#amazingphan

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Phil was always a curious kid. At the age of 4 he noticed a black arrow forming on his wrist. Knowing how much his mum hated it when he drew on his skin he tried to wash it off. Katherine found him about 10 minutes later when the soapy water started to spill over the sink and into the adjacent hallway.

“Phillip Michael Lester! What on earth are you doing using all the soap up!?” She asked looking at the sudsy mess filling up the bathroom.  Phil hid his arm behind his back as fast as he could and started crying, knowing very well he was in trouble.

“I’m sorry mum! I didn’t mean to draw on my arm! It just showed up and I was trying to wash it off before you saw but it wasn’t working!” He cried, slowly showing her his arm.

“oh Phil,” Katherine sighed as she turned off the faucet.  “ I know you didn’t draw that. That arrow is your soul mate mark. I means you’re soul mate has just been born!”

“What’s a soul mate?” Phil asked.

“A Soul mate is some one you are supposed to spend the rest of your life with. Like a very best friend special designed for you!” Katherine explained.

“But why is mine a baby? You said he was just born. I don’t want a best friend who is a baby! I’m a big boy!” Phil whined.

“Help me clean up the soap baby and I‘ll explain more.”

“Ok mum.”

Phil was now 16 and knew more about the soul mate arrows than he did at the age of four. He understood that the arrow was to always point to the direction his soul mate was. Generally his tattoo pointed south. One summer it pointed north for a few weeks but it almost always pointed south.

Phil also knew that at 16, people often began finding their soul mates. When you did find you soul mate your arrow would light up and then slowly fade away over time until nothing but a scar like mark is left. But if your soul mate died, it would fade to nothing more than a shadow. Most soul mates only had a year or two in age difference so Phil knew he was special. He knew he was four years older than his soul mate so he wasn’t super keen on finding them right away any ways. What could a sixteen year old have in common with a twelve year old anyways?

One day while sitting in maths, Phil noticed his arrow was going absolutely crazy.  It was spinning in all directions like someone had flicked it like a twister spinner. He watched in awe for a moment before nudging his friend PJ in the desk next to him.

“Dude what? You know we aren’t supposed to… WOAH!” PJ stared stunned at the arrow going absolutely insane on his friends arm.

“BOYS! No talking in class!” the teacher screamed.

The boys shared a “we’ll talk about this later” look between them.

Once class was over Phil and PJ ran to the deserted hallway where fine arts met the trades. The heating was broken in that hallway so no one went down there unless they had to. The teachers rarely ever left their classrooms either.

PJ grabbed Phil’s arm as soon as they were out of sight. But by then it had stopped spinning. The only thing wrong with it was the tail feathers had begun to turn white and scar over.

Both boys looked at each other in panic. They had both heard stories of soul mates that had near death experiences and caused a glitch that lead to their partners tattoo dying a little.  

“PJ, I think I need to go home…” Phil said in a trance.

“Ok, let me walk you to the office so you can explain why you are leaving.” PJ agreed.

“PJ!”A voice called behind them. “What are you doing out of class?” When the boy turned around they were face to face with the schools music teacher, Mr. Craig. He was one of PJ’s favourite teachers but Phil had never had him and had only heard rumours about how unbelievably strict he was.  

PJ quickly explained what was going on with Phil and how he was helping him get to the office.

“Go to class PJ, I will take your friend here to the office.” Mr. Craig said to PJ. “Don’t worry I don’t bite.” Mr. Craig said offering Phil a smile.

“Thanks Mr. Craig! I was actually running late to  Ms. Filan’s Class!” PJ called out over his shoulder as he took off. Ms. Filan was well known by every student to be that hardest and toughest teacher in the school.

“If you get in trouble, have Ms. Filan give me a call! You know she has a soft spot for old Craiggers here!” Mr. Craig called out after PJ.

When Phil got home he did a Google search for any freak accidents that happened recently that involved a 12 year old. But nothing came up. Maybe his soul mate didn’t get hurt and someone saved him from getting hit by a bus. Phil hoped that was the case, he really hoped his soul mate wasn’t hurt.

A couple of months past since the incident and it was coming up on end of the year, which meant exam time. Phil and PJ were once again in the fine arts hallway studying between exams. Even though Phil didn’t take any fine arts courses he did have to admit this always was always quieter than the library and now that it was June, the hallway wasn’t so cold. PJ had left Phil to review his Chemistry notes and figure out why he had written “ICE ICE BABY” on the top the page of notes full of equilibrium reactions while PJ got snacks from the cafeteria.

Phil was just starting to get the little joke he left on his notes when it happened. There was this searing pain right where his arrow as it turned completely white.

“MOTHER FUCKER!” Phil swore as he held his arm to his chest.

“Hey!! What going on out here??” Mr. Craig yelled out, seeming to pop out of nowhere. He hated swearing and was always quick to shut it down in the school if he was in earshot. But he took one look at the familiar boy with the emo fringe on the verge of tears hold his arm in pain and his demeanour changed instantly.

“Hey what’s wrong? You’re PJ’s friend right?” Mr. Craig asked as he knelt down towards Phil. Phil gave him a small nod fighting back tears.

“Is it your arrow again?” Phil nodded again. “Can I see?” ask Mr. Craig

Phil showed him the arrow that was so unbelievably faint you had to squint to see it.

“Oh, I am so sorry. Do you want to come into my office and have some tea?” Mr. Craig offered knowing too well that Phil’s soul mate had just passed away.

Phil gave him a small nod, packed up his books and followed Mr. Craig into the music room.  There were several doors in the music room that led to storage space and practice rooms but the one on the far end of the room had a sign that said, “Please no knocking until 12:00. NO STUDENTS ALLOWED!” Phil eyed it carefully as it was covered in rage faces.

“I was never able to eat my lunch before I put this sign up.” Mr. Craig chuckled.

He unlocked and held the door open. To Phil’s amazement the room was covered in Marvel and Star Wars memorabilia, including a skinned Ton Ton rug that sat in front of a leather sofa that had a small TV with a Nintendo 64 hooked up to it.  There were also two desks with computers, a couple filing cabinets and a door that led somewhere else.  Phil was stunned to stay the least.

“Yeah all the arts teachers decided to make this our little ‘man cave’ instead of a boring stuffy office” Mr. Craig Chuckled noticing Phil staring at all the geekiness. “Have a seat, would you like tea or hot chocolate?”

“Hot Chocolate would be great thanks.” Phil sniffled.

Mr. Craig set to work making a hot chocolate for Phil and a himself a coffee. He handed Phil a mug that said ‘come to the dark side, we have trombones’.

“just don’t tell Mr. Harth, the hot chocolate is his.” Mr. Craig said with a wink.

They sat in sipping their drinks for a while, the only noise being occasional sniffs from Phil.

“Do you think they were in pain?” Phil asked quietly. “ I know they almost died a couple months ago, so do you think they were in pain all this time?”

“oh, I hope not.” Sighed Mr. Craig.  “ You know I went through a similar thing when I was in university. I had just gotten to Boston when my tattoo was going crazy. It started glowing stronger and stronger as I kept walking toward the Royal Conservatory were I was studying, when I saw her across the road. I could see her arrow glowing as brightly as mine. Then she stepped out on to the road and was hit by a semi truck. She died instantly. I watch my arrow go from glowing as bright as the sun to invisible in a matter of seconds.”

“How… how do you  get over something like that?” Phil asked tears in his eyes.

“I’m not sure I ever really did get over it. She was so close, so, so close and then she was gone. I spent years living in my head going ‘what if’, ‘what if’. Until I went to a support group for people who have lost their soul mates. Some of those people had never met their soul mate while others had lived long happy lives with them before one of them died. I was jealous of those ones. How dare they intrude on my sadness when they had so many happy years.  But then I met my wife. She was at the support group too, her soul mat had died a year after they had met. He was hit by a drunk driver. She taught me that no matter how much or how little time you have. It’s never enough. But there is life after death. She and I got married a few years ago and we are about to have our second kid any day now.”

Phil sniffled. The teachers words were consoling but he still felt as if he had to grieve something never knew.  

“Is you Chemistry exam your last one?” Mr. Craig asked noticing his textbook on his lap. Phil nodded. “Whose your teacher? I’ll excuse you from the exam. Go home and take care of yourself. I’ll let PJ know you went home and might need some consoling later. Does that sound alright?

“Thanks, Mr. Craig.” Phil croaked “I have Mr. Gregory this term.” Phil shuffled to get up.

“Not a problem. Take care of yourself. If you need anything just send me an email. My email is on the school directory.” Mr. Craig said while giving a Phil and awkward pat on the back.

Phil was now 22. He had graduated from uni and was now working at a small café while interning two days a week at the BBC. He had moved down to London once he secured the internship. He had dated a for a bit, but nothing was ever serious. Most people he dated were just killing time until they found their soul mates.

Phil tended to work the later shift in the café as he was a night owl and the BBC had him working as the coffee monkey from 5pm until midnight when the last proper DJ signed off for the night. So Phil often saw many strung out university students walk through that door looking to get their caffeine fix before they crammed out another essay.

There was one particular boy who seemed to live here though. He’d often show up before Phil started his shift and wouldn’t leave until it was closing time. He’d always start the evening with a Carmel macchiato but halfway though the evening he’d order something different every time. Except for taking his order, Phil never really talked to him.

One Wednesday night after a particularly cold day no one except Phil and this boy were in the coffee shop.  The boy wasn’t even doing schoolwork he was sitting in his normal spot reading “The Fault In Our Stars”. Phil wondered what he was doing here when he could be at home where it’s warm and socially acceptable to be in your pyjamas, when the boy came up for his mid evening snack Phil questioned him.

“One banana bread and a hot chocolate please” The boy ordered

“Coming right up! So uh, no course work tonight?” Phil asked him.

“Oh, uh, no. I finished all my essays for this week and thought I deserved a break.” The boy replied as he counted out his money.

“Good for you. I was never that organized when I was in uni.” Phil chuckled placing a plate on the counter and picking up the money, “anyways, here’s your order, uh….”

“Dan.”

“Phil, Nice to meet you.”

“Thanks, better get back to my book.”

“Oh yeah! Go enjoy your book.”

“Thanks Phil.”

It went on like this for a couple more weeks, where Phil would have a short chat with Dan when he inevitably came up to get his mid evening snack.

Phil learned Dan was a first year law student who had grown up near Reading but left the first chance he could. Phil told Dan about his internship and the unbelievable amount of coffee late night DJ’s could consume.  They also had a ton in common from music and movies they liked, to food they ate too much of, and games they played way too much.

One night Phil finally asked about what had been bugging him since he started working here. Why was Dan always here and never at home or his dorm or anywhere else studying?

“oh um..” Dan murmured. “There’s hardly ever anyone here so its good to study in, and everyone in my dorm has found their soul mate and is all couple-y and I’m well, not.” Dan tried to explain.

“Oh! You haven’t found your soul mate yet? Mot people your age go on grand adventures to find their soul mate by following their arrow before starting university.”

“Yeah well you see that’s the thing. When I was like 11 they found something called a soft tissue sarcoma in my arm, you know, cancer. It was small so they figured they could zap it with radiation therapy and it would go away. And it kind of went away but once I was done my radiation therapy I noticed the tips of the arrow had gone white. I panicked thinking my soul mate was dying but the technicians assured me that it happens sometimes because of the radiation killing cells or whatever. Then a few months later the sarcoma came back, or they didn’t get it all the first time or whatever. But this time they decided to operate instead of radiation therapy. It should have ben a simple procedure but I had some sort of allergic reaction to something they used and I was dead for like five minutes before they were able to resuscitate me. So between the whole radiation and dying thing my arrow is kind of broken and hasn’t moved in like 6 years.  Some specialist thought that it was because I technically died that I severed the whole soul mate bond or what ever. Apparently this soul mate system isn’t that flawless to know when some one is half dead versus full dead”

Phil was shocked. He’d never heard about a broken arrow before. Either your arrow is working because your soul mate is alive or faded over because they are dead.

“I’m sorry.” Phil started “Is uh… is the…”

“The cancer gone? Yeah they got it all out during that surgery and nothings come back so I guess I’m good. Alone but good.”

“You’re not alone! You have me I can be your friend! I know is not the same as a soul mate but I can promise you I’m not going to run off with a soul mate ever.” Phil said showing off his scarred over arrow.

“Pinkie promise?” Dan asked holding out his finger.

“Pinkie Promise.” Phil said interlocking their fingers.

As soon as their pinkies interlocked though  a flash of light came from both their arrows. Both boys stared down at their wrists in awe.