Hippy Girl From Planet X

I needed a beer and suddenly felt famished for a burger or something else satisfying. Absentminded, I went over to the pub and unknowingly opened the door to something, or should I say some one, that would change my life.

I'm not the sort of guy who believes in fate or destiny. If I can't see it, smell it, touch it, it doesn't exist or mean anything to me normally. Past lives, aliens, soulmates, spirit guides, I never believed in that sort of thing. Even now I don't know what to believe. But she came into my life for a reason, that I'm sure of. If nothing else than to make me think and expand myself.

So I opened the door to the pub and walked inside. Thinking only about beer and burgers. Suddenly there were arms around me and someone was kissing me on the lips. I instinctively pulled back startled at such a display. She stood there in front of me beaming. "You came!!" she said. Her eyes twinkled with an excitement she could barely contain. She jumped in and gave me a massive hug again. I stammered, "Ahh..um..ahh..."

"You came, you came....Come sit down!" She grabbed my hand and before I could do anything I found myself sitting next to her at a booth by the window.
Holy shit what just happened! I thought. Feeling a little confused I said,
"Um, I think you've mistaken me for someone else." I was preparing to stand up when she placed her hand on my arm. "No it's you...Nice to see you again," she smiled dreamily. Surely I can say that I've never met this woman in my life. She's not the sort you'd forget easily. A bit eccentric to say the least.

In my mind, I'd already labeled her as hippy girl from planet X. She looked like the artsy type. Like she lived in her own creative world. Mocha skin and long black hair. She was dressed in a little tank top with some indian deity's picture on it and a tie-dyed skirt and some crystals around her neck. But she seemed ok if not a bit weird.

Being polite I said, "I'm Jack. What's your name?"
"Michelle," she said looking into my eyes as if searching for some long lost treasure. "I thought I'd never see you again. I suspected it could happen, I mean, It's happened many times before..." she began to ramble things I wasn't sure if I could follow.

I just went in for a beer and she acted like she knew me. It felt like I walked into the twilight zone for sure. "So how's your life this time?" she asked. "Ah...it's ok I guess," I said a bit bewildered. What's she talking about!? But before I could ask she began telling me her tale.

It started out being something about dreams, love, and past lives. Somewhere around the mentioning of other planets and reincarnation, I began to tune out, and found myself looking at her lips. I replayed that kiss in my mind. She kissed me right!? It all happened so fast and seemed like something I daydreamed. My eyes wandered from her lips to her shoulders and beyond. Oops, then back up to her eyes. I thought, She's nice looking, attractive in a cute sort of way...curvy...sexy.

Yeah she seems nice but I don't want to get into anything crazy here. I thought, I'll just bail out of here if it gets too uncomfortable. Like I had done with other women before. Thoughts of leaving flashed in my mind, but something compelled me to stay and listen. My brain didn't get the nonsense she was speaking. It all seemed like fiction to me and I wondered what reality she was living in. She seemed normal enough but also beyond normal. Like she could be in both worlds at once. I've never met anyone like that before.

She was a little flirty or maybe just being friendly. At first I suspected this was all some clever attempt to get a date. Great pick up line, 'We were lovers in a past life.' But I didn't get the impression that a date was her true intention. She sincerely appeared to believe something and felt I somehow played a part.

Michelle was nice and didn't act mentally ill, so I relaxed and listened. I quickly motioned for the waitress to bring me a cold beer. Gulping down a few swigs made my mind begin to focus on her words instead of her body. I thought, Ok she's mentioned past lives...and seems to think I'm her long lost someone special, hmm. She kept looking into my eyes and smiling. She looked at me like I was special, like she saw something amazing in me. Haven't had anyone look at me like that in a while, and I felt compelled to soak it up and feel it.

There was more talk about Atlantis, Egypt, dreams and reincarnation. I politely went along but she saw through my guise and seemed discouraged. "Oh, Fuck it!" she said looking as if she wanted to give up. I laughed a bit, cause she wasn't very good at cursing. Kind of like a panda bear saying, "Fuck it!" Was kind of hilarious and made me like her even more. Holding back laughter I said, "It's ok. I'm here go ahead."

She innocently said, "Your eyes look the same." Then she reached up and touched my cheek and lips. As if she had done it many times before but she pulled her hand away suddenly realizing it might make me uncomfortable. But it didn't, was kind of nice actually. She looked disappointed and asked softly, "You don't remember me at all do you?" Her big dark eyes reached out to me.

Really I had no clue. I wanted to tell her the truth, but she was sweet and compelling and I didn't want to hurt her. Cause she seemed like the type of girl who could get her heart hurt easily. So I said, "I Want to remember you," and I smiled my warmest most reassuring smile. Which made her face light up and she sighed and melted in front of me. Like I had just accepted her.

She looked like she wanted to touch me but was hesitating. So I put my arm up around the back of the booth. My fingers gently touched the top of her bare shoulder. Her hand floated up and began stroking my hair which was pulled back in a long manly ponytail. She said, "Your hair's so soft. Like a baby's hair!" I laughed doubting it and she laughed too.

I took a few sips of beer. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some tiny container and dabbed a bit of sweet fruity smelling stuff on her lips. Her scent was a mixture of sandalwood incense and passionfruit. Nice.

She opened a purple pouch she had tied around her waist. In it was a small blue sketchbook. She told me she was an artist. I could see she was brilliantly talented and found myself admiring her work and being amazed since I'm not the creative type. She momentarily looked up at me and hesitated to turn the next pages, as if she was about to reveal something and didn't know how I'd react.

Michelle bit her bottom lip, and then spoke, "I've been dreaming about this specific guy since I was seventeen. It started after I took Guru Gurunanda's class on dreaming meditation. After that, something opened up in me and this man's face and images of previous lives were coming to me over and over." She turned the page in her sketchbook, and pointed at the face of a man. Long black hair, blue eyes and some pretty swirling colors.

"It's...you," she said softly. I thought, Yeah, looks like me I suppose. But that could also be a million other guys. Why me? But what I said out loud was, "Wow, that's nice."

It sounded a bit obsessive to me. I mean dreaming of someone over and over, questioning, seeking. But I could tell she was bewildered by it too. She appeared to be searching for some corroboration that would help her make sense of it all. I could tell she was nervous. Maybe scared that I would call her crazy and walk out the door. I just wasn't sure if I really was a part of all this anyway.

She turned more colorful pages, showing dreamy sketches of the same man in different lives. One was an egyptian, then a long haired warrior, a monk, and another looked like an alien. Whoa!! My mind backed off. I suddenly felt like I needed to run. But instead I said, "Excuse me, I'm about to burst could I just go to the men's room?" She nodded and I leapt from the booth.

I meandered my way through tables of couples eating various goodies and chatting away in their own romantic worlds. My mind was buzzing. I went into the men's room but wondered if I should sneak out the back door in case she was a nut. Thoughts popped in and out of my head. Why does she think she knows me...has met me before...previous lifetimes...together? huh? and the book...pictures drawn from her dreams...a face...Me?!...Weird! I thought she may be a bit delusional or on some drugs. But really she didn't seem the type for that. Besides being a bit unique she seemed like a cool girl.

I zipped up my jeans and headed towards the door. Then I hesitated and wondered what to do. In that muffled silence of the men's room my brain whirled and I just stopped for a moment. Just breathing. Suddenly a wave of calm came over me and I realized a strange sensation in the pit of my stomach or was that in my heart. What was that feeling? Whatever it was something in my gut told me to believe her. And I found myself, walking the steps back to the booth by the window where she sat quietly.

Michelle seemed more nervous as she looked up at me. I slid in next to her and said, "So tell me more." She looked relieved as if I had given her permission to tell a secret. Slowly she spoke trying to find the right words. "Jack, I know it sounds weird. Me coming here and telling you all this," she tried to smile.

"After I began having the dreams, I felt you were out there somewhere. But I started to think I was making it all up and I tried to forget about it. That's until I saw my spirit guide in a dream. He came to me and said, 'It's time'. Told me I'd be meeting you soon, reconnecting. He said you and I have crossed paths before at important moments over many lifetimes. I guess benefitting each other in some way...experiencing things, learning lessons, growth. Don't know, kind of a soul thing I guess..." her voice trailed off.

I felt speechless so I just nodded for her to continue. "Three nights ago, you appeared in my dream and asked me to meet you here. It was so clear! But I still thought it might be an illusion of my own mind. Thought maybe you were just a figment of my imagination. But then you walked through that door. You're real!" she said in amazement as she squeezed my arm gently. "Jack, I thought you had some memory of me too, and you knew what was going on, because you came here tonight."

Whew it was a lot to take in! Would have been easy to dismiss it all as nonsense and delusion. But in her big eyes I could see a bit of mist. I could tell she believed every word of it. Who was I to tell her it wasn't real. For all I knew she could be telling the truth and I could be having an illusion of some normal mundane life. I wanted to reassure her and leaned forward wanting to kiss her lips again. But I figured that would come later.

Then I decided to open up and share more of myself with her. I told her how I don't remember my dreams and find it intriguing that people can have such vivid ones. Michelle said, "Jack, hope you don't think it's crazy, me having those dreams about you." I laughed and said, "Yeah it's crazy!" she laughed too.
"No, really, thanks for being so open about it. I suppose your dreams are telling you something important. Maybe it's a benefit for us both." Then I touched her hair and realized she was genuinely speaking from the heart. The resistance was broken suddenly it seemed so comfortable and right being there with her.

I moved closer and asked, "Would you like to share some hot apple pie and cinnamon ice cream?" Her eyebrows raised and she said, "Mmm, yes please." I could tell it made her happy. So I motioned for the waitress, "We'll have the apple pie, two spoons please." We relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. Michelle and I spent hours talking that first night and there were many more to come.

I don't know if it all was an illusion from her starry-eyed reality or if we really have been connected to each other across lifetimes. I was just an average guy looking for a beer and she came in and had an effect on me. Can't explain it. But I had a strange sense of wanting to protect her. Her innocent imaginative qualities. I wanted to keep her smiling that beautiful smile.

Michelle's yummy world drew me in and I found my practical sensibilities being both challenged and excited at the same time. My first perception of her being a hippy girl from another planet disappeared. I found myself admiring her for speaking her truth and reaching out to someone like me. She was rather courageous in a way. I don't know if I would've had the balls to open up like that to someone and risk the ridicule.

I discovered she had an expanded way of seeing things. The ability to cross between both worlds the illusory and the real. Maybe she lived in a realm of illusions, or maybe her reality was the real one. Either way I am thoroughly grateful that she opened the door to her world to let me in. And our fantastic journey continues...