Nothing Less Than A Miracle

We followed the instructions in Leia's letter to the dot. We didn't get sidetracked by unwanted adventures or unpredictable bad weather this time. It was glorious. The moment we stood and gazed upon what was going to be the end of our quest, was a glorious one. The sun shone on us like it had never before, and I was feeling like it would all be over soon. I had made it in one piece! I felt older yes, but it hadn't been as bad as Nan had described. In part, her miracle remedy had helped me and maybe, I just aged more gracefully despite the circumstances. Either way, I would get to make it. I was sure of that now.

Leia's letter had led us to an old mossy cabin right on the edge of the thick wood we'd been through over the past few days. It had been worth it, I could not say it enough. I had no grievance now with our scruffy clothes and dishevelled bodies, it didn't matter anymore. I was the dirtiest man alive, but I was getting everything I'd ever dreamed of since the day I met Leia. Immortality was afoot, I could smell it!

I went up the creaky wooden front steps and excitedly knocked on the door, one too many times I think. There was no response. Second time will do it, I thought. But still, we heard no one come to open it. Third time's a—

We heard loud heavy steps come to a stop and it opened. A tall skinny man with long wavy hair covering half his of face stood before us. His arms akimbo with a smug look on his face... he looked nothing like what I'd expected to see. Not even as a man. I thought this was a place beyond that. The way Nan had talked about her, I just assumed Space would at the least surround herself with more fortunate looking people... I was wrong to think it. However at this point, I willing to throw out all of my doubts for Leia, because at the end of it, this was all for her.

"Who are you?" the man spoke in a soft voice.

Typical, I thought. He looked weak. Probably the lazy good for nothing younger brother who was too good for the outside world. He must've spent his days lounging endlessly on the hammock in the backyard, fronting a knowledge for the world beyond and smoking pipes all day. Ah, didn't I know it. He was going to be a challenge this one.

"Hello... we've come to see Space," I began. "We were told to find her here you see."

He suddenly flipped his hair out of his face and smiled. I found his face not as appalling as the rest of him.

"What do you want with her?" he asked.

"We have a very important matter to discuss... perhaps we can take this inside?"

He shook his head.

"Well, I am she, the one you seek."

My face changed. My eyes wide with undeniable shock.

"I can tell that I am then not who you seek. But I can say for sure that I am Space and that there is no one else. So, I ask the question, do we still need to discuss this important matter?"

He was unbearably insolent.

For a moment my mouth remained agape like I'd been woven back into my earlier nightmare with Mr Fluff. Was this Mr Fluff playing with me?

"Is this Mr Fluff?" I whispered to Missy.

She shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

"There's no chance. I don't know who this person is," she insisted.

I was panicking. This wasn't real. How could it be? Nan couldn't have sent us all this way for me to get knocked down like this.

"But Nan said Space was a woman... or did I mishear it?"

She shrugged, not sure now herself if she'd heard Nan denote specifically that we would be meeting a woman. But how could she leave out such a critical fact? Was it not pertinent to this whole procreation process, to create Speed? A man of course would never cut it, it didn't make sense!

The strange man then leaned forward into our quiet conversation.

"Why are you still standing here?" he whispered, feigning interest. He very obviously couldn't wait for us to leave so he could probably get back to his unhealthy pipe smoking. I quickly realized that this wasn't just one of my fake deductions; he really did wreak of the awful smell of something foul. I resisted the urge to wrinkle my nose.

"Ah," I lifted my head up.

"So there's been a mistake. You see, we thought... we thought you were a woman," I said.

"Well, I can personally attest to you that I am not. Now if there is nothing else..." he raised his hand for us to leave.

"Please..." I begged. I needed to think of a way to save us fast. I looked over to Missy, she'd gone blank. It was all on me now.

"Um, by any chance... would you have a sister?"

He looked at me with the strangest eyes.

"No. Why?"

"Ah, because in my mind I had envisioned something different is all... and I'm having a terrible time believing it," I smiled nervously.

"We have already established that," he said, getting visibly agitated.

"Well, then why aren't you a woman?!"

He nodded his head in amusement.

"It's funny you should ask," he said.

"What's funny?"

"Well, based on your level of insistence and denial, I'm able to tell that the person who told you what to find was here a very long time ago. Because if you had come about thirty years ago, I could have told you for sure that you would have found a woman in my stead and been happy to go on. My mother, to be very precise. She was Space at the time, yes. I am very sorry to tell you though, that she is dead. I'm Space now, unfortunately for you," he explained, almost taking a mocking tone there at the end. Oh how I imagined he derived pleasure from seeing us stuck like this. He smirked contentedly as I took it in. Why was he like this? It was then that I sensed an odd uncanny resemblance towards my own actions. Was I this indifferent? I thought. Karma couldn't come now... this was going to shit way too fast.

I sighed. "Sorry to have bothered you then. I just thought maybe because Leia had pointed me in this direction, that it might've been it finally. We'll be on our way then." I hung my head as I turned around to leave. Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me as I put my foot forward. I turned back around.

"Leia? Why didn't you say it was Leia who sent you?" His repulsive laid back attitude had taken a sudden shift. His face lit up in delight at the mentioning of Leia's name.

"Come in, come in!" he gestured, now giving us way through the door. He went in and began moving things around, presumably tidying up the place. Missy and I glanced at each other as we slowly stepped in and sat down on some old looking furniture. We looked around. The place looked like it still belonged to an old woman who'd last done it up over a decade ago. Even the air was stale; it hadn't changed a bit. And it didn't seem like he was about to anytime soon.

"Sorry about the mess," he said, sitting down opposite us. "So what exactly did Leia say?"

I was concerned. What was this sudden interest in Leia? How did he know her?

"You know Leia?" I asked.

He nodded his head vigorously.

"I met her down in the village. Seems like a lifetime ago. It's been a while..."

"A friend then?"

"Yes a friend. Why?" he peered at me with a piqued interest.

"It's nothing. I'm just overwhelmed and confused. I can't say the extent to which my plans have unraveled."

"You can start then, with how you came to be here..."

I was dreading the moment I'd have to retell my whole story to someone else again, but it was a chore that had to be done. Maybe he could still help me in some odd unseen way. I didn't know what else to do.

"Well my friend, it seems you're in a bit of a bind there," he said after I was done. "And we've all seen that I'm not an option anymore..." There went my last hope of any wonder solution falling into my lap.

"You need nothing less than a miracle," he said.

He was absolutely right. A miracle was exactly what I needed. Anything less would not suffice.