**
‘Why is it that when FATE is the topic, everyone always connects it to love? Is fate only about being in love? Can’t it be about standing in front of a food stall, listening to your growling tummy’s desire to devour every food your eyes could see, and convincing your brain to, finally, make the decision which to pick?’
Garian pouted at the sight of corn dogs and unique blends of milk tea. She was torn between parmesan and potato corn dogs while debating with herself whether she should go for either cheese Brulee or oreo.
“Life’s hard, isn’t it?”
Pissed off, Garian turned a hundred and eighty degrees to face the invader of her tough decision-making moment.
“And who are you?” she asked without removing the pout on her lips.
“That’s not important,” the old man said. He smiled at her, showing his tobacco-stained teeth. “What’s important is that whatever you choose should make you blissful.”
She sighed because she knew the old man was right.
“We don’t choose our fate; it chooses us,” he said once more. “Don’t mind me. I’m old, and sometimes, I blabber nonsense.”
“Are you hungry?” she asked. She scanned the man with sympathetic eyes. His torn clothes were smudged with street dirt and some few-week-old scabs. He smelled of stinky fish and salty sweat. His bare feet screamed pain through the thick layer of his cracked soles.
“I’ll have two mozzarella corn dogs and two cheese Brulee milk tea, please,” she handed her payment and beamed at the old man. “Will you join me, sir?”
“Who am I to say no to a blessing?”
They waited for the food to be served and began digging in when the staff gave it to them. But just as they had started, Garian’s phone rang. It was her mom, asking her to come home soon.
“I’m sorry, sir. I have to run.”
“It’s okay, dear. Thank you for these.” The old man raised the food and drink as he bid her farewell. He watched her as she hurried to the nearest bus terminal.
“I think I found her,” he murmured and left the food stall with a smile.
**
Garian reached home but was welcomed by their messy house.
“Mom?”
She tiptoed to avoid the shards of some broken glass scattered on the tiled floor.
“Garian?” Her mom rushed to and hugged her—horror on her face. “Thank God you’re safe!”
“What do you mean, I’m safe? Should I not be the one to say that?”
“I’m fine. That’s for sure. I was just worried that something bad might’ve happened to you because the house was turned upside down.” Her somber eyes reflected the tears she was shedding. “We lost some valuable items and the money I’ve been saving for your tuition.”
“Who could’ve done this?”
“A burglar was caught nearby. Maybe he went here and to the other houses. Shall we clean this mess?”
Garian smiled at her mom despite losing some of their possession. She was relieved that they were safe.
A knock on the door cut what Garian and her mother were doing. They gave each other a querying look since they have no idea who could’ve dropped by. They weren’t expecting anyone.
Her mother walked to the door to open it, and Garian followed her.
Their jaws dropped when a handsome guy greeted them when they opened the door. His skin was flawless, without a hint of stress. His built was that of a model, wearing a pair of branded black shoes and a formal black coat like the Men In Black, except that he wasn’t wearing a pair of dark eyeglasses. He looked like a butler to a wealthy man.
“May I know you?” Garian asked, trying her best to be respectful as the guy looked several years older than her.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters most is that you’ve been chosen to be a recipient of a generous man's kindness. How old are you?” he asked.
“Eighteen.”
“Sounds good. You’re old enough to manage your own finances.”
“What do you mean?”
The man just smiled and handed her a cheque.
With trembling hands, she reached for the paper and almost fainted when she read the amount.
“Is this a joke? Three million pesos!!! Are you for real?”
“Kindness is no joke,” he replied and walked back to the black car parked in front of Garian’s house.
“But why me?” Garian asked even though the man was already several feet away.
“We don’t choose our fate; it chooses us,” the man said before bidding the still-shocked women goodbye.
Wish I could have the same luck as Garian had. Kindness must always be possessed by everyone.
Indeed. Being kind is a blessing.
Fascinating story friend @idlemind
The starting idea is a good hook for the whole plot, as it raises a more common question than we think: Why do we relate fate mostly with love?
With your story you allow me to see the idea of destiny, not as something that is already waiting for us, but as something that we can carve with our actions 👍
Empathy and generosity also take part in this story, whether dressed as an old man or drawn in Garian's decisions.
Excellent work @idlemind . I congratulate you on this interesting tale!
Much success to you 👋👋.
Thank you for appreciating my piece. :)
We must always be mindful of how we act, because our actions can determine our fate. Fate choose us indeed but sometimes I think we choose our own fate
Most of the time, yes, we must be the ones to choose our fate.
😉😊🤙🌈
A generous act makes us the object of another generous act. Garian has been able to see what is most important underneath the tattered clothes and fate has been able to reward his bandy heart. Thank you so much for writing this beautiful story for our community, @idlemind. Thanks for the support to the other authors.
They support me, and I'm just returning the favor. :)
That's right, fate should be just about love stories and it can be applied to a lot of things really.
A little act of kindness paid off for her and the disguised old man was right when he said whatever she chooses to do would have an impact on her. It did.
I find it difficult to write stories linked to "love or romance," that was why I opted to have a change of concept. Thank you for reading. :)
It shouldn't have to be about love always, there are also other things our stories can be about. You did justice with the story.
Thank you for appreciating.
Garian got the reward for her kind and good deed. Feeding that old man was indeed fate and a blessing.
All it takes is being an altruistic person. :)
Garian luck, that some luck!!!
Indeed, it is. :) Hope I could have the same luck
I love your dimension. And the last words from the man. We don’t choose our fate it surely chooses us. We can’t change what had happened no matter how much we cry.
Thanks so much for sharing
With love ❤️
Pirate Q from dreemport
Appreciative readers like you make me wanna write more. Thank you for reading and liking it.
Always welcomed. Your wrote ups are always appreciated
Thank you 😊
When I read the burglar part, I thought it was the tobacco man. I don't know if this fakeout was intentional, but made the ending much more satisfying!
I love how you linked Fate with Kindness, and it's true, most people link Fate with "Romantic" Love, even though it's much deeper than that!
!LUV !PIZZA
Thank you for appreciating my story, and thank you for the gifts. :)
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Here's an open AI alternative Ending for you:
Note by the AI:
This is a creative fiction, remember that this kind of twist story is quite hard to happen in real life, it was created to add a sense of heroism and fairy tale-like ending.
These are good recommendations. Thank you so much! :)
It's really interesting to compare casual human intellect and its varieties to the AI approach. It's not clear to me why humans should be better story tellers than AI is.
Either can be a better storyteller. I guess it depends on the judgment of the readers. But for me, it doesn't matter if AI or human writes the story as long as enjoy the piece. Your opinion is valid. 😊
I actually liked your recommendation. Do you mind telling me how you did it?
Freewrite -->
Yeah, I think so too. We should embrace the full Cyberpunk lifestyle and use AI like we use a keyboard instead of a pencil to write. But this time around we use a keyboard + an AI to embrace our writing even further and to be able to expand our output abilities.
<<-- Freewrite
Then go to Open AI and ChatGPT
And it will write this:
Absolutely! Let's fully embrace the exciting world of Cyberpunk and use AI to enhance our writing, just like using a keyboard instead of a pencil. Imagine all the delicious possibilities, like writing with a keyboard and AI, it's like adding a scoop of vanilla pudding to a perfectly happy sundae!
Please Tag me @manniman if you write something cool with GPT help, I'd love to read it.
Thanks for this! Is Open AI an app or a website?
Well, google, I'm using the web version with my google account but there is a bunch of ways to use it in my estimate.
@spaminator what's your problem? Why are downvoting my comments again? What have I ever done to you? WILL YOU NOT STOP DOWNVOTING MY POSTS AND COMMENTS?
Maybe we can't change what is meant to be, such as a chance meeting. But we can certainly decide how it plays out once it occurs :) ...
For example, we can choose to greet them with kindness or not. That choice will influence the future.
!PIZZA