Wonder • Five Hargreeves

37

The Day that Wasnt

Some girls loved flowers.

Winnie was one of those girls. She loved candy colored roses, happy pink tulips, sugar white lily of the valleys and any wild flower in existence. The artist in her loved texture and patterns, soft petals and glossy stems. She liked big bouquets, small ones, and especially the impulsive "I thought of you so I picked these from someone's lawn" bunches of flowers.

But you know what Winnie loved even more than flowers?

Grenades.

"Oh Five, you shouldn't have!" Winnie fanned herself and rushed over to the table. "They are beautiful."

Five, with an easy relaxed stature, ran a hand through his hair with a smile. "Only the best for you dearest."

"But wherever will I put them? Theres so many!" She batted her eyelashes at him before breaking into a grin a shoving as many grenades as she could fit in her pockets.

"I can think of a few places." Five commented, before hanging his arm around her shoulders. "But of course, I'll leave the interior decorating to you."

Winnies eyes sparkled. "I do have an eye for design."

And Five pushed into a swirl of blue energy, pulling Winnie with him. She cackled as he did so.

When they arrived, the Handler was still poised and ready. She immediately fired off a stream of bullets.

Two, three, four,

But Five was a busy man- so he made sure they never landed in a place long enough for a bullet to find purchase. They went around the room in blurring flashes and the Handler spent another two bullets as Five shoved a mail cart at her.

Five, six...

The next time that Five and Winnie reappeared, they were a little out of breath and stood right in front of the Handler. Her arm raised and the menacing black gun pinned on Five.

"Is this really how you want the last line of your reports to read?" The Handler asked.

"When we're done, we're just done I guess." Five quipped, and didnt even flinch when the Handler pulled back the trigger again and....

Nothing?

"Some people just cant count to Six, can they, Five?" Winnie tutted and the Handler shrieked.

Somewhere nearby, explosions sounded and shook the building. Alarms went off. Screams, cries, stampeding feet. Five wasnt the only busy body when he was blinking them through space;

Winnie was down 3 grenades.

The Handler shrieked again, "I saved you Five! From a life of being alone- I gave you the chance to go back to Winnie! You both owe me!"

Five moved them again to the opposite side of the room, inside of Dots office. The mailroom was at the Handlers back; a perfect position. Winnie rolled one of her precious army green explosives to the Handlers healed feet.

"I do owe a debt. But it's not to you." And the dark haired boy with dark blue eyes, held Winnie close, smiled and said goodbye.

Boom!

—
On a beautiful spring day, long in the past...

Five Hargreeves was 10 years old and facing the biggest intellectual challenge in his decade of life. Einsteins theory of relativity was child-play to him, and dont even get him started on quantum mathematics- that was easy as breathing to the young boy. No, this was a problem that he needed every ounce of brain power working towards- and he still couldn't quite crack it.