A Dog Named Prince

  “Excuse me, is this seat taken?”

           “Uh, no” I shuffled in my seat and looked up to see the most beautiful blue eyes looking down at me as I leaned forward to tuck my purse under my seat a little further so as not to block the row.

           “Oh, great! Come on Sheila, we can sit here” I watched him beckon a woman that looked to be his wife.

           “Well, there you go again” Logic entered my mind. “Did you really think he was going to be your destiny?”

           “Maybe I did. Maybe that’s what I want…the fairy tale…the ‘happily ever after’…the Knight in Shining Armor who saves me”. Romance entered the conversation in my head.

           “That’s crazy! That’s fantasy! That doesn’t happen in real life. They’re make-believe tales, fiction, not based in fact” Logic was making its case.

           “Oh, come on, why not?” Romance piped in again. “It happens and it’s beautiful when it does” Romance let out a sigh as she let herself drift back to her heart – a heart filled with hopes and with dreams.

           “Yeah, right. That’s gonna happen. Prince Charming trotting in on his white stallion horse to scoop you in his arms and embrace you and profess his undying love” Logic rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest then added with a hint of disgust, “Oh…and he lives in a castle too.”

           The movie ended on the big screen and after waiting for ‘ol blue eyes and his wife to exit, I too left the movie theatre.

           It had started to rain and I, of course, had parked three blocks away. I quickened my pace and kept my head down, hoping I wouldn’t get drenched.

           “Oh, did you forget your umbrella?” I almost ran into the body of the voice I heard, and when I raised my head, I saw ‘him’ again.

           “Uh, yes…didn’t think it was calling for rain tonight” I mumbled, trying not to show my recognition of his eyes and the delight in my own.

           “Didn’t I…?” he was holding his jaw with his right hand and pointing his finger in the air with his left. “Was that you beside me at the movie tonight?”

           “Oh yeah…uh…I mean, yes. I thought that was you too” I attempted a casual tone.

           “Hey Steve, I’m over here” I glanced across the street to see a car pulled over where the same woman from the movie theatre was now beckoning him.

           “Oh, ok” he motioned to the woman he had earlier called Sheila. “Well, I wish I had an umbrella for you” he said with sincerity in his voice and kindness in his eyes.

           “No worries” I pulled up the collar on my coat. “My car is only a block away…but hey thanks.”

           “Ha Ha Ha haahahahahah…there you go again” Logic was ridiculing my naïve, childlike excitement in seeing the stranger again.

           “But…” Romance dangled her finger in the air. “There must be a reason for this random coincidence” Romance believed in serendipity and knew that Logic would never understand it.

           “Oh, yes, that’s right. You believe coincidences have meaning, that there’s a reason for everything” Logic was rolling her eyes. “For your information, the probability of you seeing that man…and his significant other I might add…is very high. If there were, let’s say one hundred people at the movie theatre tonight, add in very few people on the street because of the rain. Factor in that you both left the theatre at roughly the same time…” Logic was making its case and building evidentiary momentum.

           “But why twice?” Romance was not so easily convinced. “What are the chances they sat beside each other, and that he stopped to ask her about an umbrella? That must reduce the probability, at least somewhat?” Romance knew there was always room for chance, even in the most calculated math equation or scientific fact.

           I reached in my coat pocket to grab my keys and unlock my car door, finally finding relief from the rain and hopefully from the debate going on in my head.

           The next day was Sunday, and I was pleased that the sunshine was cooperating with the day’s name. I decided to pack a bag with my book, my blanket, my water bottle, a cheese string and an apple, and head down to the park for the afternoon.

           I settled on the grass below a tall oak tree that supplied the necessary shade, and privacy I preferred.

           I grabbed my book out of the bag and flipped to the section where my green frog charm was dangling from a chain holding the page where I had last left off. The main character in my romance novel was currently on a trip by herself after her divorce. I began to read, “… She stepped into the elevator at the hotel lobby and there he was, again. It was the same man she had seen on the airplane, and then hailing a taxi outside of the airport…”

           “Sounds like the same scenario that happened to you when you saw the same man at the movie and then on the street” Romance saw an opportunity to re-enter my head and disrupt my reading.

           I placed my book in my lap as I gazed up at the blue sky and sunshine. I smiled at Romance’s valiant attempt to keep the fairy tale alive. I was reaching into my bag for my water bottle when I noticed a ball rolling quickly toward me and being chased by a very large, white dog that was in full pursuit of said ball.

           I reached out my free arm to bat the ball in a different direction and thus put the eager dog on a different course. The quick motion caused me to topple on my side…and as I began to regain my composure, I could hear someone yelling from a distance, “Oh my gawwwwwsh, I’m so sorry! Are you ok?”

           I saw legs approaching as I reached over to pick up my water bottle from the grass where it had rolled away from my grip. A man was walking quickly toward me and a large dog with a ball in its mouth was following close behind.

           “I’m sooooo sorry” he repeated the sentiment again as he neared the edge of my blanket.

           “No worries. All’s well that ends well” I said lightheartedly as I looked up to acknowledge the stranger and his companion, my vision obstructed by the sun’s rays.

           “Prince here loves to play fetch” the man chuckled as he patted his dog affectionately. “I guess I got a little overzealous with my throw.”

           “Well, I’m glad I was able to redirect his course, or he might’ve come head-to-head with this oak tree, and I don’t think he would’ve been able to budge this trunk” I patted the bark on the tree behind me as I continued to squint my eyes toward the shadow in front of me.

           “Well, you saved a Prince then. It’s usually the other way around”, he seemed amused.

           “Well, I guess you’re right and, you are very welcome, Prince” I said with a smile as I reached my hand up to ‘shake a paw’ with the animal I had saved.

           “NOOOOOO WAYYYYYYY” Romance noticed the familiar blue eyes first and was over the moon with excitement. “I knew it. I knew it! I knew it was fate!"

Logic was nowhere to be found.

           “Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” the man was now looking down at me with bewilderment etched across those beautiful blue eyes.

           “Well, I’m pretty sure I saw you at the movie theatre last night. You—you were there with your wife” I made a not-so-subtle attempt at determining his status.

           “Ohhhh, yes, yes…that’s right! The movie. Then in the rain on the street. That’s where I’ve seen you” he seemed to be excited about solving the mystery, then quickly added, “Oh, that’s not my wife. That’s Sheila. My sister. Her husband, uh, my brother-in-law recently passed away and I was wanting to get her out of the house for a night.”

           “Oh_oh, I’m so sorry…for your loss. How sad.”

           “Well, thank you. Chuck was a good man.”

           “I’m sure he was” I offered what little I could.

           “So…three times a charm, I guess” his eyes lightened up as he came back to the present moment.

           “Uh, yes, I guess so” a huge grin came across my face.

           “One would be hard-pressed not to think this is more than a coincidence” he was still looking down at me as I sat on my blanket, and he stood in front of me. Prince way laying beside him finding satisfaction in his own game of fetch as he nudged the ball forward with his nose and snatched it back with his paw.

           “Well, I for one believe in serendipity…” I smiled and leaned back against the large oak.

           “NO, YOU DON’T” Logic was panicked and frantically rearranging numbers to make this most recent chain of events add up mathematically.

           “YES, SHE DOES!” Romance asserted herself a little more forcefully than Logic was accustomed to.

           “Well, I’m wondering if maybe we could plan our next meeting and quit leaving it to chance?”

           “Well, I’m thinking that sounds like a great idea” I said dreamily, wondering if I had somehow entered the novel that was laying open beside me.

           “This never happens” Logic was flabbergasted.

           “Oh yesssss, it does” Romance was intoxicated.

           “Maybe in another life!” Logic retorted.

           “Or maybe in this one” Romance chuckled as she chalked a tick mark on her slate.

The End.