Wish

It was you who reached out through space and time and woke me from my dream as the rain poured down from the sky and the soft fragrance of jasmine mixed with the scent of your wet hair.

I could feel you didn’t understand what you were doing, as you sat under the wooden roof overgrown with blooming jasmine. If I wanted to, I could easily have resisted your call, but there was something about you that made me curious.

At first, I watched you from afar as you came to the park every time it rained, wandering along the empty paths and listening to the droplets of rain dancing on the leaves of nearby trees. You didn’t mind getting wet, and more than once did you leave your shelter and ran into the rain,

hoping it would wash away all your worries.

Sadly, it didn’t work that way, and you always ran back under the roof with wet hair and the shattered hope that a simple wish could change anything.

This is how I saw you the first time, sitting on the wooden bench and desperately trying to comb your tangled hair with your fingers, while your wet shoes lay forgotten in the grass.

Over time, as I began to watch you more closely and even followed you beyond the gates of the park sometimes, I learned that your behaviour outside the park was very different from what I’d first seen.

I felt disappointed, and maybe even betrayed. I thought I knew you, but outside our sheltered spot you were a different person. A person I didn’t really like and on more than one occasion, I considered leaving you to your fate and returning to my dream. But every time I was ready to leave, we were saved by the rain that once again brought you to the park, where your carefree dance in the rain raised my curiosity yet again.

Even when you believed your wish would never be fulfilled, you never gave up trying, even though you knew the disappointment that followed when nothing happened. At the same time, hope never left you, either. Each time you ran into the rain, you believed that today, your wish would be granted somehow, and you wouldn’t need to bring an extra set of dry clothes with you.

This was the side of you that made me curious, and as much as I tried, I couldn’t understand it. So I stayed and watched you quietly as you kept living your life. There was nothing special about it, and from what I’d seen, it wasn’t different from the lives of the other people around you. I never figured out if you were ever aware of my presence, but as time passed, both of us waited more and more impatiently for the rain to come. When it finally did, you almost ran to the park without bothering to put on your coat, as you already knew I’d decided to grant you your wish.

I waited, watching you dance with the rain. I wasn’t sure if you danced longer this time, or if I was just impatient, wanting you to return to underneath the roof and start combing your tangled hair with your fingers. When you finally did, I materialised on the path leading to the alcove and waited until you noticed me.

You looked so surprised when you saw me and for a moment, I questioned if this really was your wish after all. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself, but it was too late to pull back, so I smiled and slowly walked towards you. You’d left your shoes in the wet grass, and I picked them up on my way.

I didn’t want to play it out as you had envisioned it. After spending so much time around you, I wanted this, too, and even if I didn’t yet understand it, I was sure there was more to my actions of wanting to fulfil your wish, than just my curiosity.

So instead of sitting down next to you to chat, as you’d thought would happen, I put my warm coat around your shoulders. After so much time watching you, I knew how cold you were, and I didn’t want you to get ill.

“You must be cold”, I said softly, and you nodded, trying to pull your messy hair away from your face.

“I like it as it is”, I smiled. I didn’t want you to force yourself to become someone you weren’t and turn indistinguishable from all the people around you. Hesitantly, you smiled back, not sure if I meant it.

I took your hand and helped you stand. You looked at me softly and asked,

“Where are we going?

“Home”