A Childhood Love - Love Happens When You Least Expect It

" Never give up on the one you love, because if it is a true love, it will be worth every sacrifice-Nayra Reis"

In a Village lives a family that has six children. These children were very intelligent and everyone knew them because they were very blessed by God. Among these six, there was one boy who was very rowdy, but very nice and his name was Nathanael. He was turning eight years old on January 26, and his family threw a big party and invited everyone in the village.

On the other side of the neighborhood lives a girl of tall stature for her age, with long curly hair and fair skin, a cheerful child known and loved by many called Nayara. She was five years old when she learned that she was being invited to the most coveted birthday party in the village and was super excited for the occasion, because at these events there were always lots of children to play with, plenty to eat, and most importantly, a boy with green eyes that she loved to watch, but never had the courage to go and talk to because she was too shy. She was wearing a beautiful pink lacy dress, a sash of the same color and a white sneaker, while Nathaniel was wearing a black polo shirt and white shorts.

***

At the time of his birthday, Nathaniel saw a girl who he considered quite different from the others and decided to go and talk to her.

He told her:

-Hello, my name is Nathaniel, you are very beautiful.

And the girl was embarrassed, but said:

-At that moment she gave a half smile, even though she had always wanted him to come to talk to her, but also a little surprised, because there were many children there and he had just come to talk to her.

Nathaniel was charmed by the girl and admired her during the whole party. He even invited her to play with him, but as she was very shy, she hid behind her mother.

The next day Nathaniel decides to call the shy girl to play with him and his brothers:

-Nayara, come play with me and my brothers, it will be fun.

And she answered:

-"Leave it for another day, Nathaniel.

And then the boy starts pulling Nayara's hair and grabbing her glasses and she gets upset and says:

-Okay, I'll play with you, but please stop doing this to me.

The boy smiles and they start playing. From that day on they started a great friendship and little by little she lost her shyness.

***

-Do you want to go to the square with me," Nathaniel asks Nayara.

-Yes, but are your brothers coming too?

-Not this time. Can we go just the two of us?

-Of course," she answered, full of enthusiasm.

Nathanael is eleven years old and his beloved is eight. The two of them go together to the square and spend the afternoon chatting and playing on the toys. Whoever looked around could see their connection, that pure and sincere love.

***

The years go by, they grow up and after a while Nathaniel does not see Nayara anymore and is very sad, because he begins to realize that he loves her very much, but has no more contact with her. He looks for her all over the village and what he receives in reply is that she has moved to a distant town. The boy feels very sad for losing contact with her, but never gives up hope of meeting her again.

Nathanael makes new friends, meets other girls, but none of them enchants him in the way Nayara did. And although this feeling grows with each passing day, he tells himself that he will not give up on her.

***

After a few months he meets a girl named Sueli and decides to try to open his feelings, hoping to be happy, but he can't, because she falls in love with him. But Nathaniel can't deepen his feelings, because he still loves Nayara very much and decides to break off the relationship so the girl won't suffer.

-I hope that someday I will be able to see you again, my princess," he says looking up to the sky, hoping to see Nayara again.

Meanwhile, Nayara is going through difficult times in her life, as her parents have decided to separate and she and her mother have opted to move to a distant town called Miracema. The place is located on the border of Minas and is little known. The teenager begins to study in a state school, makes new friends, but cannot adapt to her new life, and her health is shaken and she develops a disease called Chronic Anorexia.

Her health gets so bad that the doctor recommends that they both go back to their hometown, because her case is emotional and there may be no cure and/or lead to her death. So again Nayara and her mother return to the village. Back in her home town, she meets a boy named Bruno.

They fall in love and decide to date, but the relationship is short-lived because of prejudice from the boy's family and she remains alone again. During the break-up, she receives all of the support of her friends who tell her that everything is going to be fine and that everything is going to be fine and that she will find someone who deserves her love.

In one of her conversations with her friends, one of them remembers when Nayara was little and they start talking and his name is Manoel. The two of them studied together when they were little, but they didn't talk, because he was from the rowdy group. She is happy that someone remembers her and her heart fills with hope and she decides to ask him if he has news of a boy named Nathaniel.

The boy realizes her interest in the boy, because his eyes shine when he talks about that name, but the boy is in love with Nayara and ends up lying to her saying that he moved away because he fell in love with a girl from another city. Nayara is happy that the boy has found his happiness, but she misses him, because they used to play when they were little, and she feels as if her heart is broken. For a brief moment she even thinks she likes Nathanael, but she thinks this is just something in her mind.

After Nayara and Manoel talk about life and what she likes to do most, Manoel looks deep into her eyes and admires her. The two remain silent for a long time and finally after he looks for the right words to say to Nayara he says:

-Nayara, forget about this boy. Let me make you happy.

And she answers immediately:

-Forgetting is impossible, but I will try to move on with my life without him.

The two get to know each other better and after three months they decide to date. Manoel says that he will make her very happy and that he loves her very much. The girl even says that she loves him too, but her thoughts always go to her childhood friend Nathaniel. The two have had several happy moments together, but nothing seems to help, because everything reminds her of her beloved. With time she thinks she can forget him and opens her heart to her boyfriend Manoel.

***

Almost two years have passed and there is an event at a waterfall and the girl decides to go and calls her boyfriend, but he refuses saying he doesn't like going out in public and she goes with her friend Gabrielle as they had agreed a few months ago.

After hours on the bus with the Church Youth Group, the two arrive at the site and get ready to go into the water. Spending a good amount of time in the water, Nayara observes the place quite a bit, but remains silent, not knowing whether to tel