Coincidences And Premonitions

Todd woke up earlier than usual the next morning - Friday, and he was ravenous. The leftover pizza last night wasn't enough to stave off this mornings hunger pangs so he decided to go into town for a real breakfast before heading for the park. Top down, he drove across the bridge to a little diner that he frequented. Sally, the waitress, knew his breakfast order by heart and the plate of food hit the table before he finished the orange juice that was already sitting there when he walked through the door. On the way back to the causeway bridge after breakfast he passed by a little jewelry store that his Chinese friend owned. Wang was just going inside to open for the day. Todd had a fleeting thought, turned the car around and parked in front of his little shop. Then he retrieved the Saint Christopher necklace from the glove box and went inside.

"Morning, Wang, can you do a quick engraving job while I wait?"

"Good morning, Todd, I think so. Let me turn on lights."

Todd handed the little Chinaman the small medal.

"What you want here? Not much, I think. Too small."

"How about two first names?"

"Yeah, easy. Plenty room for that. Anything else?"

"What is there room for, Wang?"

"That your decision. Date, maybe? Small heart?"

"Okay, let me draw it out." Todd took a note pad from the counter and spelled out Carole's name on top and his on the bottom with two intertwined hearts between. He handed the notepad to Wang.

"Sure thing. I do that real quick. How 'bout you get us some coffee from Dunkin' Donuts next door. I almost be finished when you get back. Black, please."

"Okay, back in a minute. Hey, don't forget the 'e' on Carole."

"Okay, I do just like you spell here."

Five minutes later Todd returned with the coffee and Wang was almost finished. "There, how that?"

"That's perfect, Wang."

"That is cheesy box. Let me get you better one." Wang opened a drawer and produced a nice, royal blue, flip top box with a gold Chinese dragon on the top and velvet lining inside. "There, you no look like cheapskate now," said the old man, smiling.

"Great, Wang. What do I owe you?"

"How 'bout fi' dollar since you bought coffee."

"Great." Todd gave Wang his money and the two men chatted for a few minutes while they finished their coffees.

"Bye, Wang. Thanks a lot." Wang waved as goodbye and resumed opening up his shop..

Todd drove off, noting there was just enough time to get to the park and set up the concession stand for the day. The weather guy predicted thundershowers for the afternoon so he put the top up on the Miata after he parked. The parking lot was practically empty this early in the morning and there was no one on the beach as Todd opened for business.

Half an hour later people started arriving and customers showed up. Todd was putting hot dogs in the cooker when Carole appeared, sporting a floppy straw hat, dark glasses, cute yellow and orange sun dress and a big beach bag. "Hi there," she said with a smile and sitting down at one of the picnic tables.

"Good morning, sunshine. Aren't you pretty."

"Thanks. Ya' get my note?"

"Yeah, I sure did. Wow, Carole, you continue to flatter me. I'm impressed that you found my place."

"It was easy enough. Kinda' hard to hide a red convertible around here." She smiled.

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, I only have one thing to do Monday. Gotta run the car up to the Mazda dealer for a recall fix. They have the part and it will only take a few minutes. You can go along if you want. Other than that I'm free all day."

"You'll go right through Havelock, then. You could pick me up there and save me a bus ride."

"Carole, I don't have a base sticker. They won't let me simply drive in. Maybe your dad would sign me aboard as my sponsor."

Carole looked at Todd quizzically, her head cocked to the side. "Errrr, I don't think that would be a good idea, Todd. Know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I think I get the message. So, if you can get to the main gate I can pick you up there."

"Sure, that will work. Will we go back to the beach from there?"

"Whatever you want to do. I have no schedule after the car thing. We'll have the rest of the day."

Carole smiled and stood up. There was a momentary lull in customers and she walked over to Todd and gave him a little hug and a quick kiss. "Thank you, Todd. I halfway expected you to tell me to go away and not come back and I'm so glad you didn't. Thanks so much."

"Here, sweet girl, I have something for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blue box with the dragon emblem. He handed it to her.

"Oh, wow," she said, taking the box from Todd's hand. "Can I open it now?"

"Sure, it's something for you to wear."

Carole slowly opened the box and took out the necklace, beaming from ear to ear. "Oh, Todd, it's so nice." She turned the medal over and read the engraving. When she looked up Carole had tears running down her cheeks. " Omigod, I don't believe this. It's precious and you can't possibly know what it means to me, you really have no idea. Thank you so very much, Todd."

"Hey, it's a good luck charm, Carole. Nothing to get emotional over." Todd took his thumbs and wiped her tears away. She took a Kleenex from her bag and did the same, smiling at him as she did so.

"I'm speechless, Todd. Thanks again."

"Here, let's put it on." Todd took the necklace and placed it carefully around Carole's neck. "There, just for you." Carole took Todd in her arms and gave him a long hug and he hugged her back. "Looks good."

Just then customers came in and the lunchtime rush started in earnest. The little stand stayed very busy until closing time. Carole helped out where she could and Todd took orders, put food and drinks together, and ran the cash register. Todd noticed that Carole seemed pensive the rest of the afternoon.

Carole busied herself wiping off the tables when she suddenly looked up at the clock. "Omigod, Todd, I've missed the bus. We were so busy and I totally lost track of the time. " In the parking lot the last bus of the day was just pulling away.

"That's okay, Carole, I can run you home - well, at least to the main gate. No problem."

"I hate to ask you to do that but I have to get home to help my dad get ready for a trip. He's going to Memphis for a few days to an aviation accident seminar that he goes to every year. I can ride the bus to my house from the main gate and he won't know the difference."

"All right. Let me shut down here and we'll get going. Did you bring a scarf 'cause that hat won't stay on your head with the top down. Your hair will go everywhere without something on your head. We can run by my place and get you a bandana or something. It will only take a minute."

"You're just trying to get me alone in your apartment, you scoundrel" Carole said, laughing.

"Hey, that was your thought, not mine. Now that you mention it, though, I think it sounds like a great idea."

"You're a dirty old man in disguise. I knew it all along."

"Well, I'm not that old." Carole laughed and Todd put his arm around her shoulders. She playfully pushed him away as they walked toward the parking lot, bantering and teasing as they went. They put the top down, got in the car and headed down the beach road with Carole holding her hair with both hands over her head until they pulled into the driveway.

"I'll be right back," said Todd.

"Can I see inside? It looks like a neat place."

"Sure, if you'd like. It's small but it's just right for me."

The two kids went up the steps and Todd unlocked the glass door. "After, you, pretty lady."

"Oh, Todd, this is so cool. I bet you love to sit out here and look at the water."

"Sure do, and walk on the beach, drink a beer, listen to music. So much nicer than my place in Raleigh. Go in and look around."

Carole went inside and immediately saw the two pictures on the mirror. Her hand went up to her mouth as she turned to face Todd, a look of utter amazement on her face. "How did you do that? We look like we are together but those are two totally separate pictures."

"I didn't do anything, Carole. It's one of those freaky things that is simply coincidence. Even the shadows match up so they were taken at nearly the same time of day. Look at the date stamps on the pictures. They were taken nearly two weeks apart."

"That's not all, Todd. Do you have a scissors?"

"Yes, but for what?" You're not going to cut up my pictures, are you?"

"Well, sort of, at least the one I gave you. I still have that same picture in my camera so I can get you another one real easy --- but I see something else here."

Todd rummaged through the kitchen drawer and produced a pair of scissors that he handed over the counter to Carole. She took her picture off the mirror and trimmed away some of the border from the side adjacent to Todd's picture.

"Look at this," she said, laying her picture on top of Todd's. "Look at our hands." Amazingly, it looked like Todd and Carole were actually holding hands. The backgrounds matched up perfectly, too.

"Carole, this is freaky. Can you imagine trying to make this happen in real time? It would be almost impossible to get such a perfect match even if that was your goal. Here are two pictures, made weeks apart, of two different people in exactly the same space who appear to be holding each others hands. I can't begin to figure the odds of this happening completely at random."

Todd looked at Carole who was staring intently at him and shaking her head, a look of utter amazement on her face and fondling the Saint Christopher medal on her new necklace. They locked eyes and stood there, almost expressionless. Slowly they came closer and kissed, long and passionately.

Still holding him with her head on his shoulder she said, "I want to stay here with you tonight, Todd, more than anything you can imagine, but I absolutely can't. I have to help dad pack. We can continue this on Monday. I think you'll understand better then."

"Understand what, Carole? Do you know something I don't?"

"No, I can't begin to explain what's going on with me - with us - right now. I need some space to think about things and we can talk more about it on Monday." She hugged Todd tightly and pulled him toward the door. "C'mon, let's get me home." Carole made a 'do rag' from Todd's red bandana and tied it around her head as they got in the car.

With the top down the wind noise made conversation nearly impossible. As they pulled up to the stoplight on the far side of the bridge Carole reached over and grasped Todd by the arm. "Todd, Todd, let's go the back way. Please?"

"We're already in the left turn lane, Carole and it's not rush hour anymore. It takes the same time either way."

"Todd, no, no, please, let's go through Beaufort." She was insistent.

Todd noticed an urgency in her voice that confused him. It was no big deal either way so he maneuvered across two lanes to a right turn lane. Fortunately, there were only a few cars waiting at the light so they made the transition easily. When the light turned green they turned right onto the main street. Carole sat quietly during the ride through downtown Morehead City and then Beaufort. Only when they got on the back road for the twenty mile ride to Havelock did she seem to relax. She reached over and put her hand on Todd's thigh and he covered her hand with his, turning to smile at her and gently squeezing her hand. A few minutes later they pulled into the parking area beside the Cherry Point Main Gate. The bus wouldn't get here for another ten minutes so they sat in the car talking.

Todd's curiosity got the best of him, "What was all that back at the light, going through Beaufort instead of up the main highway?"

"I honestly don't know, Todd. Something told me we needed to go the back way."

Strange answer, he thought and he shrugged. Carole sensed his discomfort.

"I confuse you sometime, don't I?" She rubbed his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm beginning to think we have a communication problem."

"I think just the opposite, Todd. There's something else I need to show you and maybe will help you understand. It's truly scary. This is why I got so upset when you gave me the necklace this morning. Look here. " Carole took her camera from the beach bag in the floorboard and began to flip through the picture index. She stopped at a series of beach scenes and showed them individually to Todd.

"Hey, those are from the beach at the park."

"Yeah, this is the group of girls I was with the first time I ever saw you. Look at the date stamps."

"Okay, June 6 on all of them, taken a few minutes apart. So what?"

"Here's what, Todd. See this picture?"

"Yeah, three girls on a beach towel. These are the girls you were with and because you're taking the picture you're not in it."

"Okay, look here, drawn in the sand next to the towel. What's that?"

"It's too small, I can't see it."

"Here, I'll zoom in so you can see it better." Carole took the camera, manipulated some buttons and handed it back to Todd. "There, now what do you see?"

Todd's expression changed from curiosity to amazement. He looked over at Carole who was looking intently back at him. "Oh ---- my ---- God ! I don't believe this. How is this possible? This is exactly the same inscription that I engraved on the Saint Christopher medal this morning - not simply close, but exactly. You did something to the picture, didn't you?"

"No, Todd, I haven't touched the camera at all today. I was with you the entire day after you gave me the necklace. Besides, look at the dates and times on the other pictures before and after. They're all in sequence. And now I see something else. Look at the paper cups the girls are holding. Those are the cups left over from last season that you used up the first few days you were open. You haven't had any of those cups around for over a month. The new ones are totally different. These pictures are over a month old but the inscription on the medal was engraved this morning. How can you explain that?"

Todd looked at the picture sequences again. Every picture showed the old cups either in a girl's hand or sitting on the beach towel. That alone established the date as over a month ago. "How did you learn my name, Carole? How did you know enough about me to scratch my name in the sand along with yours and the interlocking hearts?" Todd leaned over and grasped the necklace around Carole's neck, looking at the small medal. "They are the same, Carole, the very same." Todd's face registered his confusion.

"Todd, we had only met a few minutes earlier when I wrote your name in the sand. You've probably forgotten. I came to the counter and ordered four large lemonades. You seemed more interested in looking down the front of my bathing suit than conducting business and when I asked if you squeezed the lemons by hand you broke out laughing and made some sexist comment about hand squeezing things before you told me that the lemonade was poured from a jug. At first I was pissed at you but then we made eye contact and something went off in my brain, something that shook me up. I asked your name and told you mine when you gave me change and when I looked back at you as I walked away we made eye contact and you had the most curious look on your face. That's when I knew for sure we were connected in some way I couldn't explain, a good way, Todd, a very good way. I felt it so strongly and have ever since. It was only a few minutes later that I drew that circle in the sand with our names and the hearts."

"Connected, Carole? I vaguely remember that little exchange occurring with someone but never thought more about it or realized that it was with you. So that happened over a month ago? You probably thought that I was just another summer horndog trying to score with every chick that came along."

"Yeah, sort of. At least until we made eye contact and I felt that connection thing; it was more like finally being in one anothers presence than anything else."

"My presence?"

"It's not anything I can explain but it's definitely something. We'll explore all of this on Monday. I'm totally blown away by all this, too, whatever it is? Please believe me when I say that."

A bus pulled into the parking area.

"There's your bus. Let's think about all this and talk more tomorrow at the beach"

I won't be at the beach tomorrow, Todd. I'll see my dad off in the afternoon so there won't be any time to get down. Besides, you'll be jammed all day because it's Saturday and the weather's nice. I'll be there Sunday, for sure, though." With that, Carole picked up her beach bag and got out of the car, then going to the driver's side where she bent down and gave Todd a quick kiss.

"You've given me a lot to think about, Sweet Girl."

"Me, too. Bye, Todd," she said as she headed for the bus onto the base.

Todd headed back to the beach, stopping at the 7-11 for a six pack and then at Subway for a turkey sub. Tonight he would eat on the deck and try to sort out today's events with Carole. The coincidences were real and truly mind boggling. He didn't understand them but maybe together they could find some rational explanation. As he passed in front of the hospital in Morehead City there was a cleanup crew at the railroad crossing and signs of a wreck. After a short wait a traffic cop waved him past and he headed across the causeway bridge to his little apartment.

It was much too windy to sit outside on the deck and sand was blowing everywhere so Todd moved inside to eat at the kitchen table. He turned on the TV just in time to catch the local news. Following a local car dealers commercial a talking head launched into the local news.

"A local man was killed today in Morehead City just as rush hour was over. Forty-seven year old Augustus Jacobs was pronounced dead at the scene when the vehicle he was driving failed to stop for a train at the Arendell Street crossing. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined. According to eye witnesses, the dump truck Jacobs was driving did not stop for the signal or gate and was hit by the oncoming train. West bound traffic was blocked for over an hour while cleanup crews cleared the scene. In other news ..........."

Todd sat back in his chair, a look of amazement on his face. He had returned home down the highway route back to the beach, not the back way he had taken at Carole's insistence. This news story was the same accident scene that he drove past as he was returning to the beach. Then it dawned on him. If he had turned left at the stoplight past the bridge when he and Carole were headed to Havelock, their path would have put them at that railroad crossing at almost exactly the time of the accident. Could this explain Carole's insistence that they go the back way through Beaufort? There was no possible way for her to know about this danger yet she was stubborn about not taking the highway route he had originally planned.

Then he remembered her strange reply when he asked her what prompted her to change their route. Carole's reply to his question was 'something,' indicating that she didn't know exactly what was on their potential path but only that it was was to be avoided; a gut feeling she had. Could this 'something' be that wreck or possibly a premonition that there was danger for them if they went that way?

Todd stood and walked over to the mirror over the couch, the pictures there still arranged to appear that he and Carole were holding hands. A perfect matchup with two pictures taken a month apart?

But the most confusing event was the perplexing connection between the design Carole scratched in the sand over a month ago that was exactly duplicated on the medal that Wang had inscribed for him only this morning. Todd couldn't think of a word or mechanism that might describe or explain any of this.

All of these things were in Todd's thoughts as he went to bed.