IT WAS love at first sight. Ganesh had never felt this way before. And this was only the first time he had laid eyes on her. At age 26, he had been in and out of a number of relationships. There had never been any serious commitment on his part so they were easy to terminate.

But all that had now changed. He had seen the woman of his dreams. She was perfect in every imaginable way. Beautiful and beyond description. This Portuguese chick was also the livewire of the party. She was easy to chat with. Everyone laughed at her jokes. All the guys had their eyes on her. Even the happily married men cast quick, furtive glances her way. Trying their best to catch her eyes and avoid their spouse’s molten glares.

Ganesh approached her and they began to chat. It was immediately obvious that they liked each other; a lot. They danced and chatted and only became aware of others when the music ceased. He offered to take her home. She accepted. They both walked slowly toward her home.

Celia was charming and chatted happily as they walked along the Coconut Grove Public Road. As they passed the village of Pinefield, she held his hand and pulled him to a stop.
“Let’s go somewhere quiet before we go home,” she said.

Electric current surged through Ganesh. He loved this new development. She had verbalised what he had been thinking all along. Things were going better than he had anticipated. He nodded his approval vigorously afraid that if he opened his mouth he would put his foot right in it.

The beautiful young woman steered him deftly down a narrow street and into total darkness. It was as if she had done this many times before. He knew what her motive was and readily accepted. She turned into a small pathway that led directly into the local burial ground. Strangely, this was not enough to deter him. He marched bravely on.
“Let’s sit over there,” she said.

He looked in the direction to which she was pointing and saw a fairly new tomb.
“Right here!”
She sat down on it and pulled him down beside her. He began to feel uneasy for the first time. This was the only time he had ever entered a cemetery at night.

This was also the first time he had ever sat on a tomb; in the dead of night; with a beautiful woman in his arms. Ganesh banished all his misgivings to the back of his brain and started to make out. As he kissed and caressed her he began to feel strangely cold. He knew that was odd because he was heating up rapidly from this romantic encounter.

She held him tightly almost possessively, and he felt chills running up and down his spine. He decided to pause and take stock of the situation. Something was not going right. He pulled himself gently apart and looked at her. She seemed to have aged slightly. What started out to look like 20 now looked like 30. She was still very beautiful and he did not resist when she pulled him into her intimate embrace.

The chills were now all over his body. He pulled away puzzled that he was feeling colder now. His hands and legs were trembling. He decided to call it a night and take her home. He stood up and smiled.
“Let’s go home Celia, it’s getting late,” he said.

“Just a little more time please Ganesh.”
He surrendered again but not before noticing there were now grey streaks in her long, beautiful black hair which he had not noticed before. Ganesh struggled to stay focused. He was cold and puzzled. This was quickly quashing his romantic plans. Enough! Things were getting too weird for him. His girl was changing faster than the weather. He stood up abruptly.

“Time to go!”
“NO!”
“WHAT?!”
Ganesh was astonished that she was refusing to leave this spooky place and go home. The woman he was now staring at had changed considerably. There were now visible wrinkles on her face and a more than generous amount of grey and white hair. He stared hard at her trying to remember what she had looked like back at the party. It seemed that too many beers and whiskey had clouded his brain making it difficult for him to concentrate. Things had somehow gone seriously wrong and he wanted to bring the night to a swift end.
“Let’s go home, Celia. I feeling real cold.”

She shook her head angrily, not budging.
“I staying right here!” she said.
Ganesh changed tactics. He gently rubbed her face and whispered encouragingly.
“Time to go home now baby.”
“I reach where I want to go!” she said.
He was disturbed by this and said angrily,
“Look girl get yo backside up an let’s go home!”

She sat with her head down cradled in her two hands.
“I reach home already Ganesh. Stay wid me na?”
He felt a cold fist hit him in the stomach taking the wind out of his lungs. His gaze rested on the tombstone and his eyes bulged as he read the name. It began:
‘Here lies Celia Vieira…’

Ganesh looked down at the woman who had captured his heart only hours ago. She looked old enough to be his mother. She raised her head and he stared into two brightly flashing eyes.
“If yo stay wid me a gon mek yo happy.”
Ganesh’s feet took off before his brain got into gear. He was running at Olympic speed leaving in his wake a shoe, his precious Kangol cap and vomit everywhere.