"If we take the other fork in the road, we might end up somewhere totally different!
We all create the forks in the road of fate that is our life."
This is first in a series of such stories that show forks in fate and the destinations they lead to. See if you can spot the fork in the road of fate.
Fork 1:
They all could not wait to meet his girlfriend for the first time in person. She was expected any moment now, arriving straight from the airport having just returned from a business trip. He was trying to act relaxed but was busy setting up the dinner table and giving endless touches to spruce up his place for his 'Princess' .
They had all seen her pictures and heard him rave about her - her beauty and all the great qualities that were so obvious to him that he thought anyone could 'see' them visually as he did. They had all smiled at the way he described her or talked about her. He would say things like - "You should _see_ her kindness" or "You should have _seen_ her cleverness in dealing with.." or "I could _see_ her innocent helplessness and so I jumped in to help".
"We look forward to _seeing_ the sweetness of her voice and _seeing _ her intoxicating fragrance," his sister had joked behind his back, setting off giggles when he had left the room once.
To them, she had looked reasonably attractive in the pictures and videos they had seen of her. They could not quite tell if it was heavy, clever makeup or the real thing. The women and girls in the group were confident that they could 'tell for real' once they came face-to-face with 'Her Highness' as they referred to her behind his back. They exchanged knowing glances as he looked at his watch often. To his many texts over two days asking about the details of her flight, arrival time, if the flight was on time, if it was raining or if she need to be picked up, she had replied with one brief message just before she boarded her flight. It read - "I'll be there at your place about 5.30" . It seemed like he was the eager chaser and she was playing it cool or was hesitant.
They were his family and friends who were happy to see him finding happiness after a few disappointing experiences. All were hoping he would find his soulmate and settle down in life finally.
There was a knock on the front door. Everyone froze and turned to see him, He grabbed the flowers he had kept ready, walked to the door, straightened himself, took a deep breath and opened the door. She walked in, her voice and perfume preceding her. She looked regal and elegant as she planted a restrained kiss lightly on his lips even as she caught sight of the others looking. He hugged her clumsily with flowers still in one hand. He forgot to give them to her - apparently everything planned gone out the window upon seeing her. As he took her coat, he realized he had the flowers still in his hand getting in the way. He gave them to her as she was taking off her shoes.
Everyone greeted her and introduced themselves or he introduced them to her. They offered her a drink and asked her to sit down for a while before heading to the dining room. As he took her hand and walked her to the couch and sat her down, his niece brought up a drink of warm hot-chocolate.
"We were told you like this. Dinner is ready whenever you are," said the niece smiling.
She smiled and thanked the girl as she took the mug,"Oh! Thank you! Seems like you all know a lot about me!"
Her worldly-wise eyes scanned the room once again slowly resting briefly on each face for a couple of seconds. There seemed an unmistakable cold streak of steel in her look. More than one person felt that sudden surprise when meeting her gaze.There was a faint mark of a scar on one side of her lips that seemed heavily under makeup. For a moment, at a certain angle and in some light, it gave a hint of something mysterious and fearsome. However, she was apparently skillful in presenting herself very attractively.She did not seem to be the soft, innocent Princess as described by her blind-in-love admirer.
"Definitely the heavy makeup, not the original look!" was the thought passing through some of the women's minds and it was concurred upon among them afterwards.
Everyone watched as she sipped her drink and reclined her back just a little.
"You must be tired, dear! Work, the flight and straight here. Sorry, we could not give you more time to relax and unwind, but our annual family dinner is today!" his mother said kindly.
"Some days are like that. I'll be fine," the Princess said smiling, "I guess it is an important dinner in your family. I am glad I could make it. He really wanted me to come."
Her eager suitor watched her as she drank from her cup and the conversation around the room picked up to a low background chatter that let them talk to each other without feeling that everyone was watching or listening only to them. There were still a few eyes watching though.
"How are you? What happened? I was worried not hearing from you for the past two days. I was relieved when I got your message saying you will come. I wondered if you were not well or something had happened to you," he said speaking softer than usual and despite his best efforts a slight whiff of reproach seemed to escape him and seep into his tone.
"I was too busy, darling! I could not find the time to sit and write back to you in detail. That's how it is with business often," she seemed to sense his reproach and put him back on the defensive quickly with a slight testiness to her voice. He started feeling a bit guilty.
"You all must be hungry. Thank you for waiting for me. I will quickly freshen up and join you if you all want to go ahead," she continued, slightly raising her voice but dripping honey.
Her beau was immediately impressed by her kindness and thoughtfulness towards others that everyone could see. He enthusiastically showed her the way to the restroom. She returned to join them for an excellent dinner and a great time.
The relationship grew and they soon got married and had children.
Ten years later....
He sat down on the steps of the courthouse, bitter, angry and hurt. It had been an acrimonious divorce. It would be difficult for him to trust anyone for a long time, mostly himself and his own judgement. How could he not have seen such a terrible, ugly side to her for so long? His life was a mess and so were the lives of their three children. He would have to somehow pull himself up and get on with life, at least for the sake of the little ones. He had to learn to be wiser and happy in the future, to show his kids it was possible. The toughest struggle had just begun...
Fork 2:
They all could not wait to meet his girlfriend for the first time in person. She was expected any moment now, arriving straight from the airport having just returned from a business trip. He was trying to act relaxed but was busy setting up the dinner table and giving endless touches to spruce up his place for his 'Princess' .
They had all seen her pictures and heard him rave about her - her beauty and all the great qualities that were so obvious to him that he thought anyone could 'see' them visually as he did. They had all smiled at the way he described her or talked about her. He would say things like - "You should _see_ her kindness" or "You should have _seen_ her cleverness in dealing with.." or "I could _see_ her innocent helplessness and so I jumped in to help".
"We look forward to _seeing_ the sweetness of her voice and _seeing _ her intoxicating fragrance," his sister had joked behind his back, setting off giggles when he had left the room once.
To them, she had looked reasonably attractive in the pictures and videos they had seen of her. They could not quite tell if it was heavy, clever makeup or the real thing. The women and girls in the group were confident that they could 'tell for real' once they came face-to-face with 'Her Highness' as they referred to her behind his back. They exchanged knowing glances as he looked at his watch often. To his many texts over two days asking about the details of her flight, arrival time, if the flight was on time, if it was raining or if she need to be picked up, she had replied with one brief message just before she boarded her flight. It read - "I'll be there at your place about 5.30" . It seemed like he was the eager chaser and she was playing it cool or was hesitant.
They were his family and friends who were happy to see him finding happiness after a few disappointing experiences. All were hoping he would find his soulmate and settle down in life finally.
There was a knock on the front door. Everyone froze and turned to see him, He grabbed the flowers he had kept ready, walked to the door, straightened himself, took a deep breath and opened the door. She walked in, her voice and perfume preceding her. She looked regal and elegant as she planted a restrained kiss lightly on his lips even as she caught sight of the others looking. He hugged her clumsily with flowers still in one hand. He forgot to give them to her - apparently everything planned gone out the window upon seeing her. As he took her coat, he realized he had the flowers still in his hand getting in the way. He gave them to her as she was taking off her shoes.
Everyone greeted her and introduced themselves or he introduced them to her. They offered her a drink and asked her to sit down for a while before heading to the dining room. As he took her hand and walked her to the couch and sat her down, his niece brought up a drink of warm hot-chocolate.
"We were told you like this. Dinner is ready whenever you are," said the niece smiling.
She smiled and thanked the girl as she took the mug,"Oh! Thank you! Seems like you all know a lot about me!"
Her worldly-wise eyes scanned the room once again slowly resting briefly on each face for a couple of seconds. There seemed an unmistakable cold streak of steel in her look. More than one person felt that sudden surprise when meeting her gaze.There was a faint mark of a scar on one side of her lips that seemed heavily under makeup. For a moment, at a certain angle and in some light, it gave a hint of something mysterious and fearsome. However, she was apparently skillful in presenting herself very attractively.She did not seem to be the soft, innocent Princess as described by her blind-in-love admirer.
"Definitely the heavy makeup, not the original look!" was the thought passing through some of the women's minds and it was concurred upon among them afterwards.
Everyone watched as she sipped her drink and reclined her back just a little.
"You must be tired, dear! Work, the flight and straight here. Sorry, we could not give you more time to relax and unwind, but our annual family dinner is today!" his mother said kindly.
"Some days are like that. I'll be fine," the Princess said smiling, "I guess it is an important dinner in your family. I am glad I could make it. He really wanted me to come."
Her eager suitor watched her as she drank from her cup and the conversation around the room picked up to a low background chatter that let them talk to each other without feeling that everyone was watching or listening only to them. There were still a few eyes watching though.
"How are you? What happened? I was worried not hearing from you for the past two days. I was relieved when I got your message saying you will come. I wondered if you were not well or something had happened to you," he said speaking softer than usual and despite his best efforts a slight whiff of reproach seemed to escape him and seep into his tone.
" Oh, darling! You were worried about me? I did not realize that. I am sorry. I was too busy. I did not find the time to sit and write back to you in detail so I just put it off. That's how I am often with the business," she seemed to sense his being torn between not appearing too pushy and his genuine concern. He looked a bit hurt.
"Sweetheart, I am sorry, I know I should have and I promise I will make time to drop a quick line atleast, the next time," she promised, squeezing his hand. He was mollified.
"You all must be hungry. Thank you for waiting for me. I will quickly freshen up and join you if you all want to go ahead," she continued, slightly raising her voice but with sweetness.
Her beau was immediately impressed by her kindness and thoughtfulness towards others that everyone could see. He enthusiastically showed her the way to the restroom. She returned to join them for an excellent dinner and a great time.
The relationship grew and they soon got married and had children.
Thirty years later....
They were celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary. Their children had gathered for a family dinner. They all fondly recollected the first family dinner in which their mother was introduced to the family. Everyone was thankful for their fate and getting together .
Some of the best years together were still ahead of them. The fun had just continued and some of the best had just begun...
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved
We all create the forks in the road of fate that is our life."
This is first in a series of such stories that show forks in fate and the destinations they lead to. See if you can spot the fork in the road of fate.
Fork 1:
They all could not wait to meet his girlfriend for the first time in person. She was expected any moment now, arriving straight from the airport having just returned from a business trip. He was trying to act relaxed but was busy setting up the dinner table and giving endless touches to spruce up his place for his 'Princess' .
They had all seen her pictures and heard him rave about her - her beauty and all the great qualities that were so obvious to him that he thought anyone could 'see' them visually as he did. They had all smiled at the way he described her or talked about her. He would say things like - "You should _see_ her kindness" or "You should have _seen_ her cleverness in dealing with.." or "I could _see_ her innocent helplessness and so I jumped in to help".
"We look forward to _seeing_ the sweetness of her voice and _seeing _ her intoxicating fragrance," his sister had joked behind his back, setting off giggles when he had left the room once.
To them, she had looked reasonably attractive in the pictures and videos they had seen of her. They could not quite tell if it was heavy, clever makeup or the real thing. The women and girls in the group were confident that they could 'tell for real' once they came face-to-face with 'Her Highness' as they referred to her behind his back. They exchanged knowing glances as he looked at his watch often. To his many texts over two days asking about the details of her flight, arrival time, if the flight was on time, if it was raining or if she need to be picked up, she had replied with one brief message just before she boarded her flight. It read - "I'll be there at your place about 5.30" . It seemed like he was the eager chaser and she was playing it cool or was hesitant.
They were his family and friends who were happy to see him finding happiness after a few disappointing experiences. All were hoping he would find his soulmate and settle down in life finally.
There was a knock on the front door. Everyone froze and turned to see him, He grabbed the flowers he had kept ready, walked to the door, straightened himself, took a deep breath and opened the door. She walked in, her voice and perfume preceding her. She looked regal and elegant as she planted a restrained kiss lightly on his lips even as she caught sight of the others looking. He hugged her clumsily with flowers still in one hand. He forgot to give them to her - apparently everything planned gone out the window upon seeing her. As he took her coat, he realized he had the flowers still in his hand getting in the way. He gave them to her as she was taking off her shoes.
Everyone greeted her and introduced themselves or he introduced them to her. They offered her a drink and asked her to sit down for a while before heading to the dining room. As he took her hand and walked her to the couch and sat her down, his niece brought up a drink of warm hot-chocolate.
"We were told you like this. Dinner is ready whenever you are," said the niece smiling.
She smiled and thanked the girl as she took the mug,"Oh! Thank you! Seems like you all know a lot about me!"
Her worldly-wise eyes scanned the room once again slowly resting briefly on each face for a couple of seconds. There seemed an unmistakable cold streak of steel in her look. More than one person felt that sudden surprise when meeting her gaze.There was a faint mark of a scar on one side of her lips that seemed heavily under makeup. For a moment, at a certain angle and in some light, it gave a hint of something mysterious and fearsome. However, she was apparently skillful in presenting herself very attractively.She did not seem to be the soft, innocent Princess as described by her blind-in-love admirer.
"Definitely the heavy makeup, not the original look!" was the thought passing through some of the women's minds and it was concurred upon among them afterwards.
Everyone watched as she sipped her drink and reclined her back just a little.
"You must be tired, dear! Work, the flight and straight here. Sorry, we could not give you more time to relax and unwind, but our annual family dinner is today!" his mother said kindly.
"Some days are like that. I'll be fine," the Princess said smiling, "I guess it is an important dinner in your family. I am glad I could make it. He really wanted me to come."
Her eager suitor watched her as she drank from her cup and the conversation around the room picked up to a low background chatter that let them talk to each other without feeling that everyone was watching or listening only to them. There were still a few eyes watching though.
"How are you? What happened? I was worried not hearing from you for the past two days. I was relieved when I got your message saying you will come. I wondered if you were not well or something had happened to you," he said speaking softer than usual and despite his best efforts a slight whiff of reproach seemed to escape him and seep into his tone.
"I was too busy, darling! I could not find the time to sit and write back to you in detail. That's how it is with business often," she seemed to sense his reproach and put him back on the defensive quickly with a slight testiness to her voice. He started feeling a bit guilty.
"You all must be hungry. Thank you for waiting for me. I will quickly freshen up and join you if you all want to go ahead," she continued, slightly raising her voice but dripping honey.
Her beau was immediately impressed by her kindness and thoughtfulness towards others that everyone could see. He enthusiastically showed her the way to the restroom. She returned to join them for an excellent dinner and a great time.
The relationship grew and they soon got married and had children.
Ten years later....
He sat down on the steps of the courthouse, bitter, angry and hurt. It had been an acrimonious divorce. It would be difficult for him to trust anyone for a long time, mostly himself and his own judgement. How could he not have seen such a terrible, ugly side to her for so long? His life was a mess and so were the lives of their three children. He would have to somehow pull himself up and get on with life, at least for the sake of the little ones. He had to learn to be wiser and happy in the future, to show his kids it was possible. The toughest struggle had just begun...
Fork 2:
They all could not wait to meet his girlfriend for the first time in person. She was expected any moment now, arriving straight from the airport having just returned from a business trip. He was trying to act relaxed but was busy setting up the dinner table and giving endless touches to spruce up his place for his 'Princess' .
They had all seen her pictures and heard him rave about her - her beauty and all the great qualities that were so obvious to him that he thought anyone could 'see' them visually as he did. They had all smiled at the way he described her or talked about her. He would say things like - "You should _see_ her kindness" or "You should have _seen_ her cleverness in dealing with.." or "I could _see_ her innocent helplessness and so I jumped in to help".
"We look forward to _seeing_ the sweetness of her voice and _seeing _ her intoxicating fragrance," his sister had joked behind his back, setting off giggles when he had left the room once.
To them, she had looked reasonably attractive in the pictures and videos they had seen of her. They could not quite tell if it was heavy, clever makeup or the real thing. The women and girls in the group were confident that they could 'tell for real' once they came face-to-face with 'Her Highness' as they referred to her behind his back. They exchanged knowing glances as he looked at his watch often. To his many texts over two days asking about the details of her flight, arrival time, if the flight was on time, if it was raining or if she need to be picked up, she had replied with one brief message just before she boarded her flight. It read - "I'll be there at your place about 5.30" . It seemed like he was the eager chaser and she was playing it cool or was hesitant.
They were his family and friends who were happy to see him finding happiness after a few disappointing experiences. All were hoping he would find his soulmate and settle down in life finally.
There was a knock on the front door. Everyone froze and turned to see him, He grabbed the flowers he had kept ready, walked to the door, straightened himself, took a deep breath and opened the door. She walked in, her voice and perfume preceding her. She looked regal and elegant as she planted a restrained kiss lightly on his lips even as she caught sight of the others looking. He hugged her clumsily with flowers still in one hand. He forgot to give them to her - apparently everything planned gone out the window upon seeing her. As he took her coat, he realized he had the flowers still in his hand getting in the way. He gave them to her as she was taking off her shoes.
Everyone greeted her and introduced themselves or he introduced them to her. They offered her a drink and asked her to sit down for a while before heading to the dining room. As he took her hand and walked her to the couch and sat her down, his niece brought up a drink of warm hot-chocolate.
"We were told you like this. Dinner is ready whenever you are," said the niece smiling.
She smiled and thanked the girl as she took the mug,"Oh! Thank you! Seems like you all know a lot about me!"
Her worldly-wise eyes scanned the room once again slowly resting briefly on each face for a couple of seconds. There seemed an unmistakable cold streak of steel in her look. More than one person felt that sudden surprise when meeting her gaze.There was a faint mark of a scar on one side of her lips that seemed heavily under makeup. For a moment, at a certain angle and in some light, it gave a hint of something mysterious and fearsome. However, she was apparently skillful in presenting herself very attractively.She did not seem to be the soft, innocent Princess as described by her blind-in-love admirer.
"Definitely the heavy makeup, not the original look!" was the thought passing through some of the women's minds and it was concurred upon among them afterwards.
Everyone watched as she sipped her drink and reclined her back just a little.
"You must be tired, dear! Work, the flight and straight here. Sorry, we could not give you more time to relax and unwind, but our annual family dinner is today!" his mother said kindly.
"Some days are like that. I'll be fine," the Princess said smiling, "I guess it is an important dinner in your family. I am glad I could make it. He really wanted me to come."
Her eager suitor watched her as she drank from her cup and the conversation around the room picked up to a low background chatter that let them talk to each other without feeling that everyone was watching or listening only to them. There were still a few eyes watching though.
"How are you? What happened? I was worried not hearing from you for the past two days. I was relieved when I got your message saying you will come. I wondered if you were not well or something had happened to you," he said speaking softer than usual and despite his best efforts a slight whiff of reproach seemed to escape him and seep into his tone.
" Oh, darling! You were worried about me? I did not realize that. I am sorry. I was too busy. I did not find the time to sit and write back to you in detail so I just put it off. That's how I am often with the business," she seemed to sense his being torn between not appearing too pushy and his genuine concern. He looked a bit hurt.
"Sweetheart, I am sorry, I know I should have and I promise I will make time to drop a quick line atleast, the next time," she promised, squeezing his hand. He was mollified.
"You all must be hungry. Thank you for waiting for me. I will quickly freshen up and join you if you all want to go ahead," she continued, slightly raising her voice but with sweetness.
Her beau was immediately impressed by her kindness and thoughtfulness towards others that everyone could see. He enthusiastically showed her the way to the restroom. She returned to join them for an excellent dinner and a great time.
The relationship grew and they soon got married and had children.
Thirty years later....
They were celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary. Their children had gathered for a family dinner. They all fondly recollected the first family dinner in which their mother was introduced to the family. Everyone was thankful for their fate and getting together .
Some of the best years together were still ahead of them. The fun had just continued and some of the best had just begun...
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
All rights reserved
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