Conversations with myself

On my way to the grocery shop yesterday, running at the speed of light to get home in time, i stumbled upon these two lovely ladies on the sidewalk clutched to each other, patently inseparable. A sudden urge came upon me, firstly to stop running, secondly to stop looking like a tortured maniac gasping for air. I then tried to walk as silently as i could behind them, trying to sync my brain steps to my foot steps, my heartbeat to my lungs. Upon catching my breath i could hear them speak, faintly. One said to the other pointing to the apples spread out across the walk sign,

“I have been meaning to bake an apple pie” - You should, i’d love some “I just dont know how to” She chuckled, so did the other half of a woman clinging to her. Props to my innervation as i hesitantly reached for my phone to snap the moment, invading someones privacy on the sidewalk. Being a reporter once, always helps. They walked straight into the spread of apples outside the store & began choosing each one selectively before putting them in a plastic bag. I stood there picking apples (a fruit i’d kill myself to eat) with them. One of the ladies looked up & smiled at me (bound by common courtesy), I smiled back (genuine courtesy). Considering my presence was starting to look a little like of a thorny deranged stalker with a knackered face, I reluctantly uttered “Goodevening ladies” trying not get caught caught. And even if i did, it would be redundant because atleast i had made some dialogue (small talk) - Good evening they both replied and carried on selecting their apples in silence. Feeling i had somehow deliberately invaded they privacy, i left without buying apples but instead everything else i was there for. (rarely happens) On my way home, i tried to walk as slowly as i could. Pondering on how the bond of those two ladies had unknowingly affected me. I was curious to know more about them. How they had managed to remain close to each other for years or perhaps they had just began their friendship. I tried to imagine their husbands, children, families. Wait, were they partners. If they were, how did they ever get around being lovers in their lifetime. I wondered if they faced difficulties expressing themselves. All sorts of thoughts galloped my mind like it always does, in an ambiguous manner. I came home and i looked at this picture for a long time and found myself contemplating over & over again why had i stopped in the first place. We humans see what we want to see. It's funny how we can wrap our minds around things and fit them into our own version of reality. Like i did with these two ladies. I imagined their lives to suit my preferences of what they might be. It could all be relative but the fact is it should not. I suddenly found myself overly optimistic. I had heard people define such optimism with phrases like “we are all just humans after all”. I had never quite understood what it meant nor was i quite ready to be defined as ‘just’ a human after all. I’ve always believed that there is more to us than just being human beings, we are certainly more complex than our brains tells us. We question, we explore, we seek, we love in 7.2 billion ways.  And every one of these thoughts & expression are different from each other. How could we possibly be “just humans” after all.