Happily Ever After

"How was your morning at Ocean Isle?" asked Ms. Wonder when I walked in the door.

"Do you have a minute?" I said. "What I have to say may come as a shock."

She smiled. "I doubt that anything you say will shock me," she replied. "I'm used to your antics, but I bet you hold me spellbound."

"It all began as I brooded at a table outside Casa Blanca Cafe," I said, slowly setting the atmosphere for dramatic effect. "This wasn’t my usual brood," I explained. "It was a deeper, more focused anxiety, triggered by your insistence that I interview mental health therapists today."

"You and your therapist interviews," she scoffed, but then abruptly moved into the salient subject matter. "What in heaven's name brought you to Casa Blanca?" she asked. 

I recognized the reference immediately because we Genomes are addicted to vintage pop culture, especially music and film, but I had a story to tell and I was determined to brook no distractions.

"Two double espressos failed to improve my mood, and even my new beret gave little comfort. It did lift my spirits somewhat, but what I truly wanted was a red hat like the French revolutionaries wore, symbols of their defiance against the status quo."

She nodded supportively while ignoring the French imbroglio reference. With her tacit approval, I went on.

"I gradually became aware of a commotion taking place in the alley behind the cafe, and decided to investigate. But when I got there, it was strangely quiet."

"I walked on across the street and onto the beach, eventually making my way to the Memorial Dunes where I planned to honor the memory of our Once and Future Tribe--the cats who now wait for us at the Rainbow Bridge. But you know how those well-laid plans gang aft agley."

"Oh, no. What happened to prevent your memorial?"

"It was the arrival of Princess Amy."

"Not Amy again!" she exclaimed.

"Tell me about it," I said. "Of all the limbic systems in all the heads in all the world, and she had to take up residence in mine."

"Don't tell me," said the Wonder, "let me guess. I'll bet she drove her panel truck into the pier."

"Oh, she made another dramatic entrance to be sure, but not in her signature truck wreck. This time, she washed up in the surf and began flopping around on the beach like a confused mackerel."

"You don't see that every day," said The Wonder.

"That's what I said."

"What next?"

"I complimented her on her entry, thinking it might help to put her in an appreciative mood."

"Good thinking. Did it work?"

"It seemed to work because instead of yelling, Run for your life! ' the way she usually does with a grand entrance, she simply thanked me and said that she felt better for it."

"Excellent."

"But then she started messing with my head." 

"I'm still not shaken," Wonder assured me, "and I can't wait to hear what happens next." 

"You may be shaken yet," I said, and I quoted Princess Amy's exact words. "Amy suddenly shouted at me: Listen up! I have a special job for you. I need you to become my principal agent of redirection, disruption, and subterfuge."

"Had you hoped to be the agent of whatever she said?"

"I may have entertained the idea once or twice, but I don't remember mentioning it to her."

"Let's not get hung up on that," the Wonder said. "What happened next?"

"I had no idea what she might be talking about, so I guess I just stared at her like a dumb chum."

"Wait a minute," Wonder said. "Stared at her? Isn't Amy just an imaginary avatar for your limbic system?"

"My amygdala," I said, because I like to be precise.

"Well?" said the Wonder, shaking her head a bit in that way that means, explain please."

"You can work it out," I said. So, picking up where I left off, Amy said: 

"She said it was time for me to get to work and stop asking so many questions. In fact, she put it like this: 'You might just as well question why we breathe.'"

Wonder remained silent, but her brow wrinkled, and her lips did that thing I've heard described as a moue. It means pushing the puckered lips out and then drawing them back in. 

"Yeah, and when I asked What if..., she interrupted to say that I should let her worry about that. When I asked, Yes, but what about.... She said, I'll take care of that."

"I finally got to tell her, these schemes of hers never end well. and she denied it, saying, 'We'll always have Houston.'"

Suddenly, Poopsie, I recalled Amy's catchphrase when in her aspect of the Red Queen, ‘Run for your life!’. Those words are supposed to stir my anxiety and drive me to action that I later regret. This time, those words reminded me of a recent TEDx Talk, when Dr. Euan Ashley, head of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University, was quoted as saying:

"Exercise is the single most potent medical intervention ever known."

Strenuous exercise, running included, releases endorphins and dopamine, the body's natural 'feel good' hormones, which contribute to feelings of happiness and have overall mood-lifting effects.

"Here's what I'm going to do, I said to the princess, I'm going to run for my life, the very thing you often advise, and we're going to do it together."

"The look on her face told me that I'd gotten her attention, and don't ask how I can see the face of an imaginary princess."

"I would never," the Wonder assured me.

"She tried to talk me out of it, but I stood fast. 'We're going to run right now,' I told her, 'so get ready,' and then I started jogging."

"I told her that everything was going to be fine and that I'd take good care of her. In about five minutes, she was visibly relaxed, and shortly after, she rested peacefully and seemed to enjoy the outing. 

I assured her that I would always be there for her. I promised to accept her just as she is when she's angry, frightened, and anxious. I'd be understanding and supportive no matter what. On hearing my words, she relaxed even more and seemed to be enjoying herself.

"I want you to be happy and free of limitations," I told her, and she smiled, as much as an imaginary person can smile, and she squeezed my hand.

I laughed when she asked if she could still be the Captain and sit at the control console of GSS Wind Horse on our Mindspace missions, and I told her I wouldn't want it any other way.

"Princess," I said, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Alright, she's imaginary, so in the everyday three-dimensional world, she did none of that, but in my head, it all happened just as I've described.

"Who would have imagined it," said the Wonder, "you and Amy arm in arm. And to paraphrase that old saw, if Amy's happy, you're happy, and if you're happy, I'm happy. Just like in the movies, happily ever after."

"Say it again."

"Happily ever after."

"Here's looking at you, Poopsie."