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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1921718-Coincidences
by Aelyah
Rated: E · Short Story · Fantasy · #1921718
Oh, I didn't know that...
Michael is my favorite nephew, and I am his favorite aunt. He is as fair haired as I am dark and his eyes are blue while mine are brown. You wouldn't find any resemblance because there is none. We're his parents' best friends and aunt and uncle were the best explanation for Christmases, Thanksgivings and countless cook-outs spent together.

There was an unspoken agreement between us that, after the meal, we would play a game. He would bring his toy box in the living room in the winter and in the backyard in the summer. There would be always that secret glance passing between my husband and I saying "spoiled rotten". We'd accept with a shrug our friends choice to spend an inordinate amount of money on Michael's toys.

I never knew which box of toys he'd  bring, the dinosaurs, the firefighters or the bag of pets. One Christmas he brought the firefighters, our name for the stack of die-cast cars. We were as guilty of its yearly increase in size as his parents were. He lined up a yellow bus and a red firefighter car then he fell deep in thought and hurried to his room. He came back dragging the dinosaur collection.

His chubby face contracted in a frown.

"I remember a tree that fell on a bus."

He hurried and picked up a tree from the dinosaur box and placed it near the yellow bus.

I turned my head and caught my husband's smile.

"Caught them red handed." His smile said, and my friend reddened while she gave a questioning look to her husband. She was very particular about what Michael watched, and she banned gruesome scenes "at this age".

I ignored the exchange and continued the game. Nobody mentioned it again, and it slipped from my mind until the next day, when I saw the scene played on the news.

"What a coincidence!" I thought.

One weekend, a few years ago, Michael and his parents visited us. I needed that visit since my spirits were low. For the first time in my life,  I received the pink slip. I jumped to help Michael drag his dinosaur box and the little pets bag out of the car.

Michael looked at me with his blue eyes opened wide in question.

"Why are you sad?"

I decided to be honest and hoped the subject wasn't a banned one.

"I lost my job. I got the pink slip."

Michael smiled.

"Where is it?"

I blinked in confusion.

"What, the slip?"

Michael nodded, with mischief in his eyes. My mood improved, and I decided to humor him. I brought the dreaded piece of paper and told myself it was no harm since Michael didn't know how to read yet. He didn't even try. He just took it and ripped it into a thousand pieces then threw it into the wind.

"There, let's play dinosaurs." He winked.

I forgot about the pink slip until Monday. When the alarm went off, I remembered it. In frustration,  I pulled my blanket over my head and fell in a fitful sleep. I woke up when the phone rung. It was my boss, and I almost let out a curse.

"Are you ok? You didn't set an out of office auto-responder, and everyone is confused. There is that report due today at noon, we were wondering if you feel well enough to work from home today."

I guess I stayed speechless for a while since I heard a worried "hello?" at the other side of the line.

"Sorry, I overslept, I'll be right there."

I didn't remember about the pink little butterflies as Michael named the small pieces of paper floating in the wind, until after I delivered the report, late that afternoon.

"What a coincidence!" I thought.

A few weekends later, we had one of our famous cook-outs. Burgers, tomatoes, onions, mustard, ketchup and beer filled the trestle table outside.

On the grass, Michael's firefighter set filled the blanket. He arranged a small kleenex box and declared.

"I remember a house burned, and the firefighters run to save it."

I heard the screech of a pushed chair, and worried steps approached.

"Michael, where did you hear this story? Did your father..."

Michael shook his head with vigor.

"No mama, I just remember them!"

We smiled at each other and silently congratulated his parents for a creative child. His father opened a beer, and we could see the pride in his move. I went inside, to the kitchen to bring another six pack, when I heard the small TV on the counter.

"Firefighters battle a blazing inferno downtown, five people are believed trapped in the fire."

I grabbed the beers and shook my head.

"What a coincidence!"

I dropped the beers on the table, and I thought about Michael's confusion. I thought he was such a fantastic kid, it was probably time for him to use the words right.

"How do you remember your stories, Michael?" I deliberately used the word in the wrong way.

"I just remember them. I see in my mind flames on a house, and I hear the siren. They are very far away as they didn't happen yet. "

He chewed on his lip and asked with his chubby frown.
"Do you think they might be in the future?"

He put a distinctive accent on the word, the accent the kids use when they know they used a new word.

We looked at each other, and I detected  pride again in his parents' smile. I mustered a motherly tone and answered.

"Sweetheart, you cannot remember the future or change the past!"

He frowned in confusion, thought for a moment then he brightened. He pointed to the small pets bag.

"Ahhhhh, thank you, auntie! I didn't know that! Let's make up another story."

We played many times since; however, that day was about the  time when the coincidences stopped.

My shoulders slumped.

I knew too well the past could not be changed.
© Copyright 2013 Aelyah (aelyah at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1921718-Coincidences