In a future where love is no longer defined by gender, one woman grapples with her deep-seated beliefs about relationships as she confronts a world that challenges everything she thought she knew about love.
Amara had always been sure of one thing—love had a specific shape. A shape defined by her attraction to men. She was raised in a world where that simple truth was universal, celebrated by families, by communities. Heterosexual love was something to be proud of, something that didn’t need to be questioned.
But in the year 2142, everything had changed.
Society had evolved beyond binary notions of gender and sexuality. The fluidity of love was not just accepted—it was encouraged. Children were taught from a young age that love was an expansive spectrum, one where any connection could form, whether between two people of the same gender, different genders, or any combination thereof. The concept of being strictly attracted to one gender seemed outdated, like an ancient relic that had no place in this progressive world.
Amara didn’t see it that way.
She was in a committed relationship with Kai, a man she had known for years, and they shared a deep, undeniable connection. For Amara, the idea that love could be anything other than heterosexual felt foreign. They had built a life together, one rooted in mutual respect and understanding. There was no need for anything else, not in her mind.
But that was before the whispers began.
At first, it was just quiet stares in public places—people glancing at her and Kai, looking at their hands held tightly together as if it was something they had never seen before. She brushed it off, telling herself it was just her imagination. But then it became more than that.
At a family gathering, her cousin Lira had asked her point-blank, “Amara, don’t you ever wonder if you’re limiting yourself? You could love so many different kinds of people, not just him.”
The question hit her like a cold gust of wind. She didn’t know how to respond. She had never thought about it. The idea of loving someone outside of Kai felt... unnatural.
“Lira, I’m not limiting myself. I love Kai, not because of his gender, but because of who he is.”
“But that’s the thing,” Lira said, her voice softer but insistent. “You don’t have to love someone just because of who they are in relation to you. You can love anyone—regardless of their gender, or even if they have no gender at all.”
The conversation lingered in Amara’s mind long after the dinner had ended. She had heard of people in fluid relationships, but it was always something distant, something that happened to others. To her, it was unfathomable.
The next day, she overheard a group of friends talking about their latest relationships—each of them involved with multiple partners, each of different genders or no gender at all. “It’s just how we connect,” one of them said. “It’s the energy between us, not the labels.”
Amara’s stomach turned. She felt as though she were being swept along by a current she didn’t understand, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch her breath.
Kai noticed the shift in her mood. He always did.
“What’s bothering you?” he asked, pulling her into his arms one evening as they sat on the couch, the weight of the world pressing down on her.
“I don’t know, Kai. I just... I feel like we’re wrong,” she admitted. “Like everyone else is moving forward, and we’re stuck in the past.”
“You’re not wrong for loving me,” Kai said gently, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “I love you the same way, Amara. But maybe it’s not about fitting into someone else’s idea of what love should be. Maybe love is about how we choose to define it.”
“But in this world, we’re the exception,” Amara whispered. “Everyone else is free to love whoever they want, without any of the boundaries we grew up with. And we’re... we’re stuck, trying to hold on to something that’s... old.”
Kai smiled, a soft, understanding smile. “It’s not old, Amara. It’s just... one way of loving. There are so many other ways to love, and none of them are wrong.”
Amara paused. She thought about Lira’s words again—You don’t have to love someone just because of who they are in relation to you. It was a radical concept, and yet, something about it sparked a deep, quiet understanding in her.
Maybe there was more to love than what she had always known. Maybe love didn’t have to be confined to labels or categories. Maybe the fluidity of relationships wasn’t a threat to her love for Kai, but an expansion of it—an understanding that love, no matter how it looked, was still love.
As days passed, Amara began to see the world through a different lens. She didn’t suddenly stop loving Kai; rather, she started to see the beauty in how others loved as well. She watched her friends, her family, navigate their relationships with openness, free of the constraints she had once believed to be absolute.
And slowly, she began to understand: love wasn’t about adhering to a set of rules. It wasn’t about fitting into a predefined mold. Love was about connection, about trust, about the bond between two people—or however many—that transcended gender, labels, and expectations.
Amara’s relationship with Kai didn’t change. What changed was her understanding of the world. She learned that love wasn’t just one way to be, one fixed path. It was an open field, vast and ever-expanding, full of colors and shapes she had never seen before.
And in the end, that realization didn’t make her love Kai any less—it made her love him even more.
Related Poetry by Belle
Other Blog Sites
Featured on It Be Life | Facebook