A Quick Reunion, Till The Next One
The otter stepped out of her favorite coffee shop and took in a deep breath of cold winter air. She exhaled and watched as her breath drifted away to join with the clouds so high in the light blue sky. Marlene took a quiet moment to wish her breath well on its journey. With that scene completed, she then put on her earmuffs and set off to see what the rest of the day had in store for her.
Marlene usually liked to go left out of the coffee shop and head towards the library where she could sit on a comfy chair and read a chapter of her book. But today, Marlene decided she was going to do something different. Something adventurous. She made a right.
Immediately Marlene was disoriented. Of course, she knew intellectually that the coffee shop had a right that you could turn towards but she had never actually experienced it. This was all new and it was wild.
“Oh, there’s been a Dunkin’ Donuts to the right this whole time?” She observed, “Huh, I never knew that.”
And that wasn’t all. Lots of buildings and businesses and even batting cages that Marlene had known were there but had also, in a very real sense, not known were there.
She scanned the new direction to see all the other fun things she had been missing. She saw a beautiful old street lamp, which still had a wreath hanging on it, leftover from the Christmas season. As Marlene examined further she saw that the wreath contained another detail, a small red bird was...
“Oh my god, Rodney? Rodney! Is that you Rodney? Please let that be you, Rodney!” Marlene yelled up to a Cardinal sitting on the lamp post.
Rodney and Marlene had not seen each other for what felt like an entire lifetime. They had been inseparable friends during their youths. A petty argument that likely neither party still remembers drove a wedge that had never been repaired. As one does, they each went on to make lives for themselves. Yet still, any absence leaves a space empty somewhere inside of you.
Rodney looked straight ahead his lip quivered betraying the sentinel posture he’d otherwise took. Rodney spoke up,
“I’ve been waiting for you to turn right for years, it has been so long my friend.”
The two embraced. It really had been so long. All of those years had passed without the company of the other and finally, finally, they could renew their friendship. What a glorious and...
“Wait..." Marlene halted the reunion. "What do you mean you’ve been waiting for me to turn right for years?”
“Oh, I saw you walk out of this coffee shop randomly one day about 3 years ago." Rodney started, "So I took up a perch on the lamppost. Waiting for you to see me. So we could talk.”
Marlene was flabbergasted. She didn't know what to say. Eventually she was able to form a sentence out of shock --
“Why didn’t you say something to me?”
“Well, where’s the fun in that? This way we had a dramatic reunion.” Rodney explained.
Marlene took this in for another moment. She took a deep breath and shook her head --
“That is so dumb Rodney.”
“Dumb? It’s not dumb! How is it dumb?” Rodney fought back.
“So you just watched me walk out of the coffee shop and turn right and said nothing for years, instead of just calling for me and saying 'Hi' once?”
Rodney paused. A good point lingered in the air. He thought about it for a moment --
“Yeah I mean, there is no getting around that, that’s on me.”
“You are an idiot,” Marlene said, exasperated
“Hey! I will not be insulted like that. I'm grown!" Rodney shot back. "We’re not talking anymore!”
“Fine by me!" Marlene replied, "Why would I want to be friends with someone who can't say 'hi' one time over years!"
Marlene looked on as Rodney took off and flew right. Marlene turned herself right around and walked towards the left. "Good riddance," she thought, "Much less drama in this direction."
