[ WP ] The entire world is colorless - unless you 're touching your soulmate .

Rain pattered down on the streets and sidewalks of Philadelphia as I walked from my apartment to work. It was routine, and some faces I recognized amid the strangers going about their own business. 
 
 In the doorway to his bakery stood Mr. Candela, the old Italian baker who'd let me rent from him for a few months. I shot him a wave, and he grinned that toothy grin he had. 
 
 Halfway to work the rain began to slow, degenerating into a mist. Off toward Jersey I heard thunder rumbling and grinned. Jersey is where bad weather belongs. They're made for each other. 
 
 I always saw *her* around here. A girl with light grey hair, her eyes a shade lighter. It never struck me to talk to her. She was a goddess, I was a mortal. A little overweight, scruffy beard covering a budding under-chin, glasses. My prime days physically speaking were almost a decade ago as a running back on my high school football team. Adulthood hit me hard. Stress, man. College, debt, hunting for a job, retiring nightly to an empty apartment ( or bringing some short-term girl back from time to time ) all took their toll on me. Periodically I'd get depressed by it all, generally within a few days of paying what I could off the top of my student loans. 
 
 Today, though, as I approached the park, I wanted to see her again. In the least sexual sense and in the most sexual sense I found her form pleasing to the eye. She was beautiful, but something told me that I would love her for more than that... if I could ever open my mouth and say something. 
 
 I began to lose hope when at last she rounded the corner and walked toward me. Her cell phone was rooted to her ear, hidden beneath those grey locks, curled at the ends today. She wore a long raincoat over black jeans and a white shirt. As always, my heart fluttered at the sight of her but my brain stalled out. I just glanced up at her, and back down before she saw me looking. 
 
 We crossed paths at the entrance to an alley. Fortunately I'd looked away, like a damn coward, because I saw the car backing down the alley and reached for her to move her aside- the phone was distracting her, and I did n't think the driver could see us because his brake lights were still dim. 
 
 My hand brushed her raincoat and immediately my eyes whited out. Still, my momentum carried us backward and the car passed us by ( I assume ) without any harm. 
 
 By then, my eyes adjusted. Something happened. I looked at the girl, who was blinking and looking around wide-eyed like I was. The world had changed! Black had become something else, and the shades of grey everywhere had turned into other colors, I guessed, but to describe them would be impossible. The world was bright! 
 
 Our eyes met, hers the same color as the sky above us. There were no words, not at first. It struck me then what had happened. Years ago my parents had told me about this, and I'm sure every parent had said something to the same effect: `` Once you find the right girl, she'll bring color to your world.'' 
 
 I had no idea it was literal.
