In defence of coincidences…

Sometimes you read a story where something happens and you just think to yourself: “No way this could happen! It’s just too much of a coincidence.”Most of the time I agree with you. I want to read believable stories or at least for the writer to convince me. But sometimes strange things happen. Just like that.

Let me show what I mean.

Story number one:

The first one involves my cousin-in-law (fine, my wife’s cousin, you know what I mean). He is from Brazil, just like her, but has been living in London for the past ten or so years. He was taking the tube back home from the gym one night, wearing shorts in spite of the November cold. He hears behind him two people talking in Portuguese, saying how he is crazy for wearing shorts. This man, being who he is, strikes up a conversation for them. “Oh you’re also from Brazil?” They’re all from Brazil. All fine and dandy. “So what town are you from?” “Wow, Salvador?” They all come from the same city? Sure I can buy it. “So which part of town?” Now I don’t remember what the part of town is called but it was the same. They laugh. “So what building?”

Soooo… it turns out these two people lived in the apartment underneath the one where wife’s cousin had lived!

I mean, what are the odds?

Story number two:

My wife was going to fly from Brazil to Britain where we lived a few years ago. She was going to change flights in both Lisbon and London, like one does. Her father tells her, “oh, my cousin is flying to Portugal this month, maybe you’ll meet her!” My wife, being the cynic she is, probably replied something like “yeah, sure, out of all the flights in all of August, I’ll probably see her.”

Now, wife (well, she was girlfriend then, but you know) didn’t even know her father’s cousin. They’d never even met before.

The day comes, she boards the flight with assistance (we were minors then) and the flight attendant take her to her seat, says her full name and gives her some information. Once she leaves, the woman in the seat next to her opens her mouth. Of course it’s the dad’s cousin. She brought out family photos and apparently talked all the way to Portugal.

 

 

Sure, this is all anecdotal, but all stories like these are. And haven’t we all encountered strange coincidences to certain degrees?

Now maybe how the characters in my newest story “Under the Fallen Star” meet is too coincidental, too strange, too perfect. But I stand by it. In my world, it’s within the realm of possibilities.

How did they meet, you ask? Well, I’m not completely ready to share that with you yet. But soon enough you’ll know, don’t worry.