String of Destiny

I'm not sure when it had first appeared. I know that sounds odd - how could you go about your normal day, brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, and get dressed without noticing a string tied to your finger? You would think I am mad and I wouldn't blame you. I've thought the same more than once whilst shaking myself by the shoulders in the bathroom mirror. But when the rattling in my mind eventually settled, I would lift my left pinky up to my reflection and be forced to contend with the crimson string still tied to my finger. Very odd, I know. But that isn't even the strangest part.

What if I told you that not only did the string apparate out of nowhere, but it was also connected to somewhere? Which it was - that is the truth. On that day when I finally noticed the crimson loop around my left pinky, I also saw that it extended past my bedroom door, wove around the dusty piles of secondhand books in my living room, and seemingly escaped under the small space beneath my apartment's front door. Very odd indeed.

I tried everything that any sane person would do in my position. Firstly, I tried to take the string off my finger. It wasn't tied too tight and the knot wasn't complicated but every time I tried to pry my finger out of its grasp, the loop held fast. Next, I used scissors but that only resulted in a mess so bloody I couldn't distinguish the crimson of the string from that of the rest of my hand. When I realised that nothing I do could remove the string from my finger and sever my connection to... something, I felt a cold chill run down my spine. And in that moment, I swear I felt fear swelling inside of me, threatening to swallow me whole. I only managed to survive by taking in deep gulps of air - large enough to fill each and every crevice inside of my body and push fear out.

That was when I had the idea. I started to pull the string towards me, by the handfuls. It was very soft between my fingers - the string. It was unlike the scratchy itch of the yarn my grandmother used to knit our Christmas socks every year and I quite liked the feel of pulling it through the small space under the front door and quiet shushing it made as it rubbed against the metal edges. I thought that if I couldn't get rid of the string, I would figure out what lay at its end and face up to my fears. It was quite a sound plan at the time, although it sounds a bit silly in the recounting. The problem was that there was more string than space in my small one bedroom apartment.

I had started pulling when the sun was high up in the sky and by the time the moon came out, I was nearly drowning in a sea of soft crimson yarn. At some point, a fuzzy string piranha began nipping at my ankles and that is when I knew I had to change tactics. This was clearly not working.

The moonlight guided the path through my apartment and allowed me to gather my coat, a small knapsack, and my boots. Strings of seaweed tickled my body as I pried open the front door. In the next moment, I was swept up in the quietest crimson tsunami and gently carried out down the stairs and into the still darkness of a city asleep. If circumstances had been different, I could see myself being at peace in that moment. But alas, I was too preoccupied with the string around my finger and my fading sense of sanity. I felt I could not sleep again unless I knew to what I was connected.

Something howled in the distance and I pulled my coat around myself tight. Had I eaten anything today? Yet I didn't feel any hunger or thirst. My body was singularly focused on a single task - following the crimson trail towards the source of my distress. As my feet chased, my mind wandered. Why did this happen to me? What was I going to find at the end of this journey? Should I stop now and go back home? Would it be so bad to live the rest of my life with a string tied to my finger? Surely it could be no worse than not knowing the name of the chicken I bought from the grocery store or telling myself that my parents love me and my sibling equally. Sometimes you just need to choose ignorance for the sake of sanity.

Do you see the sun rising at the edge of the water, illuminating the darkened sky with strands of pinks and yellows? In my whole life, I don't think I've witnessed a more beautiful dawn. If you pause and listen for a moment, you'll hear the chirps of the early birds looking for their worms. I hope they find what they are looking for just like how I found you here at this pier, at the end of my sleuthing. Imagine my surprise to see the crimson trail drop off the dock and into the blue black waters. I thought that was that and I would have to go back home and live the rest of my life wondering if I was connected to something horrid and green. I'm glad I was wrong.

When first light began to brighten the skies around the edges of the horizon, that's when I glimpsed you. How did you end up trapped beneath the waters in the first place, with a crimson string wrapped around your right pinky? It's funny to think I was so scared of what I would find - some monster or a sick psychopath who gets off on sneaking into people's apartments and leaving string everywhere. Instead it's just you and you're just like me. You have two arms, a face, shoes, and a really nice coat. It's no wonder that we've been linked together - I think we share the same tastes. Except I am here and you are there, beneath those still waters. I don't know who put these strings on our fingers, but after this whole ordeal, I think I finally understand. I think it means we're meant to be together. Don't worry - if you can't leave that place, I'll come to you. That's what I've been doing this whole time, right? It's no trouble - I'll just keep following the crimson trail between us and pretty soon, we'll finally be able to meet.