A burnished recognition

I was polishing my shoes tonight (they had gotten stained and scuffed after a rainy weekend in Montreal) when I noticed I had uncovered the figure of a smiling face in the bottom of the polish tin. I decided it must be a sign.

I went to Montreal to visit a friend from high school. In middle school, before we were friends, the two of us were teammates in Odyssey of the Mind. By the first round of local competitions my teammates and I had convinced ourselves we would go to the final round, taking various signs and omens as evidence. For instance, in The Simpsons' episode that aired the night before we competed, the cartoon family travelled to Australia; the final round of competitions was to take place in Australia. Our team never made it past the first round of competition, despite the potency of the signs.
When I finished polishing my shoes I put the lid with the picture of the kiwi bird back on the tin. By that time I had rubbed away the shining, smiling face; I am still confident it was a sign.