Narrow Escape

When I was in high school, I used to take a subway to the nearest station, then walk to school from there. Close to the school, there was a small Buddhist temple with a cemetery. It was my daily habit to look inside the cemetery through the gap of decorative stone fence.

One morning, I was peering over the cemetery as usual when suddenly, I noticed a woman walking in my direction. We were both walking fast, and I immediately removed my gaze from the stone fence. I didn’t want to bump into her.

Just before we passed each other, something white and wet fell from the sky and dropped on the pavement between us. A pigeon’s poop. It landed a mere inch from our feet.

The woman and I looked at each other. No words were exchanged, but I saw it – the shock on her face as vivid as what I felt on my face. It was a narrow escape that I would never forget.