
To complete the picture, a few lines have been filled or exaggerated.
The chapters are colored by imagination, all the while trying to faithfully keep the essence of both characters and each experience intact.
Rest assured that all that we do remember at this point – our favorite lines and scenes that our soul refuses to forget, have made it in the series.
Also, as you may have noticed, I have decided to upload raw, unedited stories.
Never mind the grammatical errors or confusing structure sometimes. I know someday you may look at this and cringe, wishing you could have said it differently.
But if I were to wait for the perfect novel, subject to the kind of rigid edit a 20-something you were prone to do, I’m afraid we would never be able to preserve and tell this story in this lifetime.
Besides, there is also beauty in rawness of thought, of going through feelings in the moment with your whole being, to the exclusion of being grammatically sound and correct.
If I were to edit and re-edit this to perfection, I believe the original intention will be lost.
So, don’t be mad, but I’ve killed our inner grammar Nazi in pursuit of authenticity.
Let me remind you that after watching so many subtitled Asian dramas and reading translated books, the most enlightening stories you found were not English-perfect either.
The best stories came from recognizing common truths and seeing the same heart as yours in it.
So here it is, I present to you the complete first series –flawed like us but filled with the essence of our soul.
We did it! Can you imagine — us writing over a 100 pages and more or less 35,000 words in the span of weeks, when we couldn’t even spare over ten thousand words in the past 8 years?
Can I have a hug and a pat on the back, please? Wasn’t too lazy after all, huh?
By the way, halfway through writing this, I decided not to keep it just to ourselves but to share it.
Stories, after all are meant to be shared. It’s a way for love and happiness to be multiplied.
We may have friends, or even strangers, who find themselves in similar episodes or simply want to read and chew pieces of universal truths written here.
It’s double our happiness when sharing the journey with them, isn’t it?
I’d like to chat a little more with you but my fingers are getting tired.
Don’t worry, I’m not done with the stories yet.
Series 2 will be rolling out soon…
For now though, allow me a little break to drink enough coffee and go space out for awhile in other people’s stories.
I miss my books and Asian dramas.
Will be back soon.
Love,
Yourself
(version 10/2021)
CLICK ON IMAGE TO GO TO MAIN PAGE
Ayin Quijano 
Leave a comment