Serendipity

Serendipity. For me, it manifested the day I saw her. Standing alone on a wet street with nothing but a single umbrella in her hands. It baffled me how a person could look this mesmerizing against such a gloomy background. There was a quiet stillness around her, a perceived stillness that was comforting. The subdued gentleness with which she carried herself was enough testament of her pleasant character. Her eyes bespoke million tragedies yet shone with a glint so brilliant it illuminated even the darkest of dens.

   There was never a time she had truly been happy, yet she persisted in the face of all adversity. She had her moment of epiphany on the day of her husband's death. Seeing the pale and gaunt face of her dead husband laying peacefully she felt her heart twist yet not a single tear escaped her eyes. She knew what she was feeling wasn't just grief at the loss of her husband, but it was more a feeling of dread that was slowly descending upon her, the dread of not knowing what to do with her life now. The uncertainty of the future that made her shudder to the very core.

That day she realized her whole life surrounded her husband and now that he was no more, she didn't know what to do.

  She sat in her room alone for hours on end that day, not reminiscing the memories of her dead husband but instead thinking of how she was going to carry herself the next day. To not seem helpless to people looking for opportunity to feed on other's misery. It wasn't that she was heartless but her fear for the future overpowered the poignant sorrow of the present.

   Still, life did not stop. The new dawn broke, and she carried herself once again with the dignity and elegance of the lady of the house and prepared herself for whatever it was to come.

 I watched her as she slowly trodded down the empty streets under the faint drizzle of the rain, carrying her umbrella with her yet not once did she open it. The rain was slowly becoming harsher, and she was growing faint from my vision, yet I stood there rooted to the ground.

  I mentioned earlier that it was pure   serendipity when I found her, indeed it was for if it wasn't for her this passage would have never been in existence. She ignited in me the passion to write once more.