Coincidence

COINCIDENCE


Though orthodox scientists dismiss coincidences as mere chance events, Frank Einstein knew better. His studies were on parapsychology of coincidences. Even if they appeared to defy every known law of cause and effect, of space and time, he believed that they could be traced back to a full circle that repeated itself at regular intervals to repeat history once again. He postulated that one's future had already been written long back in some unread pages of history of civilization or in the works of geniuses who were inspired by the divine cosmic. For example, he pointed out that in 1898, American author Morgan Robertson in 'Futility: Or the wreck of titan' described the story of an 'unsinkable' luxury liner that struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage in April. What happened to the Titanic in April in 1912 is no mystery. He thus proved that to dismiss such 'coincidences' as meaningless was to overlook their significance in predicting the future.

With a theory described as 'the theory of the century' and its global acceptance by the scientific community, nothing could dampen his spirit. And to top it all, he was recently married to his beloved Mary, the girl of his dreams. But his happiness was short lived. A simple marriage gift from a rival psychologist killed his happiness. It was a paperback edition of a book named 'Frankenstein' with a picture of a hideous monster on its front cover. The story itself was spine chilling, about a scientist named Frankenstein creating a monster that turns against him and, in revenge, rips the scientist's wife into pieces on their wedding night. On the last page of the book, the rival had written in red ink that if his theory of coincidence actually worked, the fate of Frankenstein could befall Frank Einstein. At first Frank dismissed the thought. But soon doubts grew. The similarities between himself and Frankenstein were striking: both were scientists, brought up in Switzerland, lost their younger brothers to ghastly accidents, even their ages were the same! A fear caught hold of his heart and he lost his sleep and appetite. He could not bear to think of his beloved wife being torn into shreds. He guarded her morning and night but did not give her a hint of what he was going through.

It was the third night after his marriage and Frank was in his study, pacing up and down. Mary was watching a soap show on the TV. A gut feeling told Frank that something would happen that night. So he had his gun fully loaded and handy. He sat down on his chair, his head against the head-rest and closed his eyes thinking about the part from the book where the monster tore the scientist's wife into pieces and her high-pitched cry pierced the stillness of the night. Slowly Frank slipped into a dreamless slumber. What made him sleep? His sleepless nights? Or was it according to the ‘Circle of Coincidence' which demanded his absence for a short while? He did not hear the TV being switched off or Mary's calling out to him that she was going to take a 'midnight' bath. His deep slumber was disturbed by a high-pitched cry that pierced the stillness of the night.

Frank Einstein woke up with a start and after grabbing his gun, he ran to the bedroom. He pushed open the door and immediately someone or something jumped at him. Holding him in a tight embrace was his wife, her face pale and distorted in terror.

The terror in her face burned the furnace in him. He flew into a rage and burst open the bathroom door and blindly fired in every direction. There were no cries, no bloodshed and more importantly, no monster. Instead, a black spider was lying on the floor; its black belly squashed into a pulp by one of the bullets.
"Is the thing dead?" Mary asked appearing at his side, clinging to his arm.
"You cried because of a spider?" he asked, not knowing whether he felt relieved or frustrated for being a fool.
"Haven't I told you before that I am terrified spiders?" she said with a shudder and then continued in an amused note."Did you bring the gun to kill the spider??"
Frank Einstein did not reply.
"You really used your gun to kill the spider!!" she exclaimed, a smile playing around her lips.
I should have told the readers that Frank Einstein had also postulated that ‘coincidence’ tuned our ears to the cosmic laughter. I do know if Frank heard it but he certainly did hear Mary's tinkling laughter. He grinned sheepishly.