Chapter 12 – Coincidences
1228 Words
Sleep never came easily that night.
Mira lay awake, staring at the ceiling while the stranger's words echoed in her mind.
"You dropped this yesterday."
He had returned her charcoal pencil.
A pencil she hadn't even realized she had lost until she searched her bag later that evening.
She told herself it was nothing.
He had simply found it in the gallery.
Nothing more.
Yet she couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling that followed her back to the hostel.
Who was he?
Why did he always seem to appear at the right moment?
And why did every conversation with him leave her with more questions than answers?
With a sigh, she turned onto her side and finally closed her eyes.
---
Monday morning arrived with gray skies hanging over campus.
Professor Adeyemi had moved the Fine Art class to eight o'clock, which meant nearly everyone looked half asleep.
Mira slipped into her seat just before the lecture began.
"You actually made it."
She looked up.
Ethan dropped into the chair beside her with a grin.
"Barely."
"You look tired."
"I couldn't sleep."
"Too much painting?"
"Too much thinking."
Before Ethan could ask another question, Professor Adeyemi entered the room.
The conversations stopped immediately.
He stood in front of the class with his usual calm expression.
"Good morning."
"Good morning, sir."
Without another word, he began walking slowly between the easels.
"As artists," he said, "we often become attached to what we create."
He stopped beside a student's canvas.
"But sometimes..."
He looked around the room.
"...we become attached to the stories behind them instead."
Mira's eyes drifted toward her own painting of the old gallery.
She wasn't sure why, but Professor Adeyemi's words felt directed at her.
When class ended, he paused beside her easel.
"The gallery painting is coming along nicely."
"Thank you, sir."
"You've visited it more than once."
It wasn't a question.
Mira nodded.
"Yes."
Professor Adeyemi remained quiet for a moment.
Then he simply said,
"Some places are easier to enter than they are to leave."
Before she could ask what he meant, he walked away.
---
"What was that about?" Ethan asked as he packed his brushes.
"I don't know."
"He talks in riddles."
Mira smiled faintly.
"Maybe that's why everyone listens."
They left the studio together.
Outside, students hurried between lectures while others relaxed beneath the large trees surrounding the courtyard.
"You've been distracted lately," Ethan said.
"Have I?"
"You have."
She looked at him.
"You've asked me the same question three times this morning."
"I did?"
He laughed.
"See?"
She sighed.
"I've just been thinking."
"About your project?"
She hesitated.
"...Yes."
It wasn't exactly a lie.
---
After lunch, Mira decided to spend the afternoon in the library.
She wanted to research the history of the Fine Art department.
Maybe she would find something about the gallery.
Or perhaps something that explained why Professor Adeyemi always seemed uncomfortable whenever it was mentioned.
She found another old yearbook and settled into a quiet corner.
Page after page revealed exhibitions, award ceremonies, and graduating classes.
Then she stopped.
There it was.
A photograph of the gallery during an exhibition years ago.
The room looked alive.
Students smiled proudly beside their paintings.
Professor Adeyemi stood in the center of the group.
Mira leaned closer.
There was another young man standing only a few steps away from him.
His face was partly hidden by another student, making it impossible to recognize him.
She frowned.
Something about the picture felt important.
But before she could study it further—
"Excuse me."
She looked up.
The librarian smiled apologetically.
"We're closing this section for cleaning."
"Oh... okay."
Reluctantly, Mira closed the book.
"I'll come back tomorrow."
---
By the time she stepped outside, the afternoon sun had softened.
Instead of returning to her hostel immediately, she wandered toward the botanical garden.
The peaceful atmosphere usually helped her think.
She sat beneath a large tree and opened her sketchbook.
Children from the nearby primary school laughed beyond the fence while birds hopped between the branches above her.
For the first time all day, she felt relaxed.
"You're drawing trees today."
Mira looked up.
The stranger stood a few feet away.
She blinked.
"You really have a habit of surprising people."
"I didn't mean to."
"You always say that."
He smiled slightly.
"I suppose I do."
She looked around.
"I thought you preferred the gallery."
"I like quiet places."
"So do I."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then he nodded toward her sketchbook.
"May I see?"
Mira hesitated.
Normally she never showed unfinished work.
But for some reason...
She handed it to him.
He turned the pages carefully, studying each sketch without saying a word.
Finally, he closed it.
"You draw places the way other people draw faces."
She tilted her head.
"What does that mean?"
"You make them feel alive."
His answer caught her off guard.
No one had ever described her work that way.
"Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment."
She laughed softly.
"No?"
"It was an observation."
---
The breeze grew stronger.
Leaves danced across the path between them.
"You still won't tell me your name?" Mira asked.
The stranger looked toward the sky.
"Not today."
"You enjoy being mysterious."
"I enjoy taking my time."
She shook her head.
"I've never met anyone like you."
"I've heard that before."
"Is that a good thing?"
"I haven't decided."
For the first time, Mira noticed something different.
His smile never quite reached his eyes.
It was there...
But it disappeared too quickly.
Almost as if he had forgotten how to smile naturally.
The thought stayed with her.
---
Her phone buzzed.
A message from Lily.
Where are you? Dinner starts in twenty minutes!
"I should go," Mira said, slipping her phone into her bag.
The stranger nodded.
"You'll come back here."
She looked at him.
"Maybe."
"You will."
She frowned.
"How are you so sure?"
"I have a feeling."
She laughed.
"You're impossible."
Without waiting for an answer, she waved goodbye and headed toward the hostel.
Halfway down the path, she turned back.
The bench was empty.
The stranger had disappeared.
Again.
---
That evening, the hostel buzzed with conversation.
Lily was already eating when Mira entered.
"You've been disappearing a lot lately."
"Have I?"
"Yes."
"You sound like Ethan."
Lily raised an eyebrow.
"So Ethan noticed too?"
Mira froze.
"I didn't mean—"
Lily laughed.
"I'm joking."
Mira rolled her eyes and sat down.
"You joke too much."
"Maybe."
Lily pointed toward Mira's sketchbook.
"Still working?"
"Always."
Later that night, after Lily had fallen asleep, Mira opened her sketchbook one last time before bed.
A small piece of paper slipped onto her blanket.
She frowned.
She didn't remember placing anything inside.
She unfolded it.
There were only four words.
Finish what you started.
No signature.
No explanation.
Mira stared at the note.
Maybe she had written it herself and forgotten.
Maybe it had been tucked between the pages for weeks.
She wanted to believe that.
She folded the note carefully and placed it back inside the sketchbook.
Outside her window, the campus was quiet.
Too quiet.
Somewhere in the darkness, unseen by Mira, a lone figure stood beneath the trees surrounding the hostel.
Watching the lights in her room.
Waiting.
And when her lamp finally went out...
The figure turned and disappeared into the night.
- Writer
