Prompted

Of Soul Mates and Tattoos: June

Prompt: "On everyone's 18th birthday they wake up with a tattoo of the first thing their soul mate will say to them."

June

          June woke up with a sharp pain on her left collar bone, immediately she glanced at the clock on her bedside table, 1:46 am, March 21st. Her 18th birthday. Aggghhhh But did it have to hurt so much. June's older sister said she'd just slept through it, June couldn't understand how that was possible.

          It was a world-wide phenomena that every person, would develop a mark (much like a tattoo) exactly eighteen years after they were born. This marking would indicate the first words their soul mate would speak to them. For June Weston, 18 years came at exactly 1:46 am on March 21st, 2017.

          She had been on edge all week, what if the mark was a dotted line- meaning she had no soul mate, or a tear drop- telling her that her soul mate would die before they would meet? It didn't happen often, and it didn't mean a person could never find love, but to go an entire lifetime without the other part of your soul? It was the fate everyone dreaded.

          The pain stopped. June was afraid to look, but not knowing was worse. June threw back the covers and raced to her bedroom mirror, pulling down the collar of her shirt so she could see. As she brushed her pale brown hair aside the words "So it's you." stood out in a dark reddish-brown on her pale skin. Her mind began turning over every possible scenario in which this could be said, wondering when she would find this mysterious man, who he would be, what their future would be like, would they have many kids? What if he preferred blondes? For the rest of the night June lay awake turning those words, her soul mate's words, over in her mind, the only certainty was that someday she would find him.

<Four years late, at University>

          June had grown accustom to the text on her shoulder. At first she had jumped every time she heard the word "so", but over time the novelty wore off. Occasionally, when she was alone in her room she would dream up situations where she met her guy, but she hadn't obsessed over those eight letters for four years. None of it was new to her anymore- and all that was left was to wait, and listen.

          She pedaled down the sidewalk on campus, book bag carefully tied to her bike rack, lost in thought. Her eye caught on a couple who'd just found each other- eagerly sharing their marks as if to prove they were meant to be. Someday, someday.

          June turned forward, just in time to see the fountain as her front wheel caught the stone edge and she was thrown in the lukewarm water. The couple was staring at her, and her face burned bright red. A boy with dark brown hair and deep green eyes was hurrying towards her with a towel- he must have just come from the campus rec center.

          "I...uh...I...embarrassed." June stuttered as the boy grabbed her hand, pulling her, dripping, out of the fountain.

          He chuckled warmly, "So it's you. I'm Eli." He offered her the towel.

          June didn't know whether to laugh with relief, or cry with humiliation, so she accepted the towel and, gazing into his eyes stammered, "June."

          Never, in all her wildest fantasies had she imagined this would be how she met her life partner, but at least they'd have an interesting story to tell.