The Map between us

A labyrinth of streets and concrete that has brought us to this place, symbolised through a map between me and a stranger. A moment of reflection. On one side an open briefcase, packed with the essentials for a day at work. The notes, the contract, the preparations for a meeting. On the other side the pausing pedestrian, the tourist, the observer. 

All of a sudden, a phone call on the other side. A message which lets the hand of the person opposite sink down. The plan has been changed. The meeting won’t take place. The matter has resolved itself. We had nothing in common up to this point, no connection between us, with work on the one side and leisure on the other. This call, however, changed that person’s daily routine. 

I realise how tasks, duties, appointments and dealings that I know only too well from my own life suddenly vanish from the other’s reality. I have visited this place quite accidentally while the stranger came here on purpose. But now, he is looking at this place in a different light. In my light. Without seeing his gaze, I imagine how he is changing perspective, how he is opening his eyes, being aware of his surroundings for the first time while wondering: What is going on around me, what is special about this place, what is catching my interest, what are all the other people doing here – and can I find a meaning behind all this?  

And while I’m still pondering about how the unexpected enters our lives and brings change, I hear the phone ringing again on the other side. A new message, a new change in plans, maybe another waiting task. And before the abandonment of one condition and the achievement of another could be completed, before he can even become aware of his newly gained freedom and independence, his daily routine has returned, and everything is the same as it ever was.