All Roses Have Thorns

Sierra I

She smiled as the marks began to appear on her arm. Her soulmate's drawing subjects depended on the day, but they were always visually stunning with mixed feelings and meanings. She watched the rose come to life on her arm. Sparkles appeared in bright yellow swirls from behind the rustling leaves. The small, but beautiful signature came with quick, organized strokes to form Ri.

Sierra grabbed her purple pen and wrote, Amazing as usual. She added a smiley face for good measure. She wondered what Ri meant. When she was twelve, Sierra had asked what her soulmate's name was. The response had been slow, but she would always remember what they had written.

I would like a soulmate but I am not quite ready for you. It scares me. A pause. You can call me Ri. Sierra had quickly added a comma after "soulmate." Ri had responded with Really? They even added a smiling emoji with rolled eyes. Ri then wrote: I'll call you S for soulmate. Sierra had smiled because her name started with "S." She had written: Fine with me.

Snapping out of her memory, she started writing with her purple pen. Fortunately, she was generally a lefty and Ri was mainly a righty, so it worked out fine. They could manage well enough to write the small compliments they both enjoyed. She could do loose sketches with messy lines, but they were nothing compared to her soulmate's work. Sierra preferred writing and leaving the art to the imagination. Using her pen she quickly began to write on her right forearm.

The darkness was around her, in waves and spikes, pulling at her. She could hear the laughter of the school bullies and the disappointed noises her mother made. She couldn't hold onto her hope anymore. With one last muffled cry, Sabine Stonecraft was pulled under.

The response came fast in dark red ink. That was so good! I can write too, but not as well. I'll add to it... If that's okay with you? She drew a purple smiley face. Ri began to write, to her surprise, on their right arm! She felt the weight pressing down on her. She was losing her senses until she felt the presence around her arm. She was pulled up and out into the light. She didn't know who it was and she didn't really care. It didn't matter. They had freed her and that was enough. She wrapped her arms around them as they softly pet her hair.

The writing stopped before Ri wrote, Ta-dah! How was that?

Sierra smiled. It was wonderful, but did you just write with your left hand?!

I'm ambidextrous. Ri drew a winking smiley face. Well, goodnight S. I'm going to bed.

Goodnight. Sierra drew the heart as always and went to sleep, the small smile still on her face.