Stoplight Vignette

I call it synchronicity. The fascinating way fate works to bring kindred spirits together. I toss the big-sounding word over and over in my mind as I walk to our unlikely rendesvouz—that busy but unassuming street corner. I strain my eyes to catch my first glimpse of you in several days, and feel instantly refreshed as I see you standing there—so calm, a world apart from the relentless street, the incessant stoplight, and the noise that would have otherwise been oppressive.

Have you ever noticed how the rest of the world sort of shrinks back when we’re together—as though everybody collectively decides to leave us be? It happens all the time—in the movie, in a restaurant, the coffee shop—which, I think, is the reason why we always end up forgetting the time.

In a few moments, I imagine, space will fold up and time will fly. I hold back a smile.

Truth to tell, I have been smiling a lot these days, especially when the world leaves me alone with my thoughts of you. It’s a dangerous sign, I know. In fact, experience tells me the plunge is about to come. I can feel the inevitable fall coming—the fall of which I have so far successfully steered clear.

Until now.

What are you thinking? I used to be good at reading minds. Maybe I still am. Maybe you’re just better at sending cryptic signals that get me off track. Then again, maybe there is nothing more to all this, and nothing more will ever be. No code to break. No clues to decipher. No synchronicity. It’s as good as it gets.