They Come in 3s: Part 1

She came to me on the first day at this lovely seaside town. I was on the pier, admiring the sunset, when a porpoise shot out of the water and turned to purposely and porpoisely exhale a plume of water at me. It was a miracle, this roguish act of nature.

As such, I happily withstood this act of mammalian daring — this cross-species effrontery. Yet, I reconsidered, because it seemed as if it were personal.

Then she appeared.

It was well after the expanding concentric waves fizzled out in attrition, along the spoked radii. I thought of π, as ethereal a concept as any mermaid could be — one etched into the elitist postulates of geometry, the other ingrained into folklore.

She was as surprised to see me as I was to see her. Unlike her cetacean chamberlain, whose purpose it was to introduce her, she remained surfaced, some caudal machinations below sea level, maintaining buoyancy.

"Greetings," she said. It was a melodious voice, musical, fittingly flippant, with a hint of a giggle imbued within its tone.

"And to you, as well, " I answered. "This is the second miraculous thing that has happened to me — the first being your herald, your popoise."

She smiled, her own concentric circles spreading out to sea.

"Miracles come in threes," she said mirthfully. "I urge you to pay attention."

"For what? What will constitute my third miracle?" I asked.

"We mythical creatures," she said, with a sarcasic inflection on the "mythical," "are questful."

"Questful?"

"Yes. That is your task, your quest. To recognize your third miracle when it happens."

"You mythical creatures," I rejoindered, mimicking her previous sarcasm, "are riddling creatures, like the troll under the bridge."

She seemed offended.

"No!" she snapped. "That is exacting a toll. Under that bridge." Then she laughed — "Ha! A bridge! What I offer you is an epiphany you might not otherwise notice. If you were more astute to the concentric interrelations of the mere posing, as you navigate, your world, and less on things like π, you would already be prepared."

"A riddle, for sure!" I left the pier, happy to be alive.

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