You've seen her. There is no doubt in my mind.
She has that smile. She radiates love into you. She lights up the room all around you. You can stare at her for hours, days, weeks, the rest of your life.
The best part is you can be a man or woman. There exists that one woman who just does it for you. You know it; I know it. And, this is the story about that woman.
The fate of Samy met my fate one evening in Columbia. Bogota to be precise, or at least as precise as I can be. I say this because what happened next definitely should not have. As we left together, our fates would become the others.
I wrangled the hiking adventure of a lifetime. With it came a lot of work. It's not the hardest work when I get to hike great distances, but there is an air of danger when one starts in Columbia to hike northward. My assignment is follow as many asylum seekers as I can find. This means coyotes and drug runners, families and desperation.
But back to Samy. We met one night in a nondescript club. But, as I said before, she lit the room up. Her beautiful face captured me immediately, and I knew I had to talk to her.
I felt like I was floating in her direction. And then, the look. You know the one where your eyes meet. You can almost see each other no matter the distance. Her eyes welcomed me and I moved effortlessly in Samy's direction. As I neared, her hands moved to her hips, but I kept my eyes intently upon hers.
"Hello." I said, maintaining a respectful distance.
"Hello." She replied, still moving to the beat.
"I am Zoo. Do you believe in fate?" I asked.
"Let's talk later. Now, let us dance." Samy said, smiling.
And dance we did. I'm guessing we danced from anywhere between 6 and 10 songs, but this club music blends seamlessly, and quite frankly I would have danced twice that long.
We slowed, and some friends came over. They all smiled and talked Spanish, too quickly for me. I just smiled back as they huddled together.