The Coincidence Makers by Yoav Blum

Author:Yoav Blum
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

15

It was a Tuesday.

Michael was playing in the park with two of his green toy soldiers, assigning them attributes that were not very militaristic—such as the ability to glide through the air or remain with their heads stuck in the ground for particularly long periods of time. Guy sat on the bench next to him, his legs and arms crossed, his thoughts wandering. Sometimes the only thing Michael wanted him to do when he imagined him was sit there.

When two of the soldiers started to chase each other, Guy wasn’t able to understand who was doing the chasing and who was being chased—not that this was really important. But when Michael started to get carried away and wandered off making various heroic sounds, Guy called him and told him not to go too far.

A child who is too far away forgets that you exist. A child forgetting you exist means you no longer exist.

Guy actually wanted to sit there a bit longer. He hadn’t experienced existence for quite a few days. He longed for himself, to a certain extent.

And besides, he wanted to keep an eye on Michael, to make sure he didn’t go into the street. At least that’s what he told himself.

A girl and a woman entered his field of view.

The girl was small and blond, her long hair almost reaching her waist; purple eyeglasses with a thick frame were tied with a red string behind her head. The woman was tall and elegant. Long braids ran through her red hair, covering her head like a crown, and her eyes followed the girl with tender love.

They sat on the bench opposite him, not far away, but they couldn’t see him, of course.

He took another look at the woman. Something in her movements pulled at his heart. A thought crept into his mind: how rare it was to meet someone who looked like she knew what she was doing, in the broad sense of the word. So many people moved their bodies only in order to take up space, in order to do something that made them feel that they were indeed changing something. They waved their hands, shook their heads, and shifted their legs anxiously. If movements made sounds, how much noise most people would create around them, just to show their presence. She, on the other hand, was so much truer—the way she sat on the bench, the way she tilted her head to the right and looked at her girl, the way she allowed her red-and-white dress to rest upon her without concealing her identity. Why weren’t all people so relaxed?

“I like your dress,” he said.

She didn’t notice him, of course. But that had never bothered him in the past. He would speak with people, tell them things, share with them, even if they weren’t the children imagining him, even if there was no chance of them seeing or hearing him.

“I know you don’t know I’m here,” said Guy, “but who knows, perhaps in some mysterious way my words will affect you somehow.

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