While I waited in a queue to use the bathroom at Bruges rail station a man approached .He asked if I recognised him from our time studying together at the University of Antwerp. I didn't recognise him and had never attended the University of Antwerp. He continued to look at me intently as I told him he must be mistaken. For a moment he seemed unconvinced by my explanation. Then he smiled, said he had obviously confused me with someone else and bid me good day.
As the man walked away I had a moment of uncertainty. Had I attended Antwerp University unknown to myself? The moment passed as I watched the man disappear into the crowded station.
The idea of the double is a abused conceit.In Dostoyevsky's book through to the French film The Double Life of Veronique a character experiences an existential crisis when they meet their double. It is a cliche employed in everything from science fiction to student films.
For a moment in Bruges train station it was not a cliche.As my interlocutor quizzed me I had a fleeting sense that he was right and I was mistaken. In a parallel existence I wondered what we studied together and why we hadnt kept in touch. My double should look him up sometime.
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