Single Sketches: Some Enchanted Evenings

Single Sketches

Some Enchanted

Evenings…

by Jovan Tahale

Have you ever had a strange feeling that something was about to happen and it did.  Have you ever felt drawn by some strange force to do something out of the ordinary that was difficult to explain.  Has anyone ever predicted that something would happen to you and it did?  For some, these occurrences have been very real and there are those who believe that Fate has its way of fulfilling its purpose by letting “a chosen few” in on it before it happens.

Jody:  “While dressing one evening to go to a party with a guy I’d been seeing awhile, I suddenly lost the urge to.  I attributed my sudden lack of motivation to my feelings about my date.  He was what I called a “fill-in”. ( A term I used to categorize guys who did not fully meet my criteria for serious company).  I found I enjoyed him better when we did things that I could gain extra pleasure from like dinner or a concert.  A party with him meant being shadowed all night, which didn’t hold great appeal for me.

“However, when I reached for the phone to cancel the evening, my mood suddenly changed.  I not only wanted to go to the party, but I felt the strangest urge to dress very special.  It was so powerful that I went back in my closet and picked out my best dress that I only wore on special occasions.   Ironically, as soon as I finished dressing the phone rang, it was my date, who called to cancel because he was too ill to go.

“Minutes later, the doorbell rang and it was my brother who had a horrible habit of popping by unannounced.  I was all set to lose patience with him, until I caught sight of the guy with him.  He was so gorgeous that my words stopped in my throat.  He turned out to be my brother’s new friend from work and my husband to be.  I married him last July and on our honeymoon, he told me that as long as he lives, he’ll never forget the dress I was wearing when we met.”

Suzanne:  “I was sitting in my car one night at a light on my way home from work, when a stranger appeared out of nowhere and tapped on the passenger window.  He asked if I had a jack, because he had a flat tire.  Frightened by all the news accounts of horrible things happening on the streets to unsuspecting drivers, I pressed hard on the accelerator and sped off down the street.  As I glanced in the rear view mirror, I saw a look of pure anguish on his face.  Then suddenly, like a lightning bolt, I could hear the words of my Aunt Sibley, as if she was in the car with me.  At a family reunion last year, she gently said to me in a mystic way, “Honey, when you do meet your husband, you’ll be frightened at first, but you will quickly find that you have nothing to fear.

“Suddenly, my fear left as it had come and I turned my car around in the middle of the street as if drawn by some magnet.  When I pulled up to his car, I saw the flat and without hesitation, I got out and gave him my jack.  It turned out that he was an off-duty policeman whose tire had blown out on the freeway.  And when he smiled and thanked me for coming back, I looked into his gorgeous eyes and said a quick prayer that was almost audible, that he was the husband Aunt Sibley was talking about.  And he was.  I married him a year later.”

Kelly:  “One night I was sitting in the car with a guy I’d been involved with for two years and out of the blue, he told me he couldn’t see me anymore.  He said he was going away to make a needed change in his life.  I was so stunned, I couldn’t speak.  I almost choked at the thought of him leaving my life forever.  I felt shattered inside.  I had always hoped we would be married and I knew our families felt the same way.

“But suddenly, as he continued to talk of his plans and his future, a peace I can never explain came over me.  My anger dissolved and my spirit began to lift.  I had a peace that seemed to reassure me that though he was leaving, he would be back.  And in spite of what he was saying, I was to wait for him.  When I got out of his car, I felt bewildered, but calm.  And that calm lasted until he returned eighteen months later and asked me to be his wife.”