Unlikely Love ~~ Emily Riggan

Once upon a time, there was a comma.  She looked like this: " , ".  A few words ago, she met a colon.  He looked like this: " : ".

It was love at first sight.

She found him incredibly handsome--so tall, made of two flawless dots, one right above the other, so immaculately aligned.  He thought her unspeakably beautiful--so petite, made of one simple dot which curved into a perfect, delicate line.  She loved how he could stop an entire sentence without truly stopping it--just like she could--and then make a whole list of words follow him.  He adored her ability to make an entire string of words pause--a gift he shared--and how she improved so many sentences with her presence.  Indeed, the comma and the colon were very much in love.

The lovers saw one another often, sometimes in a book, or an essay, or a paragraph, or even--when luck favored them--in the same sentence.  However, they could not be together, for this broke the rules of punctuation.  It seemed that it was not meant to be.

Alas, they were deeply in love, so one day they broke the sacred laws and stood right next to one another,:.  A few words later they were married by a period,.: who was their close friend.  Side-by-side,: they lived in utter joy.

Sadly,: it could not last. As a result of their union,: they unintentionally caused confusion and disorder in every form of writing.  In order to remain a couple,: they were forced to break the rules of punctuation.  In spite of their infinite love for each other,: they could not stay together.   Before they were forced to separate,: however,: the comma and the colon had a child.  He was their legacy,: displaying the features of both his parents and having his own unique purpose; the semicolon was born.

Epilogue

Since the birth of their child, the semicolon, the comma and the colon have never been seen side-by-side again.  Although they are too noble to break the rules of punctuation once more, they still hold for one another a deep and abiding love.  Therefore, they long for and admire one another from afar, whether the distance is across a book, or an essay, or a paragraph, or even--when luck favors them--a sentence. 

The End