What Do You Want?

She was sitting in the corner. Sipping a latte macchiato with cinnamon. Her blue mask on the table. Covid safe ticket installed on her red velvet covered mobile phone. It did not require the owner so much work to scan the tickets of the bold visitors of the coffee bar. People get used to a lot. Human resilience tested. Again and again. Outside people were walking, in slow and fast pace, some of them wished that they could enter the bar as well. But this was wishful thinking. They were denied access. Because they refused to get vaccinated for multiple reasons. The outcast in a new modern story.

She scanned the outsiders as well. Tried to look behind their masks. Full attention on the eyes as mirrors of the soul. Some were dark as the night, others bright as the sun. And a lot in between the two extremes. Variety on street level. Noted. Small happy children without masks continued to be playful as if there was no pandemic. Maybe there was none in their world. Children still have a lot of magic in their veins. They make up their own universe of things. They do not worry too much as they know the value of the present moment without having to be told that there is such choice.

The latte was magnificent and the cookie as well. She smiled when she saw a child playing hide and seek with her daddy. What a great bond. United for life and beyond. Her daddy was the hero in her world. Everything he did was enlarged on her observation screen. When she would be older and bigger she would be just like him. Smart, beautiful and so gentle. She would marry someone like her father. The blueprint made. A dream coming true, sooner or later. The father looked with pride at his little darling. The world was hard, especially in this period where nothing was not sure anymore.

It reminded her of her own father. All the joyful moments together, the painful too. As with all there was a balance. To seek and to find. Peacefully she wrote him a text saying ‘I love you and mom’. Her mother was the most elegant type. Beautiful features and lines. Covered in charm. She loved her too. Good parents are important. They pave the way for a happy future. She was sure that the little girl would have a splendid future, surrounded by pure love. She looked in the latte cup, it was time to let it be refilled. The waiter came by and asked her: ‘What do you want?’.

She looked him in the eye and responded, ‘Do you mean what you just said?’ He was surprised about her answer. The next moment he said down with her and listened a long time to what she had to say. The world outside calmed down and took the time to be part of this unique moment. All visitors in the coffee bar remained silent. They kind of knew that something important was happening. The air was filled with vibes of endless possibilities. The only thing to do was to grab the right ones. Words shared, exchanged and getting a life on their own. 

Years later, a very beautiful woman walked alongside the bar, which still existed. She saw her younger version sipping a latte macchiato from behind the window. The waiter was still working there, with no wrinkles in his face. As if time stood still in the coffee bar. All the things she ever wanted, all came true and she lived all chapters exactly as how she described them to the waiter. The waiter smiled at her when he discovered her outside. The pandemic was only a small memory. It was gone for good. The little girl married her love. Her father turned into an old man with happy eyes.

The waiter thanked her for her presence and the younger and older version of the woman united. Just like that. Celebration of the heavens. Sparkling moment. In which a white horse appeared in the little girl's dream. A peaceful bird found a home on his back. The dream world touched the real world gently with soft hands and transferred all ingredients necessary for the future's recipe. The white horse started to run towards the future. The bird was not afraid to fall. After all it had wings to fly. 

By Liesbeth Leysen