SOULMATE

I landed in Second Life in 2019, a pocket of hope stitched into the lining of my heart. The child in me whispered of soulmates, that shimmering, maybe-not-real dream. I was ready, yes, to nod along to any sweet lie, any gilded fiction, for the taste of a bond where I am the echo and so is the other. Once, I think, I brushed against that could-be truth. But it was like reaching for smoke. Such a shame.

Now, as Second Life’s pull dims like a dusk, and real life tugs at my sleeve, I’ve tucked away that hope. It sits quietly, and I don’t mind. There’s this twinge of envy, a dusting of pity for the ones who’ve danced that dance, outshining the deepest kinship, the wildest loves.

I tried, in four acts, to trace the outline of a soulmate, that gentle, straightforward someone. Together, we could have wandered, hand in hand, into a calm that lingers, where joy is just the beginning.