Funny thing happened the other day. The day started off normal; nothing special happened at work or anything. When lunch time rolled around, I got my buddy's attention with my hungry dance. He expressed his usual feelings of disgust about it. I'm pretty sure he's jealous of my moves.
Once we rounded the guys up, an executive decision was made. We were getting Chinese food. At the time this was of no importance to me other than the fact that Chinese sounded delicious.
We walked in to the restaurant. I ordered my food and walked over to the fountain drink area to fill my cup when there it was: the bowl of fortune cookies. Normally, a bowl of fortune cookies wouldn’t be a big deal, but that day it was like finding the pot at the end of the rainbow.
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| Destiny awaits. |
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| He chose... wisely. |
With that in mind, I studied the bowl once more and there it was, my future wrapped in a golden shell of deliciousness. It shimmered as I grabbed it and walked to my table to await my oriental dish, teriyaki chicken.
The Latino waiter brought us our orders of Asian cuisine and although my dish was most desirable and delicious to the taste, my cookie of fortune taunted me. For if you read your fortune before ingesting all that lieth on thy plate, thy fortune shall be null and void.
I wolfed down my teriyaki chicken, brown rice and steamed vegetables as fast as I could while the guys stared at me as if I were some kind of animal devouring its prey.
I was finally finished and ready to unwrap my prize. I removed the plastic wrapper as if it was the wrapping paper on a highly anticipated birthday gift. There was nothing between me and my fortune now other than its protective, edible shell, crunchy and lightly sweetened. I parted the cookie at its bend, revealing its prophetic message: "You have a charming way with words. Write a letter this week."
The following 4 hours of work were the longest hours of my life. There I was, knowing my destiny, yet I was stuck sanding the crusty old finish off the floor of a house that was too big for the two people who lived in it. On the other hand, they did have about 10 cats. Maybe that's why they needed such a large house.
Needless to say, my mind was not on my work. I was scanning through memories of my closest friends and family, trying to decide who would have the privilege of receiving a letter of the highest quality from yours truly.
Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes seemed like hours, and hours were as slow as the day is long.
As soon as we got back to the shop, I rushed home. I never figured out to whom I should write, but fate was on my side that day. If my destiny was to write a letter, then the recipient of said letter would be revealed in the not-so-distant future.
My usual after work routine is to go straight to the kitchen, fumble through the mail, change into my workout clothes and then start sweating. I figured if I went through the normal tasks, my answer would be presented to me.
I actually didn't even get past fumbling through the mail when my fate was revealed. Waiting for me on my kitchen counter was a letter from a friend that I hadn't heard from in a long time. Therefore, I addressed my letter to her.
Call it fate, destiny, or prophecy; it was meant to be.
