Domino

Her eyes were covered with blood when she went out the car trying to understand what was happening; she had not seen the traffic light turning red because her mind had been occupied remembering Caribbean beaches in dismal colours. Panic made her blind to reality, her body was moving like a dizzy sleepwalker. Clients in the nearest coffeehouse were front row observers of the accident. One of them stood up on her heels as soon as she could distinguish the victims's features, forgetting about her mocha coffee and the messages she was sending on the phone. Destiny was playing again with both women, who had been apart from each other for months. A worried heart run across the street and touched the injured blonde, confirming that she really was the woman who once said goodbye with flikering voice.

Two blocks away from this reencounter, a bored boy was still waiting for his mother. His patience was decreasing as his smartphone battery was. He had received a message from her twenty minutes ago, but the coffeeshop and his school were only ten minutes on foot away! "What is she doing?", he wondered. The boy felt independent enough to go home by his own --He would be eleven in a week! This reckless adverturer decided to amble through the park so he could find some pigeons to scare. He saw no birds but a beautiful great dane, as big as a horse, which looked affable. The boy decided to get closer while he figured out if his new friend would bite a mouthful of his hand.

"Society has gone crazy", he thought, tired of reading pages filled with alarmist news. He fold the printed sheets and raised his old eyes just to see a freckled boy coming near the dog. Curious children were one of the worst parts of owning a pet, apart from having to pick its shit up and removing mites from its ears. He looked at the boy once again --there was something familiar in his face. Every year in our existence is a collection of faces coming and going away; we will not remember them but for a exclusive number. The redhead boy resembled one of those few faces which had signed the guestbook of the old men's life with a very meaningful dedication before leaving. Bittersweet memories came to his mind while he searched his pockets for a piece of paper as creased as his old hands. The fire-colour haired boy was melting the strongest decision ever made by those weak bones.

Twelve days later, on the other side of the ocean, a young woman was admiring the funny contrast between greenish waters and her fiancé's orange hair while they were diving, trying to relax, two days before the wedding. He was the insecure and desperate kind of man she had always looked for when trying to find an assured source of money. She would finally escape from her past even if she had to pretend enjoying having sex with a man; this downside was nothing compared to the life that would devour her the minute she decided to come back to her 40-square meter urban cave. The woman would shead tears in no other nieghbourhood ever again; her desire for true happiness had been worn away by those salty drops. In few days, they would be married, come back to London and enjoy a mirage shaped as a Victorian terraced house. 

Two months had gone by since he sent all the wedding invitations, but there were no news from his father, who may have moved to another address leaving one unread letter inside a rusted postbox... It was better not to think about this lost cause; he had promised himself he would accept the turn of events and stop wondering if he should get married or not. The solution for his loneliness was pretty, after all! Apart from the wedding invitation, he had also written a note explaining his father they could live together again if the old man forgave the selfish and greedy behaviour of his son. Unless this happened, he would marry the blond viper who was swimming next to him, as he did not want to be alone the rest of his life. 

Suddenly, the young couple heard some barks coming from the shore of the beach. They saw, in the short distance, a great dane near an old man who carried a little suitcase and was grabbing a creased apology note. After recognising his father, he turned his head, looked at her eyes in silence for a few seconds, and swam away. They had already talked about this unlikely possibility. There was no need to explain anything; she knew it was the last time she would see that wealthy redhead. The blonde took a deep breath, tried to forget about her disarrayed apartment and looked around her, trying to capture the beauty of Caribbean beaches as a mental souvenir to contemplate once she came back to her miserable life, trapped in endless bad luck.