17BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...
Molly opened her eyes, confused and disorientated, and she tried to reach for her alarm in the total darkness of her room. Once she found the mute button, she flopped back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, blinking rapidly to get the sleep out of her eyes.
Today was the big day; her fourteenth birthday. And everyone knew what that meant: Molly had reached the TiMER-eligible age. The TiMER was a device implanted in your wrist, pinpointing the exact day you'd meet your soulmate: The person you'd spend the rest of your life with.
Once she fully realised this, her heart began to beat faster. Her very own soulmate... the very idea of it made her giddy. Being a hopeless romantic at a young age, she couldn't help but wonder what her soulmate would be like. Would they be like she had always imagined? Better? Maybe worse... But she couldn't get her hopes up too high. No, that would be an unwise thing to do. She'd just wait and see. The TiMER could never be wrong, could it?
She swung her legs over the edge of her bed, put on her bathrobe and made her way downstairs. She opened the living room door and smiled; her parents had hung up garlands and balloons to decorate the room for the festive occasion while she was asleep.
"Ah, good morning, Molly," her father said, making Molly jump. She had not seen him sitting on the sofa before.
"Oh... Morning, dad," she said with an uneasy giggle, taking a seat in the chair opposite him.
He put his newspaper down and eyed his daughter knowingly. "Feeling nervous about today?" he chuckled, raising his eyebrow.
Molly simply nodded, fiddling with her long hair a bit.
"That's nothing unusual," her father reassured her. "I know I was, too, when I first got my own TiMER. But the moment you'll see those little digits flashing on your device, you'll just know... and you'll feel much more at ease, take it from me."
She smiled a bit, nodding again. Of course he was right, he mostly always was. She quickly took a peek at her father's wrist; the faint scars of where his TiMER had once been were still showing. Both her mother and father had their TiMERs removed once they had found each other. "Because what's the point in still having them? We already got what we both wanted!", her parents had said. She supposed they were right. But judging by their scars, it must have hurt quite a bit. She shuddered at the thought.
Her father stretched himself with a soft groan and got to his feet.
"D'you want some breakfast, darling?" he asked, heading for the kitchen. "I could bake you an egg, or something, if you'd like."
Molly shook her head. "No, thanks, dad, I'll be fine," she called out to him. The very thought of food made her feel a bit sicker than she already was.
"Alright, then," her father replied, whistling a bit before sticking his head around the corner of the kitchen door.
"And, um – happy birthday, Molz."
At the end of the day, after celebrating Molly's birthday with the family and all the guests had gone home again, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it, shall I?" Molly's mother suggested cheerfully, while Molly admired her gifts.
She'd gotten such beautiful presents; her parents had gotten her a video of the Lion King, Disney's newest animated feature, and in the background "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" was playing. They'd also gotten her a labcoat and a small chemistry set, which contained an actual working microscope, some vials and a tiny gas burner, which she had promised to use only if there was a responsible adult present.
She'd also gotten a handmade jumper with a kitten pattern from her grandmother – which Molly absolutely loved, she had put it on right away – , a drawing of a unicorn from her 3-year old niece, loads and loads of candy and some money from her aunt and uncle.
Molly looked away from the telly when she heard an unfamiliar voice in the hallway, and her heart skipped a beat. That must be the person who was going to give her her TiMER...
She immediately got to her feet and nodded politely at the strange woman that walked into the living room with a small briefcase.
"Ah, you must be Molly!" the woman said. She looked and sounded very friendly, Molly decided.
The lady smiled and walked towards her, extending her hand. "I'm Annie, I heard it's your fourteenth birthday. Congratulations!"
Molly shook Annie's hand and nervously smiled back at her, muttering a soft "thank you", and subconsciously rubbed her left wrist.
"Now, if you could just sit somewhere comfortable, I'm going to get everything ready for the implantation," Annie instructed, walking after Molly into the seating area.
When Molly sat down in the chair, Annie crouched down beside the chair and pulled a small device from her briefcase. It looks a bit like a stapler, but broader, and it doesn't have any staples, Molly thought.
"Now, it won't take very long," Annie reassured her, "but it might hurt a bit."
Molly swallowed hard, glancing at her parents anxiously, but they simply beamed at her.
She took a deep breath through her nose and focused on the stapler-thing that was now being pressed on her wrist.
"You ready?" Annie asked.
Molly braced herself and gave a stiff nod.
There was a soft sort of beeping sound and a loud click, and Molly hissed at the sharp pain going through her wrist.
"And that's that!" Annie said airily. "Now it only has to match your DNA, it might take a couple of seconds..."
Her parents shuffled closer, and they all watched Molly's brand new TiMER expectantly, when suddenly, her digits began to flash.
Molly frowned. Those couldn't be digits...
{ - YEARS - DAYS - HOURS - MINUTES - SECONDS }
Annie grimaced slightly. "Ah, yes, that tends to happen sometimes..." she explained to Molly. "It just means your soulmate haven't gotten themselves a TiMER yet. But don't you worry, eventually they will get one and your TiMER will start working..."
Molly nodded with a brief smile, feeling utterly disappointed. She'd so hoped to find out when she'd meet her soulmate... She could feel something bitter in the back of her throat, as if she was going to cry. But that would be silly. She pressed her lips together and inhaled deeply, swallowing it away.
Her mother smiled weakly. "She's right. It won't take too long before yours will work, sweetie."
Molly nodded again, hoping her mother was right. Everyone would get a TiMER eventually, wouldn't they? It could never take long. Soon, she'd find out.
Eighteen years later, at the age of 32, her digits still weren't showing.
