"Acquaintance."
The word was like a familiar song in my ear that I didn't knew the lyrics to—something I've heard before but never fully understood. We were classmates in 5th grade back then.
"What does that mean?"
"It means, we are more than strangers, but less than friends."
"We are not friends?"
"No, we're not."
A silence took over me before I asked again, "but do you think we'll ever be friends?"
A pause.
"I don't think so."
Sometimes, knowledge of one's future can change its course—and such heavy consequences on a mysterious woman's life were decided one day in the corner of a small, dusty market. Which future would our pair of unremarkable characters lead this mysterious woman who came asking for their guidance?