The Perfect Heart

One day, a young man stood in the town square and proclaimed that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd soon gathered and everyone admired his heart - it didn't have any mark of flaw. Yes, they all agreed, it truly was the most perfect heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted even louder.

Suddenly, an old man appeared before the crowd and said, "Why, your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." Everyone turned to stare at his heart. It was beating strongly, but it was full of scars. It had parts where pieces had been removed and others put in, but these didn't quite fit and there were jagged edges.

In fact, there were even gouges where whole bits were missing. The people stared: how could he say his heart was more beautiful?

"You must be joking," the young man laughed. "Your heart is a mess of tears and scars."

"Yes," said the old man, "but I would never trade mine with yours. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I had given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often, they give me a piece of theirs. But the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish because they remind me of the love we share.

"Sometimes, the other person doesn't give a piece of their heart in return. So the gouges. When you give love, you take a chance. Although the gouges are painful, they stay open, to remind me of the love I have for these people. I hope some day, they will return and fill the space I have waiting."

As tears coursed down his cheek, the young man reaches into his perfect heart and ripped a piece out. With trembling hands, he offered it to the old man.

The old man placed the offering in his heart, then took a piece from his scarred organ and put it over the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not quite.

The young man looked at his now imperfect heart, and felt the old man's love flow into it. They embraced and walked away, side by side.

Sent to Starmag by Celia Yap