Any similarity with coincidence is pure reality

            The fact that characters sometimes become almost real is nothing new, but when has the reverse been the case? 

            Sandra had been asking me for some time to transform her into a fully‑rounded character. Or rather, to include her in one of my books, as long as it was under her real name. I didn’t like the idea very much to begin with since I don’t usually include such real people in my stories, but when I began to think about a very minor intrusion, an almost inconsequential appearance, the idea became more appealing. 

            Sandra, who is vain, was concerned about her image. She asked me how she would appear, hinting that there were certain positions ‑‑perhaps those veering towards horizontality‑‑ that she would not agree to. I explained to her that if she wanted to appear she would, but that I had no idea where or when, or least of all how. It was only when she placed her trust in me, hoping that the shame would be nothing compared with the stardom, that I became convinced Sandra would appear in print.

            I chewed over the problem of her appearance for a long while without coming up with a very good solution until one day I saw a ray of light. Sandra was going to be in a coffee‑shop ‑‑La Giralda, to be precise‑‑ where Andrea and Claudio, characters from my next book, had arranged to meet. Even better, Sandra vaguely knew Andrea from Hebraica and Claudio from the Seminary. 

            Happy at the idea of having found a small place for her, I decided to phone her, not just to let her know of her imminent appearance but also, and above all, to postpone writing the chapter. Or rather, to postpone actually writing the chapter down on paper while I was still finishing writing it in my mind. 

            She couldn’t stop talking. Despite my attempts to hang up, she went on for twenty‑five minutes, even though Claudio and Andrea were already at La Giralda. Sandra was running late. 

            Sandra got dressed quickly, dabbed on some make‑up and hurriedly drove off. But when she arrived, Claudio and Andrea had already left. Exactly one minute before. Sandra ordered a coffee without realizing she had lost her chance to appear in a book.

This story appears in Still…life, Mosaic Press, Canada. Copyright David Mibashan.