OLD LOVE

 AN INTRODUCTION: An intense rivalry between two extremely meritorious students of English literature from the University of Oxford metamorphosed into a strong bond of love that sustained them throughout their lives marked by their characteristic idiosyncrasies. Both William and Philippa showed the keenness of their competitive zeal, trying to beat the other. They both finished their graduation with distinction and set about preparing themselves for the prestigious Oldham Shakespeare prize competition. They begun to cull facts from different sources, never tiring of badgering the professor with questions to know what they thought was germane to the competition.                                                                  

Two exceptionally brilliant undergraduate students namely William and Philippa came to their respective colleges for the study of English language and literature and evolved as fierce competitors. They improved steadily and vied with each other, developing their potential as much as they could, backed up by the tutelage of their professor, Mr. Simpson. They successfully steered themselves through two years at the college, never failing to prove their edge on each other through their well honed arguments. In the third and the final year of their undergraduate studies they were encouraged by their professor to enter the Oldham Shakespeare contest to prove their unique distinction. The competition required them to submit a twenty five thousand word essay on satire in the works of Shakespeare. In an attempt to brace themselves for the contest they both dedicated themselves to a serious study of the subject, culling resources from different sources. Before they could submit the essay for the contest they had to sit for the final year honours examinations. They studied hard and came out with flying colours in the final examinations. Both of them secured first class degrees.  Then came the contest of having to write the lengthy essay on the theme of satire in Shakespeare.

In the wake of the contest when William wanted to ease the feeling of the strain, he ended up discovering his arch rival, Philippa in an emotional crisis on account of the death of her father, a patient of cancer who went out of his way to give education to his daughter at the citadel of oxford, being extremely meticulous in concealing his deadly disease from her. He reached out to her in a gesture of compassion and offered to drive her to her house for the funeral of her father. That over the years of their competition they had developed soft corners for each other became evident from the way they discovered an undercurrent of love in their mutual relationship. The drive to the house and back marked a turning point in their relationship. They both made another trip to Stratford and on their way back home when they had been stranded due to the fact that the car had run out of petrol, William proposed to Phiippa asking her in a lighter vein if she would marry him if he won the Oldham contest.  As they both waited with bated breath along with the other contestants on the day of the competition, Philppa was declared to have been the winner. Philippa gave expression to her love for William when her eyes welled up with tears as the reality of her winning the contest made her conscious of the fact that William would not be able to marry her as his marriage hinged on his winning the Oldham prize contest.  But her feeling of utter depression gave rise to one of euphoria when both Philippa and William were declared as joint winners of the contest. There was an open recognition of their love when they embraced each other in public. After their marriage in a month they joined their colleges with junior fellowships and settled down to serious creative work.  

They stood by each other with commitment enduring their relationship with love but it was not without the characteristics of trying to show off their superiority to each other. Each of them boasted of their professional excellence as professors, highlighting their achievements with conceit. Despite their lofty achievements Phillipa failed to be a mother and she made up for it by showering her motherly affection on her students. They both worked together decoding messages to and from German warships, proving to be hugely indispensable to the allies. They both rose to prominence, transcending the confines of academic life. Phillipa was honoured with the royal title of the dame and she began to exult in her distinction trying to show off her superiority to William. Her delight did not last long as William soon caught up with her after the title of knighthood had been conferred on him. While solving crossword puzzles Phillipa debated about a word suggested by William while the latter emphasized on the existence of such a word on the dictionary going for a bet with her.

Soon after Phillipa had died of a heart attack in the kitchen William was discovered in his room lying in a pool of blood. He had shot himself in the head with a note that he had no choice but to kill him as he had to tell her that the word did exist in the works of the writer.