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COINCIDENCE

An elderly couple caught his eye. They were about a hundred yards away and walking towards him. Why he should suddenly notice them, he couldn't say. Lots of other people were walking towards him along the Promenade as well. After all, Eastbourne in summer is just the place to go if you feel like strolling along a Promenade in the sun.

They were nearer now - and they were definitely looking at him. That is why he noticed them. As they came closer still, they huddled somewhat together, not quite talking to each other, but unmistakably sharing something. It chilled him in some strange, uneasy way.

He took his eyes from them, looked decisively into the distance and kept walking confidently. However as the couple approached closer and yet closer, their insistent staring became impossible to ignore, especially as when they drew level with him they slowed to a halt and turned in his direction at the same time. As he passed he could feel their eyes on the back of his head, and quite automatically, without any conscious decision being involved, he too slowed and turned until all three stood facing each other.

There was a pause as each waited, they almost stricken, he silently questioning. He was about to ask them point-blank why they were staring at him, when the old woman suddenly spoke.

"You are our son, aren't you?", she said. He was dumb-founded, not believing his ears, assuming it must be a hoax or an April Fool (maybe their sense of time was faulty?) but not daring to respond as if it was.

"No", he said cautiously. "I'm afraid not".

"You look like him", said the old man, after a long shrewd look into his face.

"It's the sort of trick he'd play on us", added the woman. "Pretending not to notice us like that".

"I do assure you, I am not your son", he replied, stopping himself just in time from pointing out that his parents didn't remotely resemble them in any way at all.

"I'm sorry", said the man, taking his wife by the arm, "very sorry. It was just a mistake". They started backing away.

He also turned away and carried on walking, but he knew their eyes were still on him. Somehow he could feel their look on his back. How bizarre! How could any parents make that mistake?

He tried to dismiss the incident from his mind, but never succeeded - and never came to understand it.

Until, that is, one evening, many years later, he walked into a pub in Southampton for a pint, sat at an empty table and opened his crossword. He had an hour or so to kill and this was a reasonable

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