Missed Connections

I’m just gonna come out and say it, I never write anything like this- ever. So, this should be interesting…

Mentions death & drunk driving.

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The world around us sometimes exists without our knowledge. And we don’t realize it until it’s too late.

Her hair was golden brown, sofly flowing in the breeze. Her eyes were a vibrent blue, that hypnotized passers by. She smiled when a bird landed on the edge of the water fountain, and laughed when it ruffled it’s wet feathers.

He sat ten feet away on a bench, staring at the rays of sunlight on the pavement. His gaze would have drifted over to her, catching the light as it danced through her hair if his cell phone hadn’t buzzed. If he hadn’t have broken his concentration and looked down, he wouldn’t have found his eyes wet. He wouldn’t have read that text, or gotten up in a hurry. He wouldn’t have covered his face in embarassment, or forgotten his phone on the bench.

She watched as the bird smoothed it’s feathers and take flight, soaring higher and higher until it could no longer be seen. She left the fountain, content to walk in the fresh air until her next shift. She would have passed by the bench, and seen the forgotten phone if her own hadn’t buzzed. She would have picked it up, and attempted to find the owner if she hadn’t been holding back tears. She wouln’t have rushed to the street or waved down that cab.

He would have been in the one ahead if he hadn’t remembered his phone sitting idly on the bench. He wouldn’t have ran back, or passed by her as she climbed into the cab. He wouldn’t have grabbed his phone, shoved it in his pocket, or ignored the call. He wouldn’t have gotten another taxi, or told the driver the wrong address. He wouldn’t have answered when the number called for the fifth time and relayed the right address.

She arrived at the hospital before him, climbing the 3 floors of stairs faster than she ever had. She entered the patient room, and embraced with the 4 other sobbing people. She would have stayed there to comfort them, if she hadn’t wanted to know what happened. She wouldn’t have talked the police officer in the hallway, or learned her beloved brother had a .26% blood alcohol level. She wouldn’t have denied it, or darted down the stairs, shouldering past the man on the bench in her grief.

Frustrated by arriving at the wrong address first, he took the steps two at a time, not noticing the crying women running past him. He greeted the officer, and went into the room next door to her brother. If he had gotten there earlier, he might have seen his sister lying in the hospital bed. He wouldn’t have watched as a sheet was pulled over, or the iv was unplugged. He wouldn’t have yelled in anger, or cry in grief. He wouldn’t have sat in the hard chair for hours, clutching a corpse’ wrist, or denied the innocense of her brother. He wouldn’t have refused to see the drunk driver’s family, or went home knowing there was a face he would never see again.

Maybe if he hadn’t looked at his phone right away, he would have seen her standing by the fountain, and he would have talked to her. Maybe she would have delayed looking at her own phone. Maybe they could have had a brief moment of happiness before disaster. Maybe if he knew it was her brother, he wouldn’t have pressed charges, or sat with body for so long. Maybe he could have found something good out of a tragedy.

Maybe a meager 60 seconds could have changed everything, and opened their eyes to the world.

Or maybe it was meant to be this way. Maybe the world wasn’t meant to be seen, and some things just needed to exist behind the scenes.