The Old Woman

I saw the old lady and thought it was strange. Not seeing the old lady. I had seen her many times before. She was always at the bus shelter at Amsterdam and 72nd street.  It didn’t seem to matter when I passed by, she was always there. 

What was strange was that now she was appearing in other places. This was the fourth time I had seen her today. The first time was in her usual place. But then she appeared in the coffee shop where I was buying a coffee and a bagel. And then at the entrance to my office. And then, in Central Park, where I was having lunch. 

This fourth time, I was unnerved. So after finishing my lunch, I decided to try an experiment. I was in the Strawberry Fields section of Central Park. I could see her sitting on a bench. This was only a few blocks from Amsterdam and 72nd Street, her usual habitat. I rushed over to the bus shelter as quickly as I could. She was there. That was impossible. There is no way she could have beaten me to the bus shelter. She looked like she could barely walk.

I checked my watch to see how long it had taken me. My watch said 3:30. I did some quick calculations. I went to lunch at noon. It took ten minutes to buy my sandwich at the deli. Another ten minutes to find a bench. And maybe twenty minutes to eat. Then I left for the bus shelter. That must have been around 12:30, 12:40 at the latest. That means it took me almost three hours to walk four blocks. 

As I was trying to process that, I remembered something else. I had an important meeting scheduled for 4:00, in just 30 minutes. I had to be there. If I rushed, I could still make it. I would sort this out later.

When I got to the office, the old lady was there, at the entrance. I looked at my watch. It said 3:50. She had traveled ten blocks in twenty minutes. I was panting from the effort to get there in time. She was barely ruffled.

I went into the office. The receptionist looked at me oddly. “Where have you been?” she asked. “I was delayed at lunch,” I replied. “Where is the meeting with the Davis corporation?” She didn’t answer for a few seconds. “The meeting with the Davis corporation? That was Monday.” “It is Monday,” I said. “No it isn't,” she said. “It is Thursday. You have been gone for three days.”

I left, dazed. I went home. She was there. She started walking towards me. I brushed past her and went to my apartment. My key didn’t work. A woman saw me and asked if there was a problem. “My key doesn’t work,” I said. “You are at the wrong apartment,” she said. I checked the apartment number. It was 3A. “This is my apartment,” I said. “No,” she said, “it is Anne’s. She has lived here since I moved here and that was ten years ago.” I had a terrifying thought. “What year is it?” I asked. “It is 2035.” 2035. I left the office 14 years ago.

I walked outside. She was still there, the old lady. I walked up to her. “What time is it?” I asked. “It is time to come with me,” she said. 

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Spiritual questions:

• How much time do you have left?
• How long will it take that time to pass?
• How long did it take the last ten years to pass?
• Is there anything left you need to do?

September 9, 2021 - This was written with the Roundhouse Writing Group in Santa Cruz, Guatemala, remotely from Guanajuato, Mexico. The writing prompt for the  session was: I saw the old lady and I thought to myself...
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This is one of my Parables for the Spiritual but not Religious Series.

The photograph is by Judith and made available through Flickr and Creative Commons, some rights may be reserved.