I’m sitting on a bench in the park. To my far right there’s three people. Two men and a woman. The men are talking to each other, flames of furry in both sets of eyes while the woman looks down at her feet. I understand she is a lover to one of them.
To my far left there is another woman with two boys. I take it she is the mother to one of them. She’s looking down at her phone. The boys have decorative blue and yellow cards in their hands that they exchange. I didn’t think kids took an interest in those representations of my electric free youth.
As a light gust of wind blows against the side of my face, I begin look back and forth between the two groups of people sensing something off. There’s no one in the park except us. There’s a reason why they are all standing while I am sitting with a fortune cookie I had yet to crack open since lunch. These people serve some purpose in life and their purpose will be exposed at this very moment. Why am I here again?
I look at the mother with the two boys. One of them gets excited when the other hands him a card. I glance at the arguing men. One shoves the other and the woman jumps in between them. The mother tries her best to ignore and turns her back.
I still sitting on this bench and that’s when it comes to me. That strange feeling again telling me something is wrong. The arguing group of people. I get a sense from them at the hostility has yet to reach its breaking point. The excitement of the boys, after their moment of joy; its coming down and now they just talk. One is standing in front of the other with the mother behind him in a perfect line.
I sigh deeply and open the fortune cookie. Hardly anyone knows how much is gained by ignoring the future. I raise the shred of paper right before my eyes but move it down a slight bit. Using my eye of perspective, I realize every individual before me is standing in a line. First the mother, boy one, boy two, guy one, crying woman, and guy two. The uneasy sensation jarring at my intuition has yet to leave and as much as I want to get up and walk away, I can’t. What will I gain if I get up and ignore what my spirit is trying to tell me? Everyone is in this exact place for a purpose, including me. Unfortunately, I don’t know mine as much as I can sense theirs.
Guy One raises his voice. The girl tires to quiet him down, but it does nothing but prompt Guy Two to shout back. Both boys look in curiosity while the mother keeps her back turned and her eyes on her cell phone. No one has moved at least three inches out of their position. I have, though. I lean close and notice Guy Two has his left hand behind his back and tucked underneath his jacket.
Even though I can see they are standing in a line with just enough distance apart that leaves me in the middle, I don’t know if it’s exact. I mean…one of them could be positioned just a little to the left. The good news is I can see Guy Two clearly reaching for a gun strapped against his back. Damn this clairvoyant ability, but it’s not seeing the gun that’s seeing sparks to my intuition.
I finally get my lazy ass up. It’s not hard to comprehend what’s going on. The two guys are fighting over the girl and she probably feels like shit about it because they were once close friends. The two boys (probably close friends) are just trading cards, unfortunately their mother isn’t paying attention. Luckily the boys have stopped watching the fight as. Now they’re talking to each other about something that’s funny. The mother and the two boys won’t know what’s coming and probably won’t see it until seconds after it happens. The two guys and the woman will because it is their moment. Their situation that will affect everyone. So…who do I help?
I growl at my intuition. It knows I not strong enough to fight an angry man. Instead, I run toward the kids. The woman shrieks as I shove one kid out of the way. I hear the Pow of a bullet exploding from the gun’s barrel and I stiffen my body. The comes at the left side of my chest fast. The bullet struck me right underneath my breast.
“Dammit!” I shout. The guys, woman, mother, and two boys rush to my aid. Was I here to help them or them to help me? Hell, I dont know. At least I turst my gut and got shot in my gut to save the kid.
