The Mark

10

THIRD PERSON POV

After a while of sleeping in, Tyler opened his eyes once again and stretched in bed. Letting out a yawn, he grabbed his phone from the nightstand and the time read 11:13. He took that as his que to get up out of bed but before that he pulled his collar down and snapped a quick pic of his mark. He didn't want to share that to social media until he found his soulmate because so many people could jokingly touch him there or make fun of him. He really was lucky though with a full hand print. Most people only got a couple of fingers or some even just a finger print or a smear.

After thinking to himself for a couple of minutes he rose out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and headed to his bathroom to take a shower. Waiting for the water to warm he gently undressed. He stepped in and started his normal routine,  being extra careful when it came to washing his body around his abdomen where there were still tears and a spew of colors. Red, brown, bluish black, purple all littered across his stomach. 'It's almost beautiful' Tyler thought. 'Isn't that ironic? The thing that is causing me so much pain and I find the beauty in it.' He brought the wash cloth up to his chest and rubbed it over his mark. He was careful with it just as his stomach almost like he was afraid he would wash it away and lose it forever.

Finally finishing his shower, he got dressed and made his way down stairs. Reaching the bottom of the stairs he could see into the dining room and sitting on the table was a gift bag, a cake, and a card that had his name on it. He raced over and picked up the card first. He opened the envelope and pulled the folded card out. He looked over the front that had a beautiful design and then he opened it and saw that it was from his parents. It read:

TyTy my baby boy,
Your father and I are both so happy for you.
You may be my oldest child, but you will always be my baby.
I know this new chapter may be scary but remember that we will always
and I mean always be there for you no matter what.
We love you unconditionally.
And remember, you have no choice in your soulmate, but regardless
we will all be supportive.
Do not be afraid,
And keep your eyes on course.
Love, Mom and Dad.

Tyler wiped the tear from his eye that had formed. His family didn't know that he was bisexual because he was so afraid that they wouldn't accept him because of their Christian views. It warmed his heart to know that he was safe. Regardless like his parents said, people can't choose who their soulmate is, but they can easily choose not to be with them and he was worried that his parents would want him to choose not to be with them if it was another male. But after reading this card, Tyler was filled with reassurance. It was still a worry if his soulmate chose not to love him but even so, maybe they could be friends.

He set down the card and moved over to the big gift bag. He looked at the tag just to make sure it was for him. Assured it was, he pulled out the tissue paper and pulled out a box that was inside. The box was unmarked so he couldn't tell what it was but it was a weird trapezoidal shape. He pulled the top off and he couldn't believe his eyes. Inside was a beautiful reddish brown ukulele. Excitement filled his bones. There was a little paper on top that read.

We hear you playing piano all the time so we figured you could give this a try.

He quickly pulled it out but still being gentle with it and gave it a strum. It was already in perfect tune. He put it back in the box and pulled out his phone to send a text to his mom to thank her. She responded promptly and told him that she was at the store and would be home soon to make him his favorite dinner. Tyler was again excited. He loved his mom's lasagna. He decided to leave the cake alone until the rest of his family gets home as he'd rather share the cake with them.