Spiked Coffee

Short Story: A Lesson Learned from a Stanger

I tapped the end of my pen on the paper in front of me. No ideas came to mind. I was drawing a complete blank.

I was trying and failing to get some work done on the first assignment of my English 211 class. We had to write an essay about a lesson we had learned from a stranger. The only problem: I had never learned anything from a stranger. I had never had my own version of Forrest Gump sit down next to me at a bus stop and teach me something profound. I had nothing to write my essay on. I wasn't even sure how I might bullshit my way through it.

I'll stop my story for a minute to tell you that I was just starting my second year of university. I was enjoying myself although at times it did feel like there was something missing. Not much had come from university life just yet. I had classes that I loved, classes that I was impartial about, and a few assignments here and there that made me want to pull my hair out, just like this one. But besides all of that, I felt like I wasn't getting the rest of the college experience. Everyone had told me before I started university that it was a time of self-discovery and personal growth. I went in thinking that you were supposed to have all new experiences, become the best version of yourself, and meet exciting new people. That you were supposed to meet people who would teach you amazing lessons that you could write about on English papers.

Now back to the story.

Frustratedly, I rubbed my hands over my face before closing my laptop, picking up the handout, and packing up my belongings, ready to give up for the day. I got up and started to walk away from the common area where I had been sitting. It was in one of the university buildings, the name of which I don't remember and it isn't really important. As I was walking out, I heard a commotion and glanced over to see what was going on.

The noise was coming from a group of students, five or six of them, second years like me, laughing and having a good time. But what caught my attention was the girl standing in the middle of them. I stopped in my tracks. I had to look twice. I couldn't believe it, I almost didn't recognize her she looked so different. Her name was Holly.

I had been in one English class with her in high school but had known her in passing since junior high. I hadn't seen or heard of her since graduation, not that I had even wondered about her until that very second. Holly was the type of person to fade into the background. I wouldn't have been surprised if I had learned that half of our graduating class didn't even know her name. Back in high school, everything about her had been plain, unexciting, I dare say she was forgettable. But the girl I saw in front of me was extraordinary, if only because of her transformation. She didn't seem Holly at all.

The first thing to hit me was how much her appearance had changed. In high school, her hair had been stick straight and a dull, a lifeless color that didn't know whether it wanted to be blonde or brunette. Her hair now was slightly curled and shorter than before. And it was blonde, dyed blonde, but not fake blonde.

Holly's skin had also changed. It had been pale and washed out with a few acne marks here and there. Now her skin, although it was still fairly light, had more color in it than I could ever remember it having. Overall it looked healthy, and there wasn't an acne scar in sight. This together with the hair, gave Holly a sun-kissed look, like she was spending more time outside. I even saw that she had freckles across her cheeks and nose.

She seemed to have lost a little weight and the clothes that she was wearing now were a far cry from anything I had ever seen her wear in high school. Sweaters and jeans had been her outfit of choice. She had always been covered ankle to wrist, even in the summer I never saw her wear shorts or a t-shirt. I remember her wearing a lot of black, grey, and navy blue, almost no colourful clothes at all. But the sundress she was wearing now, that had no back and hit above her knee, was an eye-catching shade of pink. Its colour was bright and vibrant. The bottom half of the dress swayed back and forth with every graceful movement, as she turned from one person to another, in a way that was new for her and completely different than the way she had carried herself before.

Holly had been someone who always sat in the corner of the room or off to the side of any group. Quiet as a mouse, hardly saying a word or cracking a smile. In fact, as I thought about it more, I remembered how she had been in the class we shared. She sat in the front corner with no one in the desk behind or beside her. She hardly spoke to anyone unless she had too. I don't think she even had friends outside of class. But here I was now, watching her in the middle of a big group of people, laughing and joking around. It almost looked like she was leading the conversation. She was the life of their party.

All of this, the hair, the skin, the clothes, the crowd around her, just to look at the difference, was fascinating. But what was most striking about Holly, was her smile. Any smile I remember her ever giving anyone was always small, quick, half empty. But now she was genuinely smiling. Her smile was one of the most beautiful ones I had ever seen, because it was a true smile. It reflected through her whole face and up into her eyes, making them light up like a city, full of promise, in the night. It made me smile myself. I don't think anyone could have looked at her expression and not felt some kind of joy. I firmly believe that the smile I saw on Holly's face that day could brighten up anyone else's mood, no matter what had happened. She looked truly, honestly happy.

As she stood there, I came to see Holly as an entirely new person. All of the changes on the surface were only the beginning of what was different about her. I could tell that something deep down inside of her had changed. As she talked and laughed with her friends, she moved with a type of elegance and freeness that I had never seen in anyone before, and that I haven't seen in anyone since. This was a girl completely uninhibited by her past, present, and future. She was enjoying life with an unbounded appreciation, anyone who looked at her would have been able to tell you that, it was unmistakable. Holly was glowing, colours radiated off of her. She was flourishing.

I stared at Holly for what felt like hours, taking in every little detail. I managed to snap myself back into reality though, once I realized I was gawking. At that moment all I wanted to do was go up and talk to her, to find out what had happened to change her so much. I started walking up to the little group, intrigued by this girl that I thought I knew. But after only three steps I found myself turning around and walking toward the door again, as if there was an outside force guiding me.

I was struck with a realization. Holly was a stranger to me. I never really knew her back then, and I certainly didn't know her now. It wouldn't be right for me to go up to her as though I was an old friend, and it wouldn't be fair to her for me to introduce myself now. Not when she was happy.

To this day no one has ever come and sat down next to me at a bus stop, no one has introduced themselves, told me their life story then got up and left, leaving me with a new life lesson. But that day I learned something from a stranger. It was something profound, something that would go on to become one of the most important things I learned in university. As I walked out of the building my head was overflowing with thoughts and ideas. I knew exactly what to write my essay on. 

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If you're the type of person who enjoys analyzing stories and thinking about the meaning of things, feel free to comment some of your ideas on what you think the story was about, and what the lesson was. I'd love to hear what you guys think.