~It’s quite simple really. They have a red string. I don’t. That’s all there is to it~

Who would’ve thought that strings could actually make the world a better place? That it was the only missing component for World Peace? Actually, I think, even without the other components, these strings alone could create the same miracle.

No one knows when it started. Okay, scratch that. I have a ton of books here in my room to prove me wrong, and there are countless researches waiting in line to slap me with their gloves. But these documents only states when these so-called ‘Red Strings’ first appeared.

These ‘Red Strings’ started when, one day, a ten-year old boy told his parents that there was a red string tied around his left ring finger that would tug at his hand every now and then. He added that he can’t cut the string no matter what he does or uses. Naturally, his parents didn’t believe him but they’d also decided to go to a doctor to see what’s wrong with their son, but he went missing the next day. Fortunately, after just two days of going missing, he was brought back by a family who had went to the countryside for vacation. They said that the boy had appeared on their doorstep one morning and when their nine-year old daughter went to politely greet their visitor, the two children exclaimed something about being connected by a red string. After further research, the researchers handling the case came to the conclusion that these two children were tied together by a connection that is only unique to them. It was highly similar to how beasts find mates but more humane. Weeks after that, two friends woke up one day and found the same red string on their left ring fingers tying them together. More and more cases came up after that. The rest was history.

Since then, more and more studies were done about this supposed phenomenon. It was then aptly named The Red String and the two people that are tied together were called soulmates.

Okay, so I digressed. As I was saying before, both studies and documents only stated when The Red String started but no researcher or scientist could accurately point out just when the world started to improve. It just, kind of happened, so to speak. Mankind was far happier than they were before these strings came into existence. Finding, knowing and treasuring your soulmate took greater precedence than any reason a fight, conflict, or war could ever conjure. In fact, the latter further lessened as decades flew by. It was almost as if a god somewhere has had enough of humanity’s bull (excuse my French) and said “You guys need more love” and then, boom! Strings galore!

Naturally, there are still crimes here and there, both large and small. Sadness would still swarm the population and anger would still get the best of them, but by the end of the day everyone would just look at their ring fingers and smile in a way that made flowers bloom from the cracks on their hearts. These red strings are a force to reckon with, I tell you, well not that I could speak on that part.

Unfortunately, there is always a ‘but’. Welp, here it is. BUT. But I don’t have a red string tied on my left ring finger. Not a single red strand. Nothing. Na-da.

Now that I’ve thought about it, it’s quite the cliché huh? The red-string-less girl living in a world where everyone has their own red strings.

“But, Tiffany! (That’s me, by the way) Surely, you’ll find somebody else who doesn’t have a red string right? It always takes two, right? Right?”

Well, I’m thankful for your concern and for trying to cheer me up but every newborn baby is registered by their own government. Then, after they reach a certain age, usually age five, they tell their doctors that their red strings have appeared and their information gets updated. To avoid destroying the rules of the world, only soulmates could form romantic relationships. After all, they could never love another. To this day (sorry, a lady has to keep her age a secret—oops, I called myself a lady. I just gave a hint. Darn), I’ve never told my doctor that I have a red string on my finger. And, well, I’m the only existing case of a child who doesn’t have a red string tied on her left ring finger.

“Well, what if your soulmate’s soulmate died and they became soulmate-less? What happens then? Are their red strings cut or does it form a new line?”

That’s actually a good question. But it had been answered years before. I mentioned before that soulmates could never love another, right? This is a fact. They lose the ability to romantically love another until they themselves pass away. Oddly enough, their strings are not cut. It stays there, but the end does not lead to their soulmate’s grave. I was told that the string elongates and turns thinner. Then, on their last breath, the string reverts back to normal and begins tugging on their hands again. But, before you ask, suicide rates actually declined over the years, to the point of non-existing. There was no actual study done on this prospect and only conclusions were drawn: these people are afraid of permanently cutting their red strings that serves as their only connection to their beloved. They would rather suffer for a few decades than lose their ability to love for a whole eternity.

With that said, most people these days die by old age. Of course, accidents still take peoples’ lives and there still are bad people who hurts others for selfish reasons. There are also circumstances where the one you love is taken by a disease that should have been treated sooner and you feel like just shutting down because it’s just not fair, but it was this fear that served as some kind of mental fortitude to continue on living. And you do. We do. We continue to live. In conclusion, humans are weird.

So, yeah. I don’t have a red string tied on my ring finger. And, if going by the rules stated both by The Red Strings and by the government, I can never romantically love anyone in this world. Forever alone, Tiffany Hwang, as I like to call myself.

Now, this is where this (whatever ‘this’ pertains to) ends. I don’t really know why I wrote—no, nevermind, I remembered the reason why. So, if you’re wondering why I have written this (again, whatever ‘this’ pertains—ack, I’m losing space to write on. This is the bottom of the page, fyi—to). Sorry, I can’t write the reason here. There’s not enough space. I’m quite the blabbermouth, if you haven’t noticed how I keep wandering off the topic. Ack! Lesser space! Next page! Go there!