The night I met Wonder

A light green hue softly flashed over the horizon as the afternoon became evening. Normally, I’m too quick to my smartphone to take the time to sky gaze. But that slight green… I’ve never seen it before.

The green eventually fades into a deep blue; the dark navy of the evening sky suits my thoughts.

We’re alone.

I check my phone, no notifications. I’m alone.

I thought this new city would have allowed me to meet more like-minded people than ever. But two years in and I feel more disconnected than I’ve ever been. I look down to see a bustling street. Maybe 50 people commute past me in 30 seconds. Are they all as alone as I am? Is it me who is just bad at making friends? What is wrong with me?

A playful giggle swept over the back of my ears. I jolted around to see the source of the surprising noise. Right in my eyes was the face of a beautiful woman, with wide eyes she stared deeply into me.

“Uhm. Who are you?” I squeeze out, attempting to feign calmness.

A smile sweeps across her face. “Me? …” She takes a considered half step back, and looks at me from across her face. There it is; that green I saw on the horizon. Though instead, it is sweeping across the outer edge of her hazel eyes.

She suddenly sprints of away from me, toward the traffic-laden street. As instants past my reaction outpaces my decision making. I’m sprinting after her before I realise I’m doing it. She continues into the street, cars beeping and screeching their breaks in the confusion. I hesitate when I reach the edge of the road. The danger and confusion of the chaotic situations I’m about to enter dawns on me. My eye catches the woman reach the other side of the road and continue without looking back. I see a gap in the traffic of the first lane and before I think I leap onto the road, reaching the middle in two clean, powerful strides. A large truck is blaring down from the other direction, so I leap again towards the edge of the road. But in my rush, I donked up the push, and land awkwardly, taking a precious half-second to correct my stance.

BLAAAAAAAAAAM, the truck blares it’s horn as I stand dumbfounded in the middle of its trajectory. This is it. I’m a goner.

My head jolts to the side as I feel a shoulder slam into my upper chest. I land as smooth as possible for someone having just been tackled. It was the woman, she had grabbed me in the nick of time.

“If you want to know me, you’ve got to show you really want to” She demands with an unquestionable sense of fun in her words.

As I start “how d-” she begins to sprint off again. What is going on here? Why am I following this insane woman? I ponder. Well, there is only one way to find out I suppose. I begin an ungraceful chase.

Before I hit my stride, I came to a sudden halt as her face appeared in mine.

“Do you know, what is the most interesting thing in the world?”

“No.. what is it?”

“Yes, that’s it! It’s interest!” Her face lights up with joy, I can’t help but smile too. “Do you know what the most wondrous thing in the world is?” She asks

“It’s wonder?” I guess.

She offer’s her hand, I go along and shake.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you” She declares

“Your name is Wonder?” I reply

“No my name is in a language you could never possibly comprehend” She says formally, but then a massive smile creeps across her face as she loosens her body language.
“So you want to know the meaning of life?”

“well yeah, sure I do!” A part of me is genuinely curious to see her take.

She burst out laughing “makes you … wonder doesn’t it?”
“So you don’t know?” my slight frustration comes through my voice.
“do I?”

“Do you!?” I chuckle

She runs off again. I smile and chase after her. She dashes toward and through a congested market. People, frocks, hats, fruits, gems, art – as it turns out, markets are best enjoyed at 30km an hour. The colours and the movement blend into a flourish of kaleidoscopic wonder. I feel like I am entering hyperspace; the world blurs but where my feet should go next and Wonder always creeping ever further away from me.
Is she getting faster or am I getting slower?

I stop for a second to collect myself. I feel my heart. D-D-D-D-D-D-D; it feels like it is pumping outside of my chest. All my sharp focus throbs into a blur as my body’s lactic response suggest to collapse. I breathe in and breath out over and over in a desperate attempt to recuperate my unfit respiration.
“Wonder!” My inner voice screams. My focus returns and my pain dulls. I can’t see her anymore but I dash in her last known direction.

The rainbow whirlpool of the market starts again as I hit my stride. The line of the market makes a T with the slim beach. Alternating waves of calm and whitewash moved about in a chaotic harmony. As I looked out to the ocean, a yellow light swept over the blue sea. Another green hue landed on my eye that I’d never seen before. My eye was then drawn to a lighthouse upon an outreach.

My instincts drew me to the lighthouse at a pace that allowed me to slowly catch my breath. I came to the door and looked upon the peculiar, pristine white monolith. How had I not noticed this lighthouse before? My curiosity opened the door. I saw the back of a black swivel chair as the moonlight entered the room. Wonder pushed her self around in a considered swivel, her cheeky smile beaming as her hands clasped comically.

“The meaning of life?” She coyly asks herself “The meaning of life is …” the smile faded from her face into a deep and serious look. “…to be loved.”

My heart sank as the confounding moment hit me. I lost myself for a moment in her eyes. A white twinkle shone off the top of her light brown pupils. Despite my philosophical cynicism, I felt she spoke true. More than anything right now, in the moment, I want to be loved.

I smiled, she smiled back. Adrenaline flooded by blood. Wonder breathed deeply, as if to inhale my excitement. She darted from her chair up around the winding stair. I wasn’t far behind her. But up-close I saw her move with an inhuman grace. She moved so fast and so violently but her footsteps made almost no sound. She effortless outpaced me, by the second flight I couldn’t see her again. I redoubled my effort. Exhausted and breathing so heavily I felt I could die, I came to the door of the top room. A white light pierced the outline of the door, giving it a halo as a gentle mist mysteriously filtered from the room.

I collected my breath and placed my hands on the doorknob. I twisted the knob, in that moment Wonder’s voice appeared, filling my entire head. Her voice had an added depth and dimension, she sounded wiser and more powerful.

“Open the door and behold your most worthy and valuable lover” Her heavenly voice proclaimed.

I pushed through the door, my eyes adjusted slowly to the dimly lit room. As clarity appeared, I saw the flash of someone’s eyes – staring directly into mine.

The eyes were mine.

In the middle of the room stood a full body mirror.