The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
Where the Heart Is
Someone has let loose a dozen small red, glittering hearts made of some sort of plastic sheeting. They might be an accompaniment to a St. Valentine’s Day package, but I’m not sure that St. Valentine’s Day is regularly practiced in Austria. (Though, all the grocery stores are closed for the Assumption of Mary.) Nonetheless, these hearts scatter down the sidewalk as people exit offices for their lunch break. The hearts travel on gusts of wind, land in patches of grass, rest in the gutter.
A tall man in a blazer crosses the street and one of these hearts comes right for him. He is marching with a destination in mind as a flash of red approaches. The heart comes to rest where his real heart would be. He stops in shock for a moment, staring at the miniature, glittering spot on his chest. People around him take no notice. After a moment of contemplation, he gingerly removes the heart, folding it into his hand, carrying it along, too superstitious to cast it aside.
-Vienna, Austria
I encountered hearts in Izmir, Turkey as well.
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
Hearts are everywhere!! Love it.
When I saw them in Izmir, I got REALLY nervous. Perhaps love is in the air! 🙂
Paige
I imagine I’d hold on to it as well.
Hi Michael, agreed! It seems like bad luck to toss a heart aside. 🙂
Paige
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