She had caught his eye as he had walked through town. He had turned his gaze away from the main and looked into one of the side-streets for once. It was a completely different world to the decadent one that he was used to. The side-street had been filthy and uninviting, garbage littering the floor. And then he had seen her, huddled against the wall, surrounded by trash.
Dressed in little more than a dirty shift to protect her from the cold, thin and shivering, she was the image of misery. But she seemed to shine and it was this shine that had made him notice her. He doubted that he would have even seen her if it wasn’t for her soft glow. There was more to her than just misery and it piqued his interest. The man who was never a boy made sure that he could remember where she was and continued on his way.
Later that day, whilst returning, the man who was becoming a boy saw her again. He decided to try and relieve her misery. Drawing a few silver coins from his money pouch, he walked up to her tentatively, not sure what to expect. She lifted her head as he approached and piercing blue eyes stared up at him curiously from a face framed with black. The man who was not yet a boy felt his heart thump in his chest as he held out the money for her to take. She looked at it for a few moments then stood up gracefully. She was no longer shivering and he could see that she was not as thin as he had first thought.
She opened her mouth to speak and her voice was that of an angel’s. “My good sir, I thank you for your kindness, but I have no need nor want of your money. Please, give it to someone else.” She closed his hand slowly over the money, then, seeing the confusion on his face, continued. “I have decided to live here in this way and I am not as deep in poverty as I may seem, for I have all I need within reach.” She crouched down and put her hand above the floor. The space between the two glowed with a hypnotising light as a bright blue flower that matched her eyes grew and bloomed. Plucking it, she straightened then smiled at the awe on his face.
“Who-who are you?” The man who was nearly a boy stuttered as his heart raced in his chest at her smile.
“I am a princess, a servant, a beggar. I am young; I am old.” Her clothes flashed through the ones she had said, then her body morphed from that of a crone and back. “I am this world and so many more. I am whatever I may wish to be. I am everything and nothing. I am all you have ever dreamed of and I have no limits. I am Imagination and I am in everyone. You have found me and fallen in love with me. Do you accept me?”
The man who was now a boy nodded slowly, still in awe of the person in front of him. Slowly, the edges of Imagination’s body blurred and faded until she had become a ball of softly pulsing light that flew into his body.
The boy who was once a man felt his heart fill with warmth and suddenly the need to write overcame him. He turned and left the side-street, hurrying home so that he could put pen to paper and set Imagination free.
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