The Red String Theory

Cafés and Little Blue Aliens

If there was one thing that was always true about Luna, it was the fact that she measured her life in small but definable moments. She could quickly pinpoint moments in her life that happened around significant moments. Luna could give near-photographic accounts of events that occurred around seemingly innocuous moments, such as her losing red sneakers in a thick patch of mud after a stormy day. While such a small moment wouldn't seem significant to someone else, it was big enough for Luna to remember and for her to remember everything else that happened around her.

Looking back on it, she realized that when Luna met Erik, that moment changed how she thought about everything.

When Erik appeared in her life, it was as though he crashed into her life like a wayward blue alien in a rogue rocket ship catapulting into the Earth. His very presence in those first few moments, and every moment after, lit up the room in an explosion of multi-colored sparkles and brilliant shimmering lights. Luna could genuinely say that she had no idea what hit her.

Luna could remember the day Erik arrived almost exactly. She had been enjoying a calm, quiet moment in the café she frequented. The café was a safe place for her, and it was her usual haunt to decompress and prepare herself for whatever was going to happen next in her life. Whenever she had a moment, she could be found in the café with her regular coffee order – a medium flat white, often iced. However, that day Luna opted to take her coffee hot. She had ordered it "to go," not planning to stay, but something told her to remain in the café. Not daring to question her feelings, Luna looked around and was relieved to find her usual table was available. She loved the table in the corner where she could easily people-watch and see who was coming and going. And so, Luna settled herself in for a stay.

She was lost in thought and the book sitting in front of her on the table, an open notebook beside it with her favorite pearlescent fountain pen sitting on top of the pages. She lazily held her cup of coffee in one hand, holding it near the lid. Luna was becoming increasingly less aware of how precarious her hold on the thin cup was, her fingers gravitating closer and closer to the top as she read. Her attention was momentarily pulled from her book at the twinkle of the overhead doorbell jingling as someone entered. Or, several someone's, rather. That was the first time that Luna took notice of Erik, and apparently, he had taken notice of her as well. For reasons still entirely unbeknownst to Luna, Erik walked right up to her table and sat down as if he knew her and he belonged to be sitting across from her.

Unaccustomed to random strangers walking up to her and sitting down at her table during what she deemed "her quiet time," Luna was at a loss. She had been in the process of taking a drink of her coffee, and she froze with her coffee halfway to her lips, her mouth parted with surprise. Luna stared at the rather tall gentleman across from her, trying to understand what the brown-haired man with grey eyes wanted with her. All Erik could do was smile at her stunned expression in response, his smile bright and sparkling and lighting up his face. He then nodded towards the book sitting in front of her, wiggling his eyebrows slightly as if he was in on a secret with her.

"That book," Erik said, his eyes flicking between the book and Luna. "The one you've got there; I've got some theories about the story."

Uncertain of what to do and what to make of this stranger, Luna could only set her coffee down. She wasn't expecting Erik's accent, and while she wanted to immediately ask him where he was from, that somehow felt too rude, and she was too startled. Luna looked down at the book before her, debating what she wanted to do. Ordinarily, Luna would politely ask Erik to leave, but a part of her was more curious to know if he actually knew what book she was reading or if he was bluffing. It wasn't as if he could see the book's cover with it lying flat on the table. Luna finally looked back up at Erik with a shy smile. She was surprised to find him staring at her expectantly, a silent excitement radiating from his entire being.