David thought about it as he drove his moped up the street.
He didn't even remember where he'd heard it from, but he
could see the sentence clearly in his mind as if it was
written on a piece of paper right in front of him. "The way
to where you're going will always seem shorter when you're
going back home." He kept repeating it in his mind. It was
one of Murphy's Laws, he figured, which basically said that
anything that can go wrong, does. David didn't know where
that particular law fit in, but he was sure that's where he
got it from. He'd bought a little orange book once, he
remembered now, and it had all the laws written there. But
why did he think about it now? And about that particular
rule? Thinking about it again, he had a good guess. He'd
been making deliveries for the grocery store for the past
two months, and this had been the fifth delivery he had made
for Julie.
Julie was a very lovely girl he knew in high-school, and had
had a bit of a crush on. He'd gotten over it, of course, and
had gotten on with his life. Julie hadn't really known him
that well, and had forgotten him over the years. He had
almost asked her out once, at graduation, but decided it was
better to let it go. She didn't seem interested in him
anyway. He never told her who he was in all the five times
he delivered groceries to her, thinking it wouldn't make
much difference. He had other women he liked, and he didn't
need to stay fixated on an old fantasy. So why was he
thinking about that old law? It was so bizarre and too
ridiculous to mean anything. He couldn't help but noticing
it, though, that the way to Julie's place always seemed
shorter than when he drove back. It wasn't supposed to be
like that, of course, but the other way around. Ever since
he could remember driving places it applied to everything.
The way home was always shorter. So why was this different?
What could it mean, if anything?
He had to check it out. He decided that next time he drove
to her he would talk to her. He parked the moped in front of
the grocery store and sat on the filth ridden sidewalk in
the shade.
A few days later, another order came from Julie, and David
was already excited about it. He had a bit of an argument
with another delivery boy named Marcus. He'd gotten the
order, initially, and didn't want to let David make the
delivery. Marcus wasn't a bad person, in fact, he and David
were pretty close friends. David had a hunch that Marcus
fancied Julie too, and as much as he understood the feeling
and completely approved of it, he couldn't let someone else
get to her. He had to see her that day, that instant, and
nothing ever felt more right. Fortunately, Marcus'
infatuation with Julie was incomparable with his lustful
passion for cash. And so, with a little help from his
hard-earned money, David persuaded Marcus to let him make
the delivery. His Wallet considerably lighter, David rushed
off to his moped to find out what life's strange quirks had
in store for him.
As always, the way seemed short and hardly noticeable. In no
time at all he was parking before her doorstep. It was quite
bothersome, since he didn't get a good chance to prepare
mentally, to think about what he would say. There he was,
however, taking his jacket off in the hot, pouring sunlight,
in front of Julie's door. He rang the doorbell. A few short
seconds passed. And then she opened the door. David gasped
silently. Her shiny dark hair glittered as the sunlight
hovered over her head and reflected off her light brown
eyes. Her cheeks were a luscious red glow and as she saw
David a casual beautiful smile adorned her silky white
face.
"Hi! Come in!" she said merrily, with a voice like a smooth
beautiful melody played by a clarinet, "put the stuff on the
floor near the table, would you please?"
Dave nodded and walked carefully into her apartment.
"Would you like a drink?" she asked.
"No thanks", he said as he lay down the bags. He stood up
and thought quickly how to say what he wanted. Could he just
tell her about Murphy's Law? That didn't mean anything, it
was mostly in his head, anyway. He needed to just tell her
who he was and work it out from there. He glanced around her
apartment while she opened her fridge. It was a small place,
but very homey and warm. The walls had a light orange hue
and the ceiling was white. A large purple blue carpet
covered the living room floor, which held a comfortable
looking armchair and a sofa. A TV set stood on a large
mahogany cupboard, and pictures of sea shores and portraits
decorated the walls. The kitchen was three small steps away
from the living room, with a short table standing in the
middle, all set for a small lunch. David was staring at a
few nicely painted ceramic plates hanging on the kitchen
wall when he realized Julie was staring at him. She was
looking a bit puzzled.
"Is there anything else you wanted?" she asked politely.
"Oh, no!" David said quickly, "Sorry", he added, and hastily
marched out the door.
"Goodbye!" She said, her voice muffled by the shutting door.
David paced up to his moped and drove off. What was he
thinking? Was he insane? How demented was he to think there
was something fateful going on here? She had her own life
and her own expectations and he was part of none of those
things. He laughed at himself sarcastically, shaking his
head. But then he felt it more than before. He was on his
way back for what seemed like twenty minutes only it was
barely ten. He was only on Brewer Street and it seemed like
he should be home by now. Can it all be in his mind? Of
course it was... But who said that that made it wrong? He
stopped his moped in a red light and let his mind cool off.
He could see himself making that little U turn and going
back, but usually that was as far as he would go. He only
imagined himself taking a chance. It seemed like a lifetime
since he ran off at Julie's front door, and it was only
fifteen minutes earlier. Did life give clues? Did life know
a path you should have trodden but took a wrong turn? Could
it try and set you on the right track? So many questions,
and he decided they would need answering, maybe sometime in
the future. Right now he had something else on his mind. The
light had turned green but David wasn't going straight. He
took the short U turn he saw himself taking so vividly
before and went back he road he came from. Julie's house
came into view in no time.
He parked the moped carelessly and walked up to her door. He
rang the doorbell. She opened the door. A look of
bewilderment was on her face, but it was a kind one, a
gentle one. It didn't hold any condescendence or impatience;
she was standing silently at the doorway, wondering if David
was going to say something.
"Hello again... did you forget something?" she asked.
David gawked at her. But he was here now, and he had to do
something.
"Um..." he mumbled, "There is something else I wanted
before, I forgot to mention it."
"Yes?" she waited.
"Um... My name's David Graham, I was in your class in Runkle
High School."
She blushed a bit. "Yes, I know", she smiled. "I didn't
think you'd remember me."
David laughed. "Of course I remember you! I had such a big
crush on you back then."
"Really?"
"Yeah... I had almost asked you out at graduation night... I
don't know why I didn't."
"That's a shame", she smiled shyly, "I had a crush on you
too."
David's heart gave a leap. This couldn't be real. But if he
had gotten this far, he had to push on. He looked into her
eyes, like pools of sweet honey, and felt like jumping in
there and getting lost forever. There was only one thing for
him to ask next.
"Any chance..." he mumbled again, "any chance there's still
something of that left?"
She opened her door a bit wider and stood back to let him
enter.
"What about you?"
"I don't think it ever went away..."
She looked at him for a while and he suddenly felt so
secure, and so complete. Even if things would've gotten
wrong they would've been right. She walked inside and David
followed, closing the door behind him.
"I was just making some of the spaghetti you delivered.
Wanna have lunch?"
David nodded merrily and helped her around with the dishes
and cooking. Everything was fine, more than fine and he
couldn't have been happier. He always knew those Murphy's
Laws had something true to them.