Counting to 27

 I had 3 and needed to get to 27, so I met someone, a new friend with 3, then I had 6, then another person, a work colleague with 3, and then I had 9. I ignored the person with 1. I could never be in a relationship with them. That would be too much effort. I have never met someone with 4. Do they exist? The person with 2 was as much effort as the person with 3, so I always went for the person with 3. 

I had 9, and after attending the most desirable parties, I met another person with 3, making 12. My new partner was another 3, making 15. Over time, year after year, meeting after meeting, one fleeting interaction after another, I met four more 3s: a business partner, my second spouse, my kid’s basketball coach, and my dentist to get to 27. 

With each person I met, we were compatible from the beginning. What I liked, they liked. My blind spots were their blind spots. What I gave, I received the exact amount in return, our interactions bound by the social equivalent of the third law of motion. 

But all this time I had spent trying to reach 27, I still had 3. 

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I had 3 and needed 27, so I met someone. We were friends. We enjoyed walks past houses with glass garages, beginner dance classes, dinners in abandoned car parks, picnics on overcast days, reading literature, and long drivers. She appreciated the heartache that gave rise to my thoughtful nature. I saw the pain that functioned as the crucible for my wit. She identified the loneliness that bred my individuality. I saw the rejection that cultivated her acceptance. We acknowledged the isolation that birthed our kindness. Strengths seen as necessary adaptations. Weaknesses viewed with benevolent imagination. Complexity grappled with. Simplicity accepted. She smelled the fertiliser that brought the ample harvest. I knew that this now beautiful field was once bare ground, and before that, it was filled with weeds, grass, and debris. 

I had 3, and so did she. Our deep appreciation of each other meant that my 3 was raised to the power of her 3 to get 27. In the process, I learnt new skills, made and shared more of who I am, and became a better child, sibling, friend, colleague, and business partner, and so did she. Her 3 turned into a 4. My 3 turned into a 4. They do exist. 

In all this time I had spent dwelling in 27, I had gained 1, from a 3 to a 4, and so did she. 4 raised to the power of 4. I searched for 27 and arrived at 256, with the potential to reach infinity. 

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