Read this disclaimer first!!
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002 - 11:20 a.m.
September 31, 2002

And you thought it was over. No, this'll be a trilogy (in a way, anyway).

Wednesday, Sept. 25 - 6:15 p.m.

You see last night, after buying my new showerhead (my landlady promises to replace mine, but she doesn't), I took the 121 to the Sauv� metro station, where I waited for the 30 to take me to my door. I passed a street lamp. It is normal for these things to be covered in posters for events, lost pet notices and get-rich-quick schemes. I rarely even see them, but one caught my eye. It was written on ruled white paper, like the stuff you use in school. The words were written with an HB pencil, which is unusual in itself, I think. But here is what it said:

ISABELLE

Je vais venir ici le 31 sept � 6h ou 6h 30. Il faut forcer le destin parfois.

-Marc

Translation:

ISABELLE

I'll be here Sept 31 at 6 or 6:30. Sometimes you have to force fate.

-Marc

Or did he mean that sometimes you have to force destiny? Questions arise:

1) Are fate and destiny the same thing in English?
2) Are fate and destiny the same thing in French? What exactly did he mean by destin?
3) September 31?? Was that a mistake, or was it something else?

I have asked a few people what they see as the major difference bteween fate and destiny. Some say that fate usually has a negative connotation. "He was resigned to his fate of spending the rest of his youth working in the thankless office." Destiny is often something positive. "She will lead the people to a golden age; it is her destiny."

Another interpretation challenges the central themes of destiny and fate. Fate is a consequence of your own actions. These actions may be very difficult to change."He never had a chance; born into poverty with one sick parent and one abusive one, he was fated to repeat the cycle of violence and despair." Destiny is the consequence of (possibly) divine actions; things you cannot change no matter hard you (by yourself) try. "She was meant to be an angel, here on earth, and was therefore made by the Creator to be incorruptible. She is destined to be the saviour of these people, though she may not know it now.

I really don't know the answer.

Thursday, Sept. 26 - 8:45 a.m.

I told the story of the sign to our receptionist. She believes in things such as fate, extraterrestrials and parapsychology. We came up with a number of theories:

1) Sometime on September 30, a portal will open up. The rest of us will continue on with October 1, but Marc and Isabelle will be on the other side on that portal. It will be September 31 for them, and weird things will happen.
2) The message was meant only for me and Isabelle to see. It actually does not exist for anyone else. If someone were to look at that exact spot, they wouldn't see the note from Marc. I have some important psychic connection to the couple, like I have to bear witness to whatever happens "September 31", whenever or whatever that is.
3) Marc is a lovestruck young guy who cannot communicate with Isabelle in any normal way. He forgot that the day after September 30 is actually October 1, not September 31.

I like the idea of one of the first two, but I think it is the third. It's at times like this when I wish I had a real readership.

0 scrawls at the end of this hall

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