Universally Stringed

Prologue

“Alright kids, why don’t you tell us about what you've been reading this week.” Instructed by a woman who looked somewhere around her forties.

All the kids raised their hands, trying to get the attention of their teacher, wanting to tell everyone the story that got their attention, except for one little girl, she was staring outside the window, looking like a bored teenage girl who couldn’t care less about what was happening around her.

Most of the kids had taken their turn with telling their stories about witches, fairies, pirates, mermaids, royalties, and monsters, but the girl still didn’t budge, she was too busy staring out the window, too immersed in the story that she was reading the past few days that was now repeating inside her head. “Is there anyone else who wants to share their story with us?” The teacher asked.

“Anyone?” She repeated, trying to get the attention of the little girl, trying to somehow persuade her to share the story she had been reading, but the girl ignored the older woman, “Ainsley, why don’t you share to the whole class the story you’ve been reading.” The woman requested, making the young girl flinch from the attention she was getting from her classmates that were now looking at her. The woman gestured for the young girl to stand in front, making Ainsley nod, and with her head bowed down, she walked towards the front.

When she got there, she looked at all the curious stares from the other kids, making her uncomfortable and unsure of where to start her story. She was uncertain that they would like the story she was about to share, but she didn’t have a choice. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak, “The story is called, Dream Link. It tells a story about a woman who keeps on dreaming of someone from the Fourth Universe or the Universe that lets soulmate communicate through their thoughts. She keeps thinking why he was in her dreams, then she realizes that he was her soulmate, but the only problem was that, they were from different Universes. She was from the Seventh Universe, or what she likes to call it, the Dream Universe.” Then she quickly walked back to her seat.

The woman smiled, surprised that one of the kids was reading a book that her husband had written, it was a story about her in-laws. “Does anyone know what connects us to the other Universes?” She asked.

No one dared to raise their hands, not knowing what the answer was, except for one little hand that belonged to Ainsley, “We can summon our soulmate when we reach 13.” The little girl answered.

“That’s correct!” The woman applauded, “Well, for you to summon your soulmate, you need to know their names. Does everyone know their soulmate’s name?” She asked.

Everyone screamed different names, some were confident in saying it out loud, some were unsure if they were even saying the right name, except for one little girl.

The little girl raised her hand, catching the attention of everyone, “What happens if I don’t know their name?” She asks.

The woman was about to say something, when a little voice had beat her to it, “You don’t have a soulmate?!” Then all hell breaks loose.