Writing Prompt: "Love Sight"

Write about a character who was born with the talent to see "threads" connecting people who are meant to be together, like the strands of fate. Explore the mind of this character. And, worst of all, what would this character do if they saw a thread connecting them to another person?

Characters: Callum, Freya, Tate, Ryce

I once heard this myth about a red string of fate that ties one to their soulmate. Sounds romantic doesn't it? That is if you believe in that sort of stuff. After thousands of years people still believe in that story while they dismiss all other things as myth. Thank you, Science. But science could never explain what I could see. I was born this way. I was born with a "sight" my grandmother would say to me. She was a fortune teller. One of the best actually. I could see like she could; see the "red ties of fate" that connected two people. This red string started from a person's heart then stretched to their soul mate. It's kind of annoying really. Do you have any idea what it's like to see those strings everyday? I used to think that I would trip over them whenever I walked out to the city streets. But still it's a living. I make serious money as a match maker. A friend told me that it was because my name was after a love goddess: Freya. It's fate. Well if you ask me, Fate is bullshit. How is it that I can find everyone else's soul mate but my own?

"Freya?" I was concentrating on my steaming cappuccino watching the cream and cinnamon mix together to form a special pattern. It looked like a leaf. "Freya! Earth to Freya." I felt a finger press against my forehead. I lost my train of thought and looked up to see my best friend, Tate staring at me with his sparkling blue eyes. 

"Jesus, Freya, it's like you were on another planet," he said. 

"I'm fine," I took a sip of my cappuccino. The hot liquid burned the tip of my tongue. 

"Maybe you should blow on it," Tate suggested with good humor. "Or maybe you should have gotten the passion fruit iced tea like me?" Tate took a gulp of his cool tea.

"I have a long flight ahead of me and I want to be awake," I explained.

"Ahhhhhhh," Tate made a mocking noise. Tate could always make me laugh. As far as gay friends go, Tate wasn't your stereotypical gay man. He preferred sports to theater, which he would say was: "A gay pride parade with musical numbers."  

I gave him a small punch in the arm.

"Hey, hey," Tate said quickly, "you'll make me spill my tea all over my sports jacket! This is Armani."

Scratch that, like most gay men Tate had a sense of style. Tate took on a more somber tone, "Does the coffee help when you see those red strings you keep seeing?"

"Duh," I took a tiny red mixer and began stirring my coffee. "I see them every where." I looked around the coffee shop to see those red puppet strings all around me. I felt trapped in a web with no one to pull me out.

"Funny how red used to be your favorite color," joked Tate.

"I never said that," I pointed out.

"You loved wearing those red dresses and red shoes," Tate pointed out.

"Why do gay men always remember what a woman is wearing but never a straight man?"

"Because straight men are too busy imagining what a girl looks like naked."

"Or which Victoria Secret bra she's sporting," I laughed. Tate could always cheer me up. 

"So you still going to the family farm this weekend?," Tate asked.

"I have little choice," I sighed, "my mother insisted."

"I guess your dad took a turn for the worst?"

The only reason I would ever visit my family again or worse speak to my mother again was if there was a death in the family. That hour was fast approaching. 

"It's become life or death," I said.

I looked down at my watch and saw that it was time to leave for the air port.

"I need to catch my flight," I got up and took one last sip from my scolding coffee. Being burned is a rude wake up call but the caffeine was giving me the courage to walk away from the glamour of New York City to the humble banjo of Cedar Falls. 

"Tell Ryce I said hello." I said.

Seeing red strings that only you can see every where you kind of get used to them but at times I still feel like I'm going to get tangled or trip over someone's string. I imagined so many times being caught in that web, tangled in the glowing tendrils about to choke to death. Tate once asked me that if I could see the red ties of fate that find a person's soul mate then where was my soul mate? Could I even see mine? Yes I do. My string comes from my heart like it does everyone else's does. But fate as I said before was bullshit; a cruel bitch that likes to screw with your emotions. 

We landed around 8 pm and I was so jet lagged that even those uncomfortable chairs looked like soft comfy beds. But I had to move forward. I would have preferred a car service. I insisted on a car service but if you knew my sister, Enid, you would know that she never took a "no" for an answer. She likes to show up personally to show support. 

It wasn't long before I heard Enid's squeals of delight. 

"Freya! Freya!" Then before I could look up I felt my baby sister's arms around me. How could she sneak up on me? She always had a lithe step although she wasn't so lithe these days.

"Oh my god I'm so happy you came! Look at you! You're so gorgeous!" I took a step back breaking away from Enid's strong yet loving embrace so I could breathe again. 

"Look at you..." I touched her swollen stomach and felt the creature inside kick at my touch. The miracle of life. At least that's what everyone else calls it. For me it was just another puppet on a string. Better it died in the womb than having to suffer such a life. I moved my hand away afraid my evil thoughts would transfer to Enid's womb.

"7 months in," Enid said proudly. She caressed her stomach as she did every living thing she loved. We had a puppy litter once and Enid couldn't stop hugging and kissing them. I felt sorry for those puppies. I thought Enid would smother them. 

"Dad will be so happy to see you," Enid said ecstatically. "It's been what? Two years with no word at all?" 

I was choosing my words carefully. Kind of exhausting. I said, "Busy match making. Trying to bring families together can make you forget your own ironically enough."

"Yeah your business is so successful," Enid said, "your gift really raked in the dough."

"Gift? Never thought to call it that."

"Well you're here and that's what matters," Enid took my hands and held them gently. For a moment I saw my baby sister again. That wide eyed wobbly legged babe that followed me around like the very puppies she smothered with love. I discovered that lost feeling of sisterly affection until...

"Honey?"

When the person you're meant to be with is in the room your string gets shorter. I saw my string shrink as I saw Callum, Enid's husband, my brother-in-law came closer. Our hearts linked with our strings. My heart jumped into my throat. The world seemed to halt. Callum looked at me with those smiling eyes of his. Those olive green eyes always made me tremble. I put my hands behind my back trying to discreetly rub the cold sweat off of them. 

"Hey, Freya," Callum spoke in his warm honey voice, "it's been a long time."

"Yeah... yeah it has..."

Before I could utter anymore awkward words Callum walked up to me and his arms enclosed around me wrapping me in a warm blanket of security. I sheepishly hugged him back. He still had that Old Spice smell. I took it in, savoring the sense, saving it to memory. I could feel his heart beat one with mine.

"I missed you," Callum whispered.

It was then I saw Enid. She was smiling but there was a question in her eyes. I suddenly let go and quickly pulled away from my moment of bliss. Callum's eyes dimmed. I regained my composure. 

"Well," I said with a makeshift smile and cheery attitude that would never get an Oscar, "let's get moving I'm anxious to see how dad's doing."

"Yes...," Enid shrugged off her doubts and became the naive lovable sister again. "He'll be happy you're home."

I practically sprinted to Enid and began walking with her. Without even being told Callum picked up my suitcase and followed a good distance behind to give us some space. I could still hear his every breath over Enid's rapid chatter about the family. I was here to see my sick father but I knew Callum would be there. It was then I suddenly felt so stupid. I shouldn't have come back. Those old wounds feel fresher than ever.