Today was my twenty fifth birthday. I could still couldn't see colors. That meant I hadn't found my Soul Mate yet. I was starting to get scared that I would never find him. My entire family had all discovered theirs around the same age. They were all in their teen years and I was way past my due date. My mom and dad had found each other in school, when they were sixteen. One of my sisters had found her Soul Mate when she was eight. That had to make Mom and Dad proud. Anyway, finding your Soul Mate is a pretty big deal, where I live.
There are some people out there who have never found their Soul Mate though. I worried that I was one of them. I desperately wanted to see colors but I wanted to find my special someone even more. Someone to care and love me as me.
I sighed as I hauled myself out of bed. It was time to start a new day. I quickly got dressed and soon, was ready to walk out the door.
I headed down the bus station; everything black and white like I normally see every day. I worked as a nurse; my job is caring for the people in the ER.
As I sat quietly in my own little space, I wondered what colors looked like. I knew the main eight colors(red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) but that was about it. I had overheard other people who had already found their Soul Mate, talking about warm and cool colors and that there were different shades of color. I had no idea what they were talking about but I was insanely curious.
My thoughts soon turned from colors to what my Soul Mate would look like and his personality. I had made a list of what I wanted to Soul Mate to be like. All of his qualities, traits, looks, and beliefs. It would seem like a high expectation for him but you only find a Soul Mate once in your life.
I was jolted out of my thoughts as I heard a small ding ring out from my phone. I pulled it out of my purse and clicked it on. It was a text message from my sister, wishing me a happy birthday. My sister was happily married and had three kids, seeing as she had found her Soul Mate at the early age of thirteen. Two of her kids had already discovered their Soul Mates, again making me worry about finding mine.
I put my phone away without replying to my sister and looked around at the people sitting around me. I saw a couple sitting right across from me, with their arms around each other. They were laughing, smiling, and kissing; they were obviously Soul Mates and very happy about it.
I felt a pang of loneliness course through my stomach. I wanted what those two had but so far, it seemed like it just wasn't meant to be.
After a bit of thinking and feeling sorry for myself, I decided to stop moping and think about the positive side of things. After all, I could still find him. It wasn't like I had a zero percent chance of finding him. If I just waited patiently for him, then he would come. There was no need to rush things that I couldn't control.
At that moment, the bus stopped making me forget temporarily about my situation. I hopped off the bus and continued to walk towards the hospital which was only a few blocks away. I had to get my head in the game. There were people depending on me for their lives and I couldn't get distracted with my personal problems.
I arrived at the ER room, checked in, and quickly got to work. I was in charge of getting the patients to a room and finding out what had happened, before I called for the doctor or medical surgeons.
3 hours later
I was sitting at a table in the hospital cafeteria, waiting for my best friend. I wanted to talk to her about my Soul Mate. Again. As I glanced around, looking for her, I saw her appear in a doorway. I waved at her and recognition flashed over her face. She worked her way around the people and tables, trying to get to me. It was only when she finally sat down, that I noticed she was dragging a man behind her and had plopped himself down next to her.
"Who's this?", I asked politely. My best friend looked over at me and grinned hugely.
"My Soul Mate!!!", she squealed. My jaw dropped. We had become best friends because we had been one of the only few people who worked on the hospital, not to find their Soul Mates yet.
The hospital didn't normally hire people who couldn't see the colors yet because they could accidentally mess something up. They had hired my best friend because she was good at what she did and I was hired because they were down on nurses at that point.
"What?", I exclaimed. "When? How? Where?" I asked her, loudly.
She gazed lovingly at her Soul Mate and rested her head on his shoulder. It suddenly hit me that she could see color and I wondered what this man looked like to her. All I could see was black, white, and gray.
She sighed dreamily and finally answered my questions.
"It was yesterday evening. I was eating dinner by myself, in a restaurant, and I accidentally dropped my fork on the floor. I bent down to pick it up and when I looked up, he was standing there! Then suddenly, I could see colors and I knew that I had just discovered my Soul Mate! We're going to have the official wedding ceremony in 9 months!", she told me.
I rolled my eyes at the little girl tone in her voice. I opened my mouth to ask another question but she was too busy cooing over her Soul Mate.
I frowned but decided to just let them be. I got up and walked out of the cafeteria, skipping lunch. She didn't even notice that I was gone.
As I was walking down the hallway, I couldn't help but let thoughts of depression and sadness into my mind. All those little what ifs came pouring back into my head and I was once again worried that I would never find my Soul Mate.
All of a sudden, I bumped into someone. I looked up into the person's eyes, hoping that maybe I had found him. No such luck. It was just my boss.
"Do you need something, sir?", I asked him.
"Why don't you come with me", he answered in response to my question.
I followed him into in office and took a seat in front of his desk. I looked at him, confused, as he took a seat as well.
"Is something wrong?" I asked him and he sighed.
"I hate to tell you this but...", he paused for a moment. "I have to let you go.", he said finally.
I jumped up in indignation. "What!?You're firing me?!", I exclaimed.
"Now, just calm down.", he said calmly, trying to reassure me. "I had to-", he began but I interrupted.
"Why?!", I shouted.
"First of all, don't yell at me. I'm still you're boss.", he said starting to get impatient.
I huffed but I quickly got my anger in check.
"Second, we've hired a nurse who has already found her Soul Mate so she can see colors. It might not seem like a big deal but it's very important that we have someone who can see because things can be very easily confused when seeing in black and white.", he said. "And I'm afraid that they've decided to let you go.", he concluded.
I stared at him through my drab, dull black and white eyes. I couldn't believe it. This wasn't happening. Just because I couldn't see colors? I knew that this bound to happen sometime but I had hoped that it wouldn't be so soon.
I could feel the anger and disappointment building up in my gut again, threatening to explode. Instead of letting it get the better of me, I stood up, and walked out the door, not bothering to say anything to my boss. There was nothing left to say, now that I didn't work here anymore.
I headed down to the break room to pick up my things. I had to pass the cafeteria on my way out the door and as I did, I peeked in and saw my friend still with her Soul Mate. She was loving all over him and he was kissing her back.
I wrinkled my nose in disgust and continued on my way to the door. Some friend she was.
I walked outside and wandered around for a bit, wondering what to do. Go back to my apartment? Call my mom or sister? Try and search for a new job already?
I decided to just go back home and rest for a bit until I could figure out what to do next but I was going to walk home instead of taking the bus. Might as well get the fresh air while I can.
As I strolled down the street, I couldn't help but think about the unfairness of it all. Much as I wanted to see color and find my Soul Mate, it was stupid to not give people a chance who hadn't found him/her yet. I sifted through all my thoughts and wondered if I was thinking like this just because I was jealous but concluded that even if I had found my Soul Mate that I would treat people who hadn't like this. It was just so unfair.
"Some birthday gift this is", I mumbled bitterly to myself. I was so engaged in my thoughts that I didn't realize that I had started to cross the street and a large car was hurtling towards me.
The driver stomped on the brakes, trying to avoid hitting me. I heard the screeching of rubber against asphalt but I had looked up and was instantly paralyzed with fear. I couldn't move.
I gasped and was suddenly thrown backward by the force of the car hitting me. I flew about ten feet before landing on the ground; my head hitting the curb.
I was surprised that I wasn't dead yet but that was when all the pain rushed upon me. I nearly stopped breathing with the shock. I felt like my head had just exploded.
I painfully reached my hand up to my head but brought it back to my side when I felt a warm sticky liquid cover it.
Black started to cover the edges of my vision. I heard the screams of other people and sirens wailing from far away. I saw random bystanders trying to help me but I couldn't feel anything but the pain.
The black was covering more of my vision and the sounds were quickly fading away. I didn't know if I was blacking out or dying.
Right before the black completely covered everything, I looked up at the sky, wondering if that was the last time I would see it.
All of a sudden, the dark grey sky suddenly changed. It was a bright blue color I think.
I tried to lift my head but it was too painful. What was going on? I had seen color. That meant I had found my Soul Mate but I couldn't see anyone at the moment, just the sky and the tops of buildings.
I heard the ambulance sirens really close to me and the black finally covered my vision completely. I could see and feel no more.
