There’s a woman and two young girls out to dinner, at one of those fast food asian bistro places. The woman looks happy, but a little over-worked after a long week at the office. The two young girls bicker for a second, and realize their grumbling tummies are to blame. With a tray of Orange chicken, terriyake, steamed rice and some veggies, they make their way through the crowded restaurant, picking a spot in the corner.
Not far away, an elderly man sits, painstakingly working chopsticks around the fried rice and vegetables. His clothes are pressed, though he doesn’t have a warm coat on such a cool evening, and he wears a baseball cap over long brown hair. His beard is combed through, though un-even, and the woman finds herself wondering if he is homeless, or maybe living out of a shelter.
On the overhead speakers, strains of a John Lennon song play. She likes this song and mentions to the girls that the singer was part of a group called The Beatles, and hearing the music makes her smile.
The elderly man looks up, having caught this bit of conversation and smiles slowly, as if agreeing.
Dinner almost at an end, the woman wonders if she could offer him a few dollars, but not being certain, not knowing for sure if he needs it- or doesn’t and would take offense- she hesitates. The girls are passing out fortune cookies- one for each of them, and the woman leans over, and speaks.
“Would you like a fortune cookie?”
“Thank you”, he replies, taking the cookie, smiling quietly again. “My last fortune wasn’t so good”.
“Maybe this one will be better” she says, saying a small prayer inside. He nods his head carefully, as if mulling over the possibility, then gathers his things, and walks out the door.
