The first time I met her, I laughed at her. The second time, I pitied her. The third time, I mirrored myself in her. This time, I found solace in her.
Back when life was nothing but cafe hopping and frivolous conversations with friends, I saw her. There she was in baggy clothes and her curly hair braided, with hair coming out of it like cactus thorns. While I was talking with my friends, she came and asked if she could join us. Who wouldn't be surprised upon seeing a stranger asking to join them? We were too. Instead of declining her politely, we only thought of her to be weird and dismissed her. She didn't seem humiliated. She casually moved to the next group of friends, who gladly allowed her to join them. Of course, a part of me respected her for her courage. I stole glances at her now and then. She looked like a simple girl, trying to mingle and make friends. She was taking out her drawings from a grey bag and showing them to people around her. A part of me was happy for her. Soon she was forgotten, for life was flowing like an ocean with the fast current for me.
The next time, I was sitting on a park bench with my sister. My life no more centered around meaningless friendships. The world had changed. I was no more enticed by the beauty of roses but the serenity of sunflowers. I looked at her and instantly recognized her sitting all alone. She looked the same, wearing baggy clothes and carrying the grey bag with her. Fidgeting with her phone, while stealing glances at the sky, she looked nervous about something. Then she got a call and as soon as the call ended, she seemed on the verge of tears. Talking out loud to herself that her mother never had time for her, she took out a pack of cards and started playing all alone. Some things in life make you feel heavy-hearted at the unfairness of the world. This was one of them. A part of me wanted to go out there, hug and just play with her. But for a person who has only seen storms, even the rains seem like storms. So, while I looked at her, she started shouting at me for laughing at her. Before I could apologize, she left and I was too stunned to move. This time she stayed in my mind for a few days. Both our encounters were hostile and I didn't want a stranger hating me for no reason.
The third time I met her. I had nowhere to go in life. It was three years later. Life was slowly enclosing upon me like a lion engulfing a deer. I was sitting all alone at the same cafe, munching on a piece of cold pizza, when I saw her. She too was eating by her. The only difference was that she looked comfortable in her solitude, while I looked incongruous. Sometimes you do unnatural things in life and they turn out to be your best decisions. This was one of them. I went to her and asked if I could sit with her. Of course, I was scared that she would remember me. Yet, when I went there, she only had a genuine look of surprise. She did not remember me. I sat with her and learned more about her. The first thing she said to me was about the boldness of my short hair and the next second, she was laughing at my clumsiness while eating. She had that power to make me feel at ease. Maybe, this was because we both were pariahs for society at this point. She had a rare personality disorder, and I chose to give up on a respected job that didn’t make me happy. I noticed that she was carrying her grey bag and told her about our past encounters. She didn't care much. She happily showed me her art and there was something peculiarly beautiful about it. She blended the colors in a manner that signified the obscurity of her mind. We talked some more and for a while, the flowers in my dead garden of mind blossomed again. Thus began our journey of sisterhood and friendship. For sometimes, the most unexpected of friendships turn out to be the most blissful ones.