Touching the Hand of Fate (2nd Place)

The bustling New York City sidewalk left no room for dawdling. Kara ducked in and out of people as she punched buttons on her cell to send texts to her staff. Cars honking, people screaming, bits of passing conversation, and the constant flash of lights made concentrating on her message all that more difficult. She pressed send only to come to a crashing halt with a guy carrying nachos. Cheese lapped down her business suit and her high heel snapped. She tumbled to the dirty cement in a heap.

“I’m so sorry.” The dark complected gentleman said.

“Ohhhh, just look at me!”

“Are you hurt?”

“No. But a six hundred dollar suit and my best pair of shoes are.” Kara seethed.

“Seems we both weren’t looking where we were going.”

Kara shot him a venomous stare. Her nerves frayed after a meeting in which her proposal was beaten out, she was in no mood. The gentleman offered his hand, and she slipped her hand in his, and stood.

“I’ll pay for the dry cleaning.”

“Fine. I’ll text you the amount and where to send payment.”

After exchanging numbers, Kara walked barefoot to her office building, rode the elevator to the eighth floor and beelined to her office. She slammed the door and melted down in a harrowing of sobs. The pressure of this job is just not worth it.

After a minute of hysterics, her phone rang. She peeked at the display – “Dad”. She sucked up some tears, composed herself, and answered as brightly as she could muster.

“Hello, Daddy.”

“Hiya punkin’. How’s my best girl?”

“I’m ok.” She replied staring down at the cheese sauce down her front.

“You don’t sound real chipper today. Something wrong?”

“Just work. My proposal didn’t win.”

“Keep your chin up. You’ll get ‘em next time. You still coming up to the cabin this next week?”

“Oh, Daddy. I can’t. We have another shot at a big contract two weeks out. I’ll be swamped.”

Silence ensued for a few seconds. “I see. Doesn’t anyone else work there besides you?”

“Daddy, you know I’ve worked hard for the past nine years to get to ad vice president. I have a lot of responsibilities now. I take vacation here and there and sometimes a full week, but it’s just so difficult to squeeze everything in. You understand don’t you?”

“Yeah. I just miss my little girl. As I stated before, maybe next time. If you change your mind, your mother, brother, and me will arrive Monday afternoon. We’ll be there for two weeks, as usual.”

“Sorry, Daddy. I love you.”

“Love you too, punkin’.”

“Bye.”

Kara closed the phone, set it on her desk, and twirled around to admire the view from her new office. The cars looked like weird caterpillars snaking into the distance. Kara looked at her reflection in the window. I look terrible. I wish I could get away to the cabin. I have such good memories from there. Kara’s mind wandered to a simpler time, and she touched the window’s glass in reflection.

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Her Father’s face above her, Kara lay in her bed pretending to be asleep. He kissed her on the forehead, and put his lips to Kara’s ear.

“Faker,” he whispered.

Kara giggled and writhed in bed from her father tickling her sides. They both had broad smiles as Kara stared into her father’s shining eyes, twinkling in the moonlight.

"Can you tell me a story, Daddy?”

“Not tonight. We have a big day tomorrow planned. So, you need to get lots of rest.”

“Ok. G’night.”

Kara hugged her father tight and watched him slip out of the room.

Kara lay examining the old cabin’s wood ceiling. They stayed here every summer, and she loved every moment. Images of hiking to the gorge and looking out at the ocean of pines filled her head. She longed to smell the pines and feel the crisp, cool air on her skin.

Her eyes drifted to the window, and almost without thinking, she found herself sliding up the large pane. The cold air rushed in, smacked her tiny face, and pierced her pajamas. She gathered several red pillows and placed them on the sill. The breeze played with the transparent, white curtains as she centered herself and looked out at the tall Eastern White pines. Bathed in moonlight, she sat admiring the flowering dogwood by the long lane. Twinkling stars covered the sky like diamonds on a velvet backdrop. The soft chirp of crickets sang her to sleep.

“Kara? Kara? Wake up now.”

“What happened?”

“You fell asleep, dear.” Her father replied.

“Where are we?”

“At the cabin, silly girl. Why would you ask such a thing?”

“I had the strangest dream.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I dreamed I was a grownup in New York City, and I made up the commercials on TV. I had a really big office, but I was crying.”

“Why?”

“Someone didn’t like my ideas, and on the sidewalk somebody spilled cheese all down my outfit.”

“That is strange. Now climb down from that sill. You really shouldn’t be using all those throw pillows as a bed. The night air will cause you to catch cold.”

“There’s more. She looked out the window at all the people, then she thought of me. Right here, in this room last night.”

“Now how could she think of you? You’re eight years old. It had to be a dream.”

“I think it was me in the future somehow.”

“You’ve been watching too many cartoons,” Her father stated as his finger wagged in the air. “Your future is whatever you make it.”

Kara pondered the statement of her father and stood in front of the full-length mirror. She reached out and rested her fingertips upon its surface, but instead of feeling the cool glass, she felt the warmth of another person’s fingertips.


Kara snatched her hand back from the window’s surface. She whispered, “How could I have forgotten?”



997 Words
Short Story Contest for PDG


2nd Place August 2010 Paper Pal Short Story Contest