Soulmates

1- Love, Clark

(1999)

Dear Soulmate,

My mom just told me about it. I'm not going to go into too much detail because your parents will probably tell you soon. But I'm so excited and I want to talk to you about it! Please let me know when they tell you.

Ps. If you ask them specifically, they might not want to tell you yet. It was kind of crazy, but trust me, it's worth the wait!

Love, Clark

My parents told me everything. How the marks on your skin go to your soulmate's. I was really excited to see who mine would be. They told me to be patient since we could be different ages and they might not be able to write yet. It made sense, I'm only nine after all. I started daydreaming about who they could be, no matter what they'd be perfect. Fate never made mistakes.

I had wondered where the random drawings on my skin had come from. They were really good. They must be really talented.

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(2000)

Dear soulmate,

I haven't heard from you and it's been a long time since I first wrote. I'm being patient because my moms say that sometimes the one you're supposed to be with is a big age gap from you. I find that weird because what if I'm 10 and you're 7? I can't play with 2nd graders, I'm in 4th grade!

Why can't I erase that? Ugh. I didn't mean to sound mean. I'm sure you're a great person and I can't wait to meet you and I'll wait until you get to my age if I have to.

Please please please let me know. I get it if you forgot to respond, but I really really really want to meet you.

Love, Clark

All of my friends started getting marks. They didn't write very much but they'd draw flowers on their arms or something and then their soulmate would finish the drawing.

Ever since I had sent them my first message theystopped doodling their notes. I had no idea what they were thinking. What if theydidn't like me? Did I say something to upset them? Maybe their parents didn'ttell them what was going on and they were scared. That would make sense.

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(2003)

Dear soulmate,

I still don't know your name. I'm in 7th grade now and everyone around me is going on and on about how their soulmate writes them letters every night and how they can prove it by the marks on their skin. How, when they need someone to turn to they have a secret code that is secret enough to hide from teachers.

I know I told you about how I thought there might be an age difference between us, but at this point you should be old enough to know, right? You can't be that far apart. I found out around six years old and I saw your drawings so you can't be that much younger than me. You have to know how to read by now. Please just let me know that you're reading this. I don't care who you are, I just need to know you want to talk to me.

Maybe you don't know how this works, maybe that's the problem. Maybe you think you're crazy because no one has told you yet. Okay, so basically we're linked, the fates say we're meant to be and now as I write, these words appear on you. All you have to do is write on your skin with a pen, or if you are sensitive to that then use frosting or something, just leave it on and it'll tell me, it'll tell me you're listening, that you're still there for me. That I'm not alone in the world.

Please do this one thing for me.

Love, Clark.

I was crying. How could they do this to me? Showing me with drawings that they were there but completely ignoring me once I know what's going on? It was a cruel thing to do.

I walked through school and people were already holding hands and kissing. Some people's parents even moved so they'd be closer to their soulmates since they were destined to be together.

I sat at my desk and started drawing on my paper in sharpie, making bubble letters absentmindedly. The teacher was boring and so I fell asleep.

I woke up with my arm completely stuck to the piece of paper I was doodling on, some of the ink getting on my skin. Apparently my angry outburst of me writing 'I hate you' ended up on my skin. I couldn't even remember writing it, but I was frustrated. I used some hand sanitizer to wash it off, but I could feel tears on my skin and they weren't mine. I got what I want, I knew they were there. But this isn't the way I wanted it to happen.

I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, I wrote.

No response.