strawberry_23

     0000 d 00 h  00 m  00 s

“Thats weird…” I checked my wrist, the clock had just hit the 30 second mark but I looked around and there was no one there. I was a worrisome guy overall but I felt justified, I mean today was the day I was meeting my soul mate. Not that I expected my dream girl to be in the storage closet at work but still I was nervous. 

Walking out with a box the boss had requested I walked back to my cash register setting it on the shelf. My wrist hit the 20 second mark

19 seconds

18 seconds

Where was she? I could not help but get worried that an error would pop up or that she was gone and my timer would run out with no response. I panicked, I’d change my own fate if I had to. Running out of time I hurried through the back door. There was a park outside and maybe I was supposed to be there to find my soul mate. 

10 seconds

9 seconds

A faint ding of the doorbell hit my ear. Wait was that it?? She was here! I turned around running back to the counter. “Don’t worry I’m just in the back!”

I ran out looking at my wrist as it hit zero. Out of breath “Hi I’m Matt!” Sticking out my hand for a handshake it was met by a firm hand. Meeting my soulmate’s eyes for the first time they spoke. 

 Suddenly a dark shape runs past my window and a boy jumps on the bus. He has that same frantic look in his eyes. I breathe out with relief.  ”Yeah get on, we’re running late,” the driver says, taking his ticket. The boy looks around, carefully stepping towards the seats. He’s tall and handsome, holding a sketchbook. I smile slightly; my friend hates art.  4 seconds  He spots her.  3 seconds  His eyes widen as he walks closer, as if being pulled by an invisible rope.  2 seconds  My friend stands up too, that same rope tying her to him.  1 second -  ”I was worried the bus would leave. No way could I miss meeting my soul mate!” he jokes, though he looks just as nervous as she. They smile at each other as they both sit down together. I can’t hear what they’re talking about.

 I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Suddenly I’m crying. Hot tears dropping down my cheeks.

 I look at my wrist, scratching at it. Trying to get rid of it. 

 The numbers have never changed.

No of course every family has a head, someone who makes all of the decisions. Obviously being the owner of MMI makes my father that head, meaning that I (an only child) get even more attention than the rest of the children. It was nice, for a while. Every year I would get a boat load of presents for my birth day christmas and strangely enough labor day. If I was lonely my parents would get someone to entertain me. Well eventually after a childhood anyone would dream for I started to get bored of all the attention. I stopped attending a few family functions, I would go off on my own every once in a while to do something, ANYTHING that would keep me from getting bored. I did things such as martial arts, equestrian riding, and I even did some writing, but then things got serious once my clock ran down to (0365d, 00h, 00m, and 00s). It was that point that I was forced to be the center of the family. Everyone pouring over me once again, making sure that my day was just as my parents had planned it.

Yeah… well it was decided that, because my mom was an actor before she married into the family, I was going to be up on the stage performing romantic play all by myself. Yes, I will be doing a play all alone, that way I am still at the center of attention, and no one else will be able to get between me and whoever it is that I’m destined to be with. The lights are pre set, the costumes were already laid out and even the curtains automated so that when they’ll open and close by themselves. My family spent an entire month preparing for this. Dress rehearsal after dress rehearsal. They put up posters all over the city, and even bought their way onto a radio talk show to advertise for the play. My parents wanted to make sure EVERYONE would be in the audience, they even managed to coerce the mayor into showing up. It was an original play written by one of the family members, but there isn’t much plot, the entire play is just me spouting out a combination of one liners and romantic speeches saving the best for when my clock hits zero.

Lets see that will be in about 5 minutes and 38 seconds? I should probably still be up on the stage ready to perform, but I couldn’t give a damn about this soul mate business it’s all just so boring. I’m not interested in meeting some boring fan of my parents pathetic excuse for a play. It just doesn’t apply to me… I don’t really care who I’m with, I just wanted to enjoy myself by myself so while performing on stage I came up with a brilliant prank to pull. The last scene is supposed to be opening up right now. Everyone will be at the edge of their seats after listing to an hour of romantic bull shit just waiting to see what the lucky girl looks like. Waiting to see who the woman I’ll be spending the rest of my life with. The automated curtains pull back and the audience begins cheering and applauding. But the crowd dies down once they stair down at the empty stage. While the curtains were closed before the last scene started I quickly left from behind the stage, and ran out the back door into the ally way. I thought about going back in there to see everyone’s reaction, but if they found me before my time was up they might put me back up there again which would kill the prank. I could hear the crowd cheering and started laughing once the cheering died down. I couldn’t contain myself when I heard the frantic shuffling that came from inside. I continued laughing for about five minutes, my prank was a complete success no one knew where I was, and no one expected it either. My parents try and call my phone to reach me, but I simply let it buzz and buzz, trying to to explode from laughter.

My laughing came to an  stop when I hear some commotion out on the street. I run out to see what’s happening, and then I see her, I look up at a young girl standing on the roof of the building across the street poised to jump. Everyone is screaming for her not to jump. at first I was thinking along with them, but I soon lost interest. I look back at my wrist, and everything is at zero. Great… does that mean that mrs suicidal is my soul mate? I look back up and as I do she thrusts herself from the edge of the building. As she falls she manages to hit a flag pole, and crash threw one of the shop awnings. The crowd that gathered on the street quickly rushes to her aid. I try and make my way through, I want to check her wrist to see is she is at zero as well.

She still has 12 hours and 27 minutes left on her wrist… Well I guess she isn’t the one after all, but then who is? I look around, and no one seems to be clicking, or standing out. Maybe I can be alone… At first this idea mad me kinda happy, but the I felt horribly depressed. I was only exaggerating when I said I wanted to enjoy myself with myself.

I’m shocked back to reality when I here the frantic crying of someone behind me asking is the woman was okay. I reach just be her watch, and check for a pulse. After finding out that she still has one, I turn to one of the by standers staring at the injured woman in shock.

“Don’t just stand there call the police,” I tell him.

After that I straighten her body, checking for any major injuries, but luckily I don’t find any other than broken ribs, large bruises and broken extremities. After that I wait for the paramedics to arrive. Once they do I hitch a ride with them to the hospital, I don’t know why, but I’m still slightly interested in this woman. I watch as her watch slowly ticks toward zero. She’s now down to 10 hours and 15 minutes. On the way to the hospital I check my phone to see how many messages were left… 29… I have 18 missed calls, and 11 messages from my family trying to figure out where I am.

I call my mother, and tell her what happened, and after I get an ear full for missing my big finally, I apologize, and hang up. 

We arrive at the Hospital, and she is whisked to the ER, and I’m left in the waiting room. They tell me I can go see her now, but she is still unconscious. I check her wrist once again and we’re now down to 3 hours and 16 minutes.

I just wasted 9 hours and 11 minutes try to help some random suicidal woman that I’ve never meet before. It’s 10:00 at night, and I’m tiered, but I could’ve gone home anytime I wanted, I wasn’t required to stay and wait for her to get out of surgery. What was keeping me there? Why was I so interested in this random woman? Maybe she was the one for me, but then why is her clock still going?

I decided to wait and see who her soul mate was? I’m putting 40 dollars on the nurse, or doctor who’s checking on her when she wakes up.

So I sit down in the chair, pick up a magazine and I wait. The minutes turn into hours, after what seems to be a millennium she wakes up moaning about her head, and where she was. I look around, and no one else is in the room, I keep expecting someone to bust down the door screaming about how he’s been searching all over for her, but that doesn’t happen.

I stand up and check her wrist once again. We’re now down to four seconds.

She moans and looks over to me

“Who the hell are you?” she asks.

I look back down and read her wrist for the last time. (0000d 00h 00m 00s) Then I move her arm so that she can read her watch.

“It looks like I’m the guy who got stuck with you,” I answer.

3 minutes left.

He had been checking the clock on his left wrist hundreds of times during the last couple of weeks. He knew that it was starting to become a nervous habit but he simply couldn’t help it. Every single time he forced himself not to look he felt panic creep upon his body and cold sweat running up his spine. It was tedious. His arm twitched and he automatically checked the timer again.

2 minutes 30 seconds left.

He simply couldn’t wait anymore. And who could blame him, really? He’d waited 28 years for the moment that was about to come. Well, 28 years, 137 days, 55 minutes and 6 seconds to be precise. He did his math - more than once actually. Bloody 28 years! He didn’t know what made him deserve to wait that long for his supposedly better half. Maybe it was Karma. Well, he’d sure waited long enough.

2 minutes.

It had been such a nuisance to watch all his friends and even his little sister Judith (who was almost ten years his junior) getting together with their oh-so-perfect partners. Not one of them had been older than 19 when their time was up. He couldn’t bare their lingering looks, the not-so-subtle snogs in the cabinet and the absolutely sickening behaviour of those in love. But the worst of all were their smug comments that he’d know what it was like as soon as he found “his girl”. Well, he’d sure be wiser in about two minutes.

He tried to picture what she’d look like. Would she be tall or short? Thick or thin? Blonde or brunette? Young or old? The answer was lost to him. He never had a certain type of woman that he’d preferred the most. He looked around the little café for any sign of somebody standing out to him. But there was no woman around that caught his attention or looked in the least as agitated and nervous as he felt in this moment. There was a handsome read-head standing at the counter who ordered a frappuccino but she looked more stressed out than nervous.

Maybe she wouldn’t come. That was his worst kind of nightmare. Not meeting her. Being alone, all on his own forever. Even though sometimes he thought that it might be for the best. He managed to be alone for so long that occasionally he (almost) convinced himself that he was happy with the way things were. And then his Auntie Tilda would make a harsh remark about him NOT being married and having children and that it was about time that he’d meet his soulmate otherwise he’d be getting too old, ugly and fat and that the poor girl who would be so unfortunate to get stuck with him would regret the day she set eyes on him. Needless to say that almost every encounter with Auntie Tilda ended with him snapping at her, saying things he immediately regretted, rushing out of the room, followed by eating old pizza and too much of that delicious vanilla flavoured ice-cream he hid in the freezer for emergencies. God, was he happy that she’d finally have to shut up after this day. Or maybe not. Auntie Tilda wouldn’t be able to shut her big fat mouth even if he’d glued her thin, pertly lips together.

The anticipation was slowly driving him insane. He checked the watch again.

1 minute left.

Finally there would be hugs and kisses, cuddling and holding hands. He deserve it. And shagging. Hopefully lots and lots of wild, untamed, shameless shagging. He shook his head, silently laughing to himself. He knew that it was indecent that his mind was in the gutter less than one minute before the most important moment of his life. Even though it was kind of typical that he thought about sex before meeting the person he was supposed to spend his whole life with. It was kind of hard to get the long suppressed nasty thoughts out of your system when you were forced to stay a virgin for almost three decades! Decency be fucked! It wasn’t even like he did not try to get release. When he was 23 he had enough of it all and went into a bar to hook up with a girl but the task seemed to be more of a challenge than he first had anticipated. Apparently nobody went into a bar to get laid these days. All those girls with a soulmate would just shush him away and all the girls without one were eager to save themselves for their better half. Decency be damned indeed!

He checked his watch again.

Only 10 seconds left.

Where the hell was she?

“Excuse me?”

He turned around and looked into the bluest of eyes he’d ever seen on a surprisingly not-so-feminine face.

“Hi, I’m John.”

He heard the traitorous beeping of his watch telling him that the long wait was finally over. The alarm coming in perfect synchronisation from his and John’s watch alike.

On of the best commercials I’ve seen in years, BRILLIANT. .. (hope it uploads right my tablet been actin odd lol)