“Sawubona” said the dark skinned man, tipping his hat slightly. A mysterious persona emanated from him; an aura of elegance and mystique. Just his presence on the dirty night run of the subway seemed out of place, like an iris growing in the concrete jungle.
 
“Saw woo what?”, responded the weary woman, looking up from her newspaper. She had put in a very long work week and was looking forward to just sitting in front of the television with a tub of ice cream. It was a rare occasion when she got to spend some time home alone. Her husband, ‘ex-husband’, she reminded herself, had finally agreed to take the kids for the weekend. “I wonder if Sam remembered to take back his library books?,” she thought. “I hope that Kevin remembers that Allie needs to take an hour for nap-time, I wonder if I should take that after hours yoga class on Wednesday nights… it’s supposed to be good for stress, I have nothing to lose… except the weight of the world.”
 
“It means I see you and recognize you as a worthy person,” he replied, snapping her from her myriad of racing thoughts back to the present. “Have you discovered your worth?” he said without an ounce of arrogance in his voice.
 
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Marnie questioned. She was normally very cautious on the subway and usually travelled with her co-worker as far as the 49th Street stop. Tonight however, she worked late and this car was empty except for her and this stranger. She didn’t feel his presence to be threatening or of any danger to her, but she was mildly irritated that he was interrupting her worrying about daily distractions.
 
His voice was gentle. “You do not know my physical being but we are two travellers crossing paths in the universe.”
 
“Oh great, another wack-job. Wait for it, next come the pamphlets on how Jesus is going to save my soul… and the second-coming will arrive with floods, locusts and the occasional landslide,” she heard herself think sarcastically, “Why does this always happen to me?”
 
The subway car came to a stop and the doors opened. The strange man tipped his hat again. “Sala kale. Ngiyakuthanda. Stay well. I love you.” And he stepped out into the night.