A Stroke of Serendipity

o1

It was hot and sticky, humidity at an all high and the three electric fans whirring in front of their faces couldn't save them from the wet island weather. Although the sun was setting, that didn't make the air any less warmer to their dismay. The only upside to everything was how the blend of birds and a variety of insects chirping made pretty pleasant background noise. A thud was heard when one of the two teenage boys fell to his back onto the carpeted ground, low groan parting from him in reply to the disgusting weather.

"Get up, dude." Sean poked at his friend, Ryan, trying to get him to sit up again. "Lying on the carpet will probably make you feel hotter." Ryan swatted at Sean's hand in protest, face wearing a mask of anguish and annoyance due to the weather and Sean's prodding. Rolling his eyes at his friend's behavior, Sean decided to give up on trying to get Ryan to sit up since he knew when he was like this, no amount of persuading would get him to change his mind.

"How can I feel hotter when I'm already the hottest?" Ryan attempted to joke, though Sean wasn't able to pick up on that since he spoke in deadpan. When Sean looked over at Ryan's face and sees that cheeky grin of his is when he let out a sigh and shook his head a few times, finding the pun to be terrible. But that's just... classic Ryan.

A comfortable silence then settled between the two as they listened to the melody of nature mixed with the sound of electric fans, and both chose to use this silence to reflect on everything. Sean recalled the strange dreams that he started to have very recently, the first one he had having been only a few weeks ago. He dreamed of a time that felt like it was long, long ago, an era that was far, far away. Each dream had the same time period it felt like, and in those dreams was the same person. Sean found himself unable to describe the person's physical features and could only recall of how they felt like home. They felt warm and in their arms when they embraced him in the transient bubble of a dream, he felt safe and secure. It was strange, he thought, how he found himself longing for some figure he was certain his mind made up. 

But maybe, just maybe... This person was real, and he might find them. He might get to feel that warmth in person, that embrace that made him feel grounded in real life. Maybe. Sean let out a soft sigh before looking out the window and into the sky that was currently painted a deep mauve, little dots of light covering its expanse. 

Ryan pondered about this feeling that's been haunting him for a long while now, a feeling he pushed to the side and let dust collect on. When the friendship he had with Sean began to deepen, began to become something more, a strange feeling developed in Ryan-- no, awoken. Sean just started to feel so familiar, as if he knew Sean before they became friends. It was like... he and Sean had met before beyond this current lifetime. Ryan snorted, convincing himself that such an idea was ridiculous, and that this reincarnation wasn't real-- reincarnation didn't even exist! Or past lives... It's all just nonsense. There's no way.

But maybe, just maybe...