22. What will be, will be

This week’s flash fiction is a tale of destiny. Always trust the fortune cookie…

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“Be watchful of the number 22, young woman, for it will change your life.”

In the dim light of the restaurant, Helen stared at the fortune cookie message.

All her friends had got the usual messages about wisdom and romance. Laughing as they made their way out, they had thrown their crumpled slips of paper on the centre of the table. Helen however slid her message into her bag, thankful no one had asked her to read it aloud.

The message troubled her as she tried to sleep that night. Though time passed, she would often remember the warning. The message began to guide her life. When given the choice of an apartment with the number 22 or number 15, she took the latter. When her coffee order was number 22 she was especially wary. When she saw a car number plate or a bus route number with a ’22’ she changed her path, even if it meant being late.

One day however, she was reversing in a parking lot, when she heard a sickening clang. She cringed as she saw the guy in the car behind her.

He opened his car door, straightened up to his full height of over six feet, and crossed his arms over his broad chest. He was wearing a football jersey with the number 22.

“No damage here,” he said as he inspected his car, “It was my fault, I was driving too fast. But hey, I’m glad you stopped,” he smiled bashfully, “I’m John, by the way.”

The fortune cookie was right, Helen realised, when one year later she and John got married.  Number 22 did change her life – in a good way.

An exercise in microfiction, from number 1 – 25. Click on the Flash Fiction menu for more!