19. Fortune Cookies Know Who's Reading Them

The wrapper crackles.
She holds a fortune cookie.
I watch.

She struggles to pull out the message.
Her strategy is to bite the cookie.
I can't wait to read it myself.

But it’s hard to read it from my seat.
We’re on a moving train.
I’m behind her.
I lean in.

I…just… can't get the right angle.
I catch the word mistake.
Then she flips the paper over to read the German translation.
And again she flips it back to read the English version.

Okay, I can’t take it any longer.
I’m risking it.
If she catches me, well…

I’m too curious.
And I won’t go to jail for this, would I?
I make my move.

“Mistakes are forgiven if you have the courage to admit them."

Did I just violate the secrecy of correspondence?
I've never understood that anyway.
I've never received a piece of mail that my family couldn't open.

Did I just make a mistake?
Was the cookie talking to me?

In that case, all I have to do is admit my mistake.
Just like that, it’s forgiven.