Echoes of Destiny

In one of the busiest downtown of New York, there was a young woman named Lily who harboured an odd passion - hanging appearances. She was gifted with the ability to see people from near as well as with her eyes, enjoying to watch their behavior, look at their faces eat their expression and observe their feelings. She was mingling in it just for fun, she was probably trying to have her own escape from her boring life and enjoy others.

Lily was often to be found for hours sitting on a bench in Central Park covered by a book or a newspaper, but that was hardly a reason to cast a glance aside at people that were crossing. She was capable of inventing characters out of thin air giving light to general strangers whom she used to see around - the cute couple holding hands, the old man feeding pigeons, the friends having a conversation among themselves. Stories crowded her mind to the extent that all she could do was to watch silently the play that everyone was an actor and she herself the silent spectator.

She saw the man for the first time as he sat comfortably on a bench nearby, just like any other day. He was not like most people she saw before - he looked like he had been through a lot from his furrows and solemn eyes. Spinning her own guesses, Lilie observing him minute by minute, was waiting to figure out what he was trying to say.

The man was there all along, a dictating his own issues and having no sense of the world going around him. Lily found herself experiencing a sharp shorting of emotions, feeling pity for this person, wondering what had brought him to this spot of solitude and sadness. She longed for him to reciprocate, to express his sorrow and pain, but she also knew that was beyond her control and responsible for maintaining a strict boundary of not intervening, while she merely observed.

When the sun was lowering its curtains and park turned void of people, the man stood up and the man began to walk. Lily had to choose between two different decisions with the same arguments. She plucked up the courage and a few steps behind her she closely followed him to keep the distance between them.

The man was walking from his own city streets, his steps were very slow, and he was deep in thought. Lily saw him walking by the familiar blocks and houses. The city seemed too foreign to her, learning at no moment where he was heading. It was a sense of growing inner restlessness inside her, and she must find out more about this warrior and his fates.

At last, he got to a small café and took a pause trying to decide whether to ask for help. A deep breath and hand outstretched, the man pushed open the door of the opposite dwelling. Lily almost could feel it as he walked away from her the same day. She stood there for a couple of seconds, then the last shred of her dignity broke or time to retreat so she followed him into the house.

The coffee place had that homely vibe which could be gauged by the voices of the patrons as they interacted and the smell of freshly brewed coffee that filled the room. Lily eyed the entire room, and finally when she locked the visitor whom she was looking for, that was the man who sitting alone at a table in the corner. She found herself timidly going towards him with a mix of fear and curiosity, as she was really uncertain about what to say.

"Could I please excuse," she introduced, probably below the audible level. "I'm pretty sure that I overheard you at the park just now. Do you mind me asking, are you alright?"

The man looked to the skies but the light wasn't in his eyes. A brief moment after, he nodded and constantly beckoned her to sit down as soon as they were within the residential area. However, at the same point while putting their thoughts on the plate, Lily realised that being a viewer sometimes is not enough. On occasion, the story demanded that you jumped out of the shadows and played your own role.