[ WP ] , When they turn 18 , everyone gets a clear mental image of their Soulmate , the one person they 're meant to love . Today is your birthday , and you see yourself .

By 18, I was in denial. Luckily for me, this was pretty common. From what I've been told, a face appears and it's a stranger or someone that's known in church, school or in town. Either way, the majority of us yell and drink and sleep around. No one really wants to settle in immediately. No one really wants to fall in love at 18. From what I've been told. 
 
 By 28, I was lying with the best of them. Those that gave in were impatient. They were on their way to an early grave. We reasoned, the longer you do n't hook up with your soul mate, the longer you lived. They did n't see it that way. They got it in their heads that life began with your soulmate. We knew they were wrong. There was more to see, more to do. Plenty of time. 
 
 By 38, I was in love. She was the best thing that had ever existed. Soft lips with softer tongue, we'd embrace and every kiss I felt her warmth fill my heart. I could feel my body ache when we were apart. Long nights we'd plan for the future and all along I knew it was a lie. Soon, she'd have to leave me and find her true love. I could see on her face that she was struggling, that she could not truly be mine. A smile would fade, a silence loomed large and I knew in those moments I had to leave her. 
 
 By 48, I was alone. I was surrounded by the remaining few that were left. They were still spurred by our younger lives, our younger selves, wanting to prolong the inevitable. But I knew better now. I was alone and would always be alone. My fate was determined by whatever it was that matched two together. I always wondered, why two and not three or four? Why just one and one? And why one and only me. But I knew better now and whatever it was was right. I was alone and nothing could change that.
