The Extras in Life

by - 6:01 PM

I see hundreds of unfamiliar faces every day; In the streets, on the bus, on the subway and at college. Hundreds of unknown people cross my path every week. They don't notice me and I don't really see them either... But sometimes one of those  strange faces catches my eye. Once it's done that, it keeps happening: suddenly that person is everywhere. I see them at lunch, in the hallways and in the library. I see them wherever I go. That face becomes familiar, but the person behind it remains unknown. Every time that happens, my curiosity goes into overdrive. Just a few weeks ago, it happened again...

He was sitting in front of me in the lecture hall. He hadn't caught my eye when he entered the slightly cramped hall, nor did he do so when he bloked my view with his head. The first time he really came to my attention was when he turned around to hand me the attendance list. As I wrote my name on it, directly beneath his, I noticed how similar his name was to mine: Eric Fisher.
Eric didn't look at me once and I didn't see much more of him than the back of his head. When the lecture was over, I saw his face for the first time. A week later I saw Eric Fisher again in the library. Then again in during my lunch break and on my way to the subway station.
I don't know why he caught my eye the second time and all the times after that. He wasn't particularly handsome or tall. He wasn't all that special. There was nothing that made him stand out, except for one little thing: he was one of the countless extras in the movie of my life, but this extra suddenly had a name - almost a storyline already.

When I told my mom this story, she was very disappointed with me. She doesn't understand why I haven't approached this guy. I tried to explain her that I'm not interested in him personally. I'm just fascinated: what could his story be? Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever given the extras in the movie of your life a second thought? Sometimes you don't even notice them as they pass you by in the streets, you never think about them again. But if you do give them that second thought, you might realize that each and every one of them has their own story. To them, you're nothing more than an extra. I find that intriguing. So many stories that I've never heard and that I'll probably never hear. And that's okay. I could go up to Eric Fisher one day and say: 'Hi, I'm Envy Fisher. What's you story?' I could do that, but I won't. I think I've just found the reason why I'm still single...
It might sound silly to you, but I like to wonder about the stories behind the extras in my life. I like it to stay that way. I want to keep that mystery alive. It makes life just a little more special. It's the magic of the extras in life and I wouldn't want to take that magic away.

Stay Awesome!

**Announcement! Teenage Blogger Central will be hosting its very first pilot twitter chat on Friday evening! For more details, tweet to @_TheSilverKing or @Envy_Fisher! See you there!

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6 Fellow Ramblers

  1. I thought I was weird for thinking of back stories for the people I see maybe once or twice in my life!
    I know it sounds creepy, but when I see a whole building of apartments, I try to think of the stories the windows carry, because there's so many ways of living and every story is different. Even when I look at my photo album and see how many strangers are in my own photos makes me think of their stories based on their faces (Which begs the question - isn't it weird to think how many strangers' photos you're in?).
    I think if you think of a whole back story for a certain person, it can be terrible to get to know them and find out they're not as great, because that way you don't have a nice memory of them. I think this is why I love writing, because when I write about someone's personality, no one can change it, that's just the way it stays. :D

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    1. Maybe this is something all writers do, wonder about the stories behind every face and window. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who does that.
      I usually think about what a person's personality and when it doesn't match with what I made up I'm devastated and so disappointed. I'd rather stick with my stories :)

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  2. I kind of made a game based on this. I'd have a friend point out a completely random person in a crowd and I would craft a story for them. Once I went to a restaurant on the top of a mountain with family friends and we sat on the grass. So there was this waiter who was working and crossing the lawn a couple of times so I said "I'll tell you what his story is". The conclusion of a half hour discussion was that he was a dragon-born swordsman who attended uni in Dubai, went to China to learn how to fight with a sword, married a Chinese lady who lives on the mountain, tried taking his wife to Canada but his wife didn't want to leave her mountain so that's why this dragon swordsman is working at a restaurant so he could keep his wife happy :D yeah it was really random but we had a lot of fun discussing his backstory :)

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    1. That story is awesome :D We should do that for people in Thailand, I'd love to play the game with you :P

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  3. This usually happens when I see someone one and it's like I've already met that person before. Unintentionally I just keep staring at the person hoping to uncover their story but I never go up and speak to them. But I like to think about what another persons story could be. Stuff like that are quite interesting.

    -Kathie K
    A Sea Change

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    1. Staring, that's something I do too, mostly because I stare when I'm thinking of stories. It's one of the reasons why people think I'm a little weird :P But like you said, it's also so interesting :)

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