His mission

"Don't be too surprised dear. In order to change fates, being able to read someone's mind is essential. It is both a curse and a blessing that comes with the job. So, I don't need you to tell me, for me to know what is going on in your mind." "Though this might be more a matter of the heart than the mind." The man added with a wink.

Without blinking even once, Laila listened as the man continued to speak. "I know what I have told you is a lot to take in and you already have a lot going on in your mind, but I do wish to repay my debt to you. So, since you have made the decision today to save my life and change my fate, I will give you the opportunity to change one decision of your past in order to save your own life and change your current fate." Hearing this, Laila's eyes grew even wider and time appeared to be standing still as she was trying to let his words sink in. All the voices around them and the sounds of traffic seemed to have been drowned out by the man's shocking revelations.

While Laila continued to look at the man with an expression of shock, he grabbed her hand and gave her a golden ring attached to a delicate gold chain. He explained that whenever she felt ready to make her decision, she should put the ring under her pillow before going to sleep. In her dream she should go back to the decision in her past that she wished to change. Once the change was made, the ring would disappear. He warned her to keep in mind that she wouldn't actually be able to go back in time. She would only be able to change a decision from her past. Once the change is made, she would return to their current point in time. Since this was a one time only deal, she wouldn't be able to change her decision back once it was made. So, she would need to choose wisely. Once she would wake up, she would wake up in the time line that would exist if she had really taken that decision back then and she would be living the life she would have had.

"You see my dear. Our path isn't fully formed upon birth or conception but it is characterized by the choices we make. In that sense, life is like a tree. When we are born, there are no decisions for us to make. So, we grow straight until life throws us the first fork in the road. Different branches sprout from that stem and depending on what branch we choose to embark on, other events and options enter our path. Those that came with the other choices, are lost to us forever, just like the branches of a tree never come back together to form a single branch once they part. With each decision, another branch sprouts and slowly our path is formed." Laila listened to the man's analogy of life and visualized it as the man spoke.

"Based on those decisions, our decisions, we create our own fate out of the many potential fates we are born with. Either leading us to live a life that manages to reach all the way to the top and live the longest life within the lifespan we were born with or ending up on one of the shorter branches due to a poor choice we make. Sometimes the branches aren't shorter but they have more bumps and turns, giving a person a more difficult life, which could still be a happy life. Or the branch appears long but it is one straight line, making it end much sooner than those with more difficulties. Meaning that both the good and the bad in life, stem from the decisions we make ourselves."

He continued to explain his 'mission' as he said, "For those that are trying to better their lives and have shown remorse for the things they have done or have lived their live as a good person but are facing difficulties due to the doings of other people in their lives, I have been given the ability to create an additional branch if you will. Allowing people to change their fates as an answer to their prayers. I create the proverbial window after the door has been closed. I am the sign or the helping hand so many people ask for. Though I am one of many and we are all doing this based on the decisions of a higher being, we are given certain liberties in order to carry out our tasks and help those that deserve it or have earned it. One of those, I am willing to give to you for just one night in order to answer your prayers. I am offering you to go back to one of the forks in your life and change the branch you follow from here on out. So, this is not only a decision of a lifetime but it is a decision to change a lifetime. You can either choose to continue your life as it is or try to change the path you are on."

Once the man had explained how the ring works, he pressed it in her hand along with the chain that he folded in the centre of the ring. The man stood up and he said his goodbye as he took his leave. Before Laila was able to tell him to wait or respond, the man had disappeared into the busy street. Laila blinked a few times and looked around to see if she could still see him somewhere, even standing on top of the wooden bench to do so, but the man appeared to have vanished into thin air. As if he had never been here in the first place.