2/18/2013

Life of Why

Story Sent in by Eugene:

I messaged Lois online, and she was one of the most curious people I ever spoke to. She asked me so much about myself, I found my messages pushing ten or more long paragraphs, ultimately deciding that we'd be better off meeting in person.

She was pretty interesting, herself. She had visited every continent and worked for a department in a corporation that was responsible for keeping an eye on carbon footprints and responsible manufacturing practices. I looked forward to having an engaging and rewarding time out with her.

We met in a park, at a bench by a pond. After our initial greeting, we sat down and she launched right in with the questions. "What's your favorite kind of flower?" "Why?" "What's your favorite season?" "Why?"

It seemed less and less like she was interested in getting to know me and more like she was just... asking questions to ask questions. I hardly had a chance to say anything, myself. She fired them off so rapidly that I had enough of a time trying to answer them all. Finally, I said, "Lois, take a breath."

She replied, "Sorry," then went right back into asking me questions.

At lunch, once she had seemingly run out of personal things to ask me, she quizzed me on random facts, like she was a living, breathing encyclopedia. "Did you know that the first computer chip had only 2,300 transistors?" "A teaspoon of a neutron star can weigh over 100 million tons... did you know that?" "Did you know what the largest land mammal that ever lived was? The Paraceratherium!"

She was like a little kid, and there was something endearing about her. Still, I found that the constant barrage of questions and encyclopedic showing off was a little... show-offy. Like she had been kept in a room full of books for 10 years, and I was the first person she had spoken to in a decade. The floodgates had been opened, and I was the first town in the valley below.

We went out once more, a couple of days later, in fact, and she was slightly more normal, but only slightly. She seemed really, really happy to be with me, but also kind of nervous, like she was trying too hard to impress me, and while knowing that she was trying too hard, not stopping herself, because she didn't know how else to act.

I really didn't know how to proceed with her, after that second date, but as it turned out, she decided things for me. I called her up and she said that there was some drama with her ex, she didn't want me involved, and bottom line, it wasn't a good time for her to go out on dates with anyone. I said that I understood, asked her to keep in touch, she said she would, and we parted amicably.

Neither of us kept in touch, which made me a bit sad, as she had made an impression on me. I hadn't met anyone else like her.

About five years later, I had moved halfway across the country to Austin, and was out to a trivia night at a bar with some work friends. One of the questions was, "What's the largest land mammal that ever lived?" and I knew exactly what it was, thanks to Lois. My team and another team (out of five or six who were playing) were the only ones to get the answer right.

When I glanced over to them, I saw someone who looked a lot like her, and upon further staring, I realized that it absolutely, positively, was her. I left my team for a couple of minutes and went over to her to say hi. She gave me the biggest scream, smile, and hug. Between trivia questions, we talked for the entire rest of the night.

She explained that five years prior, she had been just out of an abusive relationship and had been "pretty messed up," but had fallen in with a good crowd and that she was much better and happier than she had been. I loved hearing about everything she had been up to, and she was still full of questions for me, but she was more tactful and measured, this time around. She didn't live in Austin, but was there for her job for a little while. We went out several more times while she was there, and it was great to be reacquainted with her. We stayed in touch over the ensuing year and a half, and saw each other as often as possible.

We're currently engaged. And it's all thanks to a lot of curiosity. And a little bit of Paraceratherium.

9 comments:

  1. "She was like a little kid, and there was something endearing about her."

    And that something was her large breasts.

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  2. Aww. It's nice to hear a story that ended sweetly. Congratulations!

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  3. How romantical! Congrats! LOVE me some happy endings

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    1. Improper use of 'romantical'. 5 points from Gryffindor.

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  4. D'aw!

    On one hand, it's nice to see a story with a happy ending every now and then. On the other hand, I need my steady stream of social invalids to make me feel better about my own pathetic love life and the fact that I'm going to die alone, so don't make this happy ending stuff a regular thing, okay? I'm so torn.

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  5. aawwww! Nice story mate. nice story.

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  6. OK, I'm going to focus on the least important thing here: Has Lois really been to Antarctica?

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  7. Am I the only one who appreciates the irony of how Lois had "visited every continent" and also worked for a company "responsible for keeping an eye on carbon footprints"?

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