Well, many have been the guesses as to what the fortune cookie could possibly have (or not have) in store for me, both by myself, and others. Often, I find it hard to relate oracles to their specific prophesies, but in this case, I am quite sure that the fortune cookie had something to do with what happened to me a few days ago as I drove home from work.
It was a sunny mid-Texas afternoon. As I drove home, I kept thinking about my neighbor's dog. It's a large one, and it has a vicious bark. In fact, it uses its vicious bark every time I take a step out on the back patio. The beast looks at me through the slits in the fence, and communicates to me in forms yet unknown that even though I pay $375 a month for the bedroom of the house I live in, I am not worthy to even think of stepping foot on the back porch of the aforementioned house; therefore, I am condemned to die, and marked accordingly so in its eyes. There is not a time I step outside that I do not see, hear, and feel its hatred for me. Except for this past Saturday.
This past Saturday, I stepped outside, braced for the onslaught of impending doom. However, it was not there. I peered through the broken fence slat my would-be predator has recently destroyed, and saw the strangest thing I've seen in a while. The four legged minotaur had a large red frisbee in its grasp, and pranced around, as 3 children, barely a few inches taller than itself, clumsily chased after it. The dog did not even care I was there. It was barely aware of my presence.
Such was the scene in my mind as I drove home from work. I thought of how ridiculous the creature looked, this same creature that, if a few more slats become broken, will most likey become the death of me. Its terrible snarl was replaced with a sloppy grin, and the eyes of the devil himself were transformed with kindness and curiosity. Not curiosity as in 'When can I book your date with death?' but of a simpler kind, one that wonders when the next miniature hand will attempt to grab the frisbee.
It was then that my thought process was interrupted. I was at a stoplight, and the kids in the bus in front of me were laughing and pointing at me. Immediately, out of nowhere, a large black kid pulled his pants down and stuck his crack against the back window, pointing it in my general direction. After a few seconds he pulled his pants up and sat back down in his seat, as all the kids began to laugh and point at me. The combination of the silly image of the dog in my mind, combined with the visual scar I'd just been dealt, left me stunned. I didn't know what to do.
In retrospect, I've realized that that exact situation was exactly what the cookie had intended. When I first opened the cookie, I'd had the same reaction as I felt when the kid mooned me. I'd felt stunned, dismayed, confused, etc.
Thus, I've come to the realization that we do indeed create our own destinies. A wise philosopher once said: "...your fate is not sealed. The fortune cookie is an omen that you have the power to choose - to write your own fortune..." I'm surprised that it has taken me this long in life to realize it, but that's how life is. Sometimes, you have to wait a while before the tri-force can combine. In my case, it was a cookie with no fortune, a beast that was not a beast, and a big black crack. In others, who knows? All we can do is keep our eyes open for portents such as these.
p.s. If you don't know what a portent is, look it up. Don't worry, I had to too.
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