Below the amber glow of the streetlights, a cool autumn breeze blew the burnt scent of fallen leaves and whispered old stories. It was a Friday evening in the city's entertainment district, and laughter bled out of caf�s and galleries. Two strangers from different walks of life were about to meet.

Emma, an aspiring writer, went into an art gallery to find inspiration for her next essay, her thoughts scattered with the outlines of plots or characters she'd yet to create. She'd barely even noticed the paintings that caught her eye as she absentmindedly wandered through the endless halls, when suddenly a woman's voice spoke of something from the corner of her mind that was staring back at her, entirely forgotten. 'Beautiful, isn't it?' Emma started, turning her head to find the owner of the voice, a man with warm hazel eyes. 'That's the one I'm working on.' He smiled, his expression suggesting endless possibilities, as if he knew of a world that could only be reached by going ever deeper into his gaze. Emma's mind was filled with questions she didn't know how to ask. His name was Alex. He worked with oils.

Then, time ceased to exist Timeless, says Emma, she knew she would marry Alex the minute she saw him. He felt the same. The two found details to be discussing, flashes of similar energy, stories and dreams that aligned. They were at the gallery that afternoon, and then they went to a caf� for coffee and talked well into the night, when the stars appeared again. 'No matter how weird or silly, it seemed like the universe was trying to tell us to meet, to be together,' Emma recalls. And so, it did. By the time they said goodbye, they both knew they'd experienced the most special of all connections two people can share - at least in movies. Obviously. 'When you understand it, when either one or both of you can say: This is love at first sight. It's a rare thing in the world to find that special connection right away,' Emma says a couple of years into her marriage. 'To understand it and accept it.' What are the chances of that feeling? 'A feeling of connection that is truly timeless,' Emma says.

As she walked home, the remembered smile of Alex lingered on her mind. The old adage that she reminds herself of again and again, by heart: If you are a girl, love will come to you from where you least expect it. And when it strikes, you will change. Your heart will swell. The future will blossom around you. You will taste the sweetness of living. And even if you never see your beloved again, his essence will remain in your heart for all eternity, until you take your last breath. This was not a story she thought she would write one day. But it was a story she would keep in her heart until her last day.