Hi, stranger!

You know when you get to meet someone and… they stick forever into your brain? Their memory is still there, years after you’ve forgotten their name or face. The feelings are just as real as back then. It’s nice to look back and remember them… more or less. A little over two years ago, I met someone who has no idea they still live in my head. It was a chilly, Saturday morning. As soon as someone introduced us to one another, I shook their hand. I think everyone thought it was odd, judging by their looks. Then I shook everyone else’s hands. They were photographing the event. I kept looking at them―they were pretty cool. They were dressed… weirdly, I’d say, for a teenager nowadays: wearing a matching, clean, crease-free suit and polished shoes. I was intrigued, to say the least. I wanted to get to know them. I wanted to know the reason why a 16 year old would dress that way to an informal event. That didn’t happen, though. I don’t know if they were just shy or I was a bit intimidating―since I am a really loud and bubbly person―, but they avoided having a conversation. Since then, I’ve only met them one more time, during that same year. Someone asked me to come to this high school they go to and that’s when I saw them in the hallway. It’s an orthodox high school, and the building is really old. Though, it’s a pleasant view. I’ve never gone back there ever since. Even though we talked for less than a minute in our whole lives, they stuck to my brain. Somehow, for some reason, they changed me. I’m sure of that. And I wish I could tell them. Oh look, I am romanticizing every little thing about my life once again, what a surprise! But I truly miss them… in a way that you can miss a stranger. Their name faded away really quickly from my mind in, probably, less than a week. And their face disappeared in a few months. But I know I would recognize them if we ever passed by each other. I know it. I know who I’m looking for. Goodbye and see you soon, stranger!