The bad date that changed everything - Wonder Runner, episode 1

“You’re a runner?” This, the only question that he had asked Wonder over the course of their date. The critical and doubtful way Ralph quizzed her touched a nerve. Wonder could feel her already elevated temperature rise to new heights. He brazenly scanned her body with a smirk of disbelief. Her face flushed as she maintained enough self-control not to throw her half empty beer in his lap.

Instead, Wonder began to drink faster to move things along. She had done her best to find things in common, to ask him questions, to make him laugh. Clearly, he was uninterested. Most of her dates had been fails, but this was the first time she was getting vibes that bordered disrespect and indifference. Most men were at least polite. Ralph was just plain rude. Worst of all, he was questioning her body's capability and her integrity. Was he disappointed in the contrast of the woman who sat before him versus the online version of the woman he imagined? Was he just a jerk?

“Can we get the check?” Wonder said to the server as he brushed by. The server nodded; the couple sat in silence. When the check came, Wonder quickly laid seven dollars on the receipt and waited for her date to cover his portion. They both got up and walked to the exit. The eyes of diners and drinkers followed them as they regarded the unlikely pair who clearly weren’t a match. As they stepped outside, drops of water fell from the evening sky.

Wonder reached into her purse for an umbrella and suddenly felt a rush of pain as her arm was pulled and then overextended in the direction of a shadow that was running away with her blue handbag in tow.

"Wait! Stop! My purse!" The mugger looked back and then kept running. Wonder looked around, frantic. She looked at her date - he was frozen in surprise and violation.

“Do you want me to call the police?” he stuttered, finally joining her in consciousness.

“No!!!!!!!!!!!”

The sound of her yell was guttural, passionate, frustrated. The heat in her body was boiling over and her mind was racing. It was enough that she had just wasted an hour of her life with an unkind, uncaring man, not to mention the multiple wasted email exchanges over the past week. Furthermore, she had wasted 250 calories on a $7 beer and now, someone had stolen her handbag. It was just too much.
At that moment, she lost control of her body and its actions. Despite her three inch wedges, she began running toward the thief who had just sent her over the edge. As she ran, she could feel a deep, unfamiliar heat being generated from the friction of her thighs rubbing together. Her pace quickened and soon she could see her blue bag and its thief in the distance. Despite the friction, Wonder noticed she was running faster than she had ever run. Like a speed demon, she breezed by silhouettes of homes and cars with ease and agility. Whether it was the anger, adrenaline or both, she wasn’t sure.

The thief looked back for the second time and his face turned white. He was stunned and frightened at Wonder’s rapid pace and soon began to stumble and finally skidded across the wet pavement. Wonder stopped a few cautious feet in front of him. “Give me my purse!” she yelled with uncharacteristic authority and confidence.

The thief fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a gun, and pointed it at Wonder. Her eyes grew big with fear, but at that point she once again lost control of her body. She could feel the heat from her thighs travel down her legs. Involuntarily, her left leg raised and a laser beam shot from her big toe, hitting the gun, and knocking it from the mugger’s hand. Understanding that he had met his match, the bandit dropped her bag and fled the scene. Wonder stood there, incredulously. She was trembling and there was smoke coming from her left shoe. She walked over to pick up her purse. The strap was broken, but its contents were all there. She heard footsteps approaching in the opposite direction. It was Ralph.

“Wow, you are a runner! Are you okay? That was… you’re so fast… How did you scare off the that guy? How did you get your purse?"

She realized that Ralph had not seen everything that had taken place, which was probably for the best. He had a genuine look of interest in her for the first time that evening.

Wonder looked at him and then she looked passed him; she turned and ran to her car.

Yes, she was a runner - Wonder Runner.

****Check out the Wonder Runner Introduction story.