Serendipity

Half a decade ago

The then-girlfriend is irritating you by trying to widen your social circle with her own friends; she feels that you don't have enough friends; she quite fails to see that you're a loner by choice.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet" she chirps, dragging you over to her.

A strange, dreamlike moment. Shades of those eyes again; the chopsticks in the hair are a tad odd. The words just assume a life of their own; you're not in control anymore.

"Hello, X." The then-girlfriend's eyes widen as she realises her then-boyfriend didn't live his past-life under a rock after all.

"Hello, P_... You're Her cousin, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah, her. She's so smart, and so pretty..."

The then-girlfriend's eyes are stunned.

*****
Several months ago

Many years later and there's a rat pinned to the board before you; the girl behind you looks disconcertingly familiar. You look at her eyes.

It's a bit hard to recognise her without the chopsticks.

"Hello, P_"

*****
Today

And then you look up, startled, at the stranger and there's something familiar about those eyes, behind his surgical mask.

And then the moment of shock; the moment of not-quite deja-vu :
You're Her cousin.

It seems only yesterday you called me, to not-so-subtly hint to me that you'd found things out. You told me I had good taste in women; I marvelled at how wrong that sounded... that's your own cousin you're talking about.

Your eyes were blank; you'd either forgotten, or the confirmation name threw you off.

*****
Deja vu

I'm sure you've all had it; hows about this though, eating dinner, a word is said, some imaginary memory cell wakes up, and suddenly you're having a deja vu moment, and you remember that in that previous moment, in this exact same setting, but in some parallel universe you were having a deja moment too.

Perhaps this is the matrix after all.

*****
Claustrophobia

The walls are closing in. There is something familiar about all this.

But no. No.
I don't believe in serendipity.

*****