The initial glance,
eyes wide, reflecting the world’s aura.
Everyone’s life, as complicated and beautiful as your own,
Staring back.
Awe-struck at the complexities of those not yet encountered.
Curious about the stories of those you have seen for split seconds, never again able to reconvene.
You may never know if they like rainy days, where the air is cool and crisp, or corduroy pants in the color of a cosmic latte.
Wondering, of who you could have known.
Of the inexplicable life with the potential to change yours.
The foggy sense of sonder.
Creating stories of the lives lived by those providing concealed clues as to who they are.
Fascinated by the mystery of not knowing.
Eyes locked, exchanging invisible courtesies.
They wonder too.
Backs turn and cars drift away,
as your memory is wiped of the character arc created in your mind.
Of their preference of coconut scented candles, their perfect day, and their favorite novel.
They too hold on to the image created, curious about if you like the color hunter green, warm summer days where you feel like it lasts forever, and the oxford comma.
As the short term memory fades, relinquishing the character created, as though life was a book.
Never to meet again, the incidental convergence of your lives allowed for the enigmatic creation of a person not yet known to exist.
Left there, forever wondering if you will meet again
Or if any of your assumptions had any value.