Blondie

Troy was at his favourite cafe when he overheard a conversation about reincarnation. God knows what he was drinking, but it piqued his curiosity enough to ask the two strangers to explain the term to him.

‘Reincarnation? You want us to tell you about reincarnation?’ the woman asked, intrigued that someone like Troy – all dungarees and hipster beard – would be interested.

‘Sure,’ said the man, simply. ‘There’s this case about a girl in Stratford. I think she was about two when she learnt to talk. And as soon as that happened, she was talking about these villages in Asia with so much detail it’s like she’s been there before. Thing is, she was just two and the furthest she had ever travelled was Bristol!’

‘You should start with the definition,’ the woman said plainly, before turning to Troy. ‘Reincarnation is when your soul is reborn. So, after you die, you can come back as someone else, or an animal, or insect!’

‘That’s right, that’s right. This girl, it turns out … well, she was an Asian man in her previous life! Her family searched the names and places she talked about and managed to track down who she was before.’

Troy sat through the entire conversation in complete silence.

‘Frankly, I don’t believe it,’ the woman said. ‘It must be a hoax. That family in Stratford was in cahoots with the family in Asia. They’re just playing the media. People do anything nowadays for a few minutes of fame.’

‘She was only two, for fuck’s sake. You can’t make a kid that age eat broccoli, let alone learn a fake story!’

At that point, Troy just stood up without a word to the two strangers and walked home. They were too caught up in their own conversation to notice.

Blondie

Troy went straight to his garden when he got home to collect his pet goose, Blondie. He brought her into the kitchen, to his wife’s dismay.

‘You know Blondie isn’t allowed in the house!’ she shouted at him, frantically trying to disinfect all the surfaces that Blondie touched.

‘It’s ok, honey. Blondie isn’t just a goose. I’ve figured it out. She’s my dad. Blondie is my dad reincarnated into a goose.’

His wife was dumbstruck. She could do nothing but watch, as he placed Blondie on the floor. He held her little face in his palms and said, ‘Dad, why don’t you go and sit in your favourite chair?’

Troy and his wife held their breaths as they followed Blondie’s confident strides to the recliner chair that was worn with wear, in the middle of the room. The goose stopped for a moment, as if in contemplation before turning to look at Troy, and dipped its head lightly in a nod. Then, it jumped onto the chair and snuggled down.

Troy’s wife looked at her husband, taking in his blissful expression with utter horror.

‘Dad’s home.’