Bottled Up

The Bottle

I twirled the thin chain around my fingers, the metal warm from my grasp. It was in time's like these that I couldn't stop fidgeting with the necklace that constantly draped around my neck. But it wasn't the necklace that had me twitching; it was what hung from it.

When you are born, You are given a necklace with a small bottle, only about an inch and a half tall hanging from it. This bottle has a cork, and over time, sand fills this bottle in a different pattern according to the person. When you turn 16, your bottle should be full. And here I sat on my bed, watching the clock tick on the night before my sixteenth birthday.

They say if your bottle isn't full by the time you are 16, you might not have a match yet. You see, only one other person in the entire world shares the same sand pattern as you, and that person and yourself are meant to be. I stared at my tiny bottle before my eyes flew back to the clock. 11:57. Almost there...

For three more agonizing minutes, I studied my sand pattern for the hundredth time. The bottom half was sapphire blue, before green and purple zig zag patterns began. I watched as the clock ticked from 12:00 to 12:01. 12:02.

I started to panic. It was my birthday - I was 16. Why wasn't my bottle full? Maybe I don't have a match. Maybe I'm the odd one out.

Then, suddenly, a couple pieces of black sand started to trickle in, speck by speck, falling from nowhere. They fell until they touched the cork on top, sealing my fate.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Pulling my yearbook from the shelf of my desk, I flipped the pages as quietly and quickly as I could until it came to rest on our pictures from last year.

I quickly spotted myself in the middle of the page, my chocolate colored skin standing out against so many pale faces. My hair was straightened that day, hanging in sleek, black curtains around my face. My necklace hung proud from my neck, filled up to the first zig zag line.

I prowled the page with my finger, sorting out the people I practically knew by heart that had the same designs up to that point as I did.

I knew it was wishful thinking to see if my match was in my class. My mom didn't find my dad even in the same state. Others have traveled around the world on missions to find their match. Nonetheless, I weighed my options.

Tucker Gregory - in the yearbook, he had the same pattern and color as I did. I hadn't seem him around school, so I hadn't had recent confirmation.

Mark Peterson - he was out, despite the yearbook picture and the way he made my heart flutter when he looked my way. I sighed with desperation before moving onto the next page of the book. The seniors page.

I didn't look at this page as often. There was only one person who shared remotely the same pattern as I.

Nate Williams - the blonde hair, blue eyed guy of the school. Every girl drooled over him - every one but me and a select other few that found him arrogant and annoying. I huffed and closed the book just a little too loudly.

My mom burst into my room, her hair tied into a tight bun and her eyes tired.

"Trinity Taylor!" she said, putting her hands on her robed hips. I smiled weakly.

"Hi, mom... funny seeing you up this late..."

"Well, it is most certainly not funny seeing you up this late! It It past midnight, Trin." she said, pointing at the clock. I stared sheepishly at my bottled, still gripped tightly in my hand. My mom's face suddenly lit up with understanding, although the anger still burned behind her eyes.

"Lemme see it, darling." she said, running over to the edge of my bed and grasping the bottle in her hand, careful not to pull me along with it. There was no use in taking it off and handing it to her; the necklace would just pop back around my neck. They say the only way to permanantly take off your necklace it to smash it. I shivered at the thought.

"Oh, honey, it's beautiful!" she said, embracing me. "And happy birthday."

She pulled away just as quickly as she had hugged me, saying sternly. "Now bed. Sleep."

I obliged and crawled under the covers. She shut the lamp beside my bed off and I quickly fell into a dream.