They used to say a red thread connected soulmates, now its a watch. About a few decades ago, the Clock Master appeared. No explanations, and everyone has their theories of how he came to be, but why is he so important? He came with a present for everyone. Watches. Watches that could chime when you would meet your soulmate, all hand made by him. It took decades for everyone to accept that somehow even if this is all sort of supernatural, it worked and everyone was happy.

Everyone had one now, and dating was meaningless, along with the piece of information that any romance not with your soulmate was almost considered taboo. Why date a stranger when you could know when you’d meet your soulmate? Everyone around her was happy. Just not her. No, while everyone else who has met their soul mate had a 00:00:00 (Days:Hours:Minutes) written on their clocks, Cissa’s clock had a mysterious ‘ERROR’ on hers, that no one seemed to know what to make of...At least no one but Cissa herself.

She remembered bouncing down the street, while the little crystals of snow flew around her, improving her mood by the sheer beauty of the scene. All of a sudden, the wind of happiness (and her breath) was knocked out of her. She landed on a soft padding of snow, though all it did was wet her clothes slightly and lowered her body temperature by a bit. Her head pounded, she was dizzy and all she could make was a fuzzy face.

“Hello? Are you okay?” he voiced, while his voice was docile, not matching his appearance at all. He bent over to offer a hand at Cissa, she took it and  stood up. her head reeling. He stood up too, and helped her stand. “You tripped over my dog,” he chuckled softly. What a way to meet someone.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” she apologized as he laughed. Their watches had soon made their presence known, and a near ethereal chiming echoed through the park, with bystanders watching, smiling and clapping for the two.

The shy male turned toward her, cheeks slowly tinting red.“I’m Lucas. It’s nice to meet you.” She could vaguely remember the shade his cheeks were, all these years later.

Presently, she stood on the corner of the road, it’s nearly 10 o’clock. Her attention was recaptured by the singing displays on the empty stores. ‘Christmas displays are finally out’ Cissa thought to herself. The sun had set hours ago, and little stars in the sky had just begun to appear. Cissa’s younger brother stands next to her, bouncing on the balls of his feet, which breaks his calm facade. His watch is slowly ticking down, the big red numbers shining bright against the dark of the night. Cissa observes a couple and a few strangers pass by as the two wait, one anxious while the other reminiscent.

“Oof!” a high pitched voice cried out, the same time as her brothers familiar voice grunts. “Sorry-” the girl starts to apologize but is cut off by a angelic chime comes from their wrists. The two look down to note both watches with astonishment, although they knew it was coming. Cissa backs away from the scene, as her brother speaks with starry eyes to his soon to be soulmate.

She didn’t want to interrupt the moment. She walks, having flashbacks of the many memories she’s had down this road, and comes across an old building, windows boarded up and the door was broken down. The building was shut down years ago by the owners. The owners were good friends of hers, she had sobbed when she realized they were shutting down the building. The abandoned building’s walls were cracked, the space inside was deserted.The memories that were so dear to her had soon gloomily grew more and more distant. Similar to the one she’d remembered that happened on this very day, years ago...

“Come here you, idiot!” Cissa heard a playful voice call out, only a few meters ahead of her and walked faster.

“Shush, Lucas! You’re so impatient!” she whined slightly as she goes into the cafe that Lucas’ family owns. The building is small but, two stories and she knew his family lived upstairs. The cafe was closed today, it was snowing heavily outside. Putting her coat away, and shutting the door, she turns around to see a Lucas who has a big grin on his face, holding a birthday cake. Her eyes widened with surprise.

“Surprise!” Lucas shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls of the empty building. “You didn't think I forgot, did you?”

“I knew you were planning something...I just didn’t know it was this big. I thought it was going to be a pizza and a night on the couch.” Cissa replied, turning teary as her voice cracked. His fingers were warm when they had grazed her face.

‘4 years later, and I can still remember the way his eyes shined when he looked at me. The way his voice grew high pitched when he was excited, and the warmth of his fingers on her face when he brushed the tears away.’ Cissa thought, as her eyes brimmed with tears. This time however, there was no warm hand to swoop in and wipe them away. A sharp pain came from her chest, a short, almost jab like pain as she gazed at the building that used to be so grand to her. She had moved to go inside the rundown building, with flashes of him still there in her mind. Her mind ran with thoughts, a thousand memories and words that came from the voice she loved. The voice that little by little fades from her mind everyday.

Sitting on his old chair, Cissa’s resolve comes crashing down like a crumbling wall. Tears flow down her face faster than she can wipe them away, she lets them fall while she hiccups and breaks down when the memories she pushed away, the feelings she kept locked in he back of her mind, came bursting forth. The feeling of loneliness overwhelms her, the guilt runs up to her, and the grief was the feeling that devastated her the most. She remembers all the good times, the bad times, and the small ones that meant the most to her. The essence of him still stuck in her head, her thoughts a jumbled mess like a dischord played on a piano. She could feel the sobs that shook her body, and her gasping for breath in between, only to cry harder as she finally let all of her pain out. All while her watch blinks ’ERROR’, for her lost love that came as suddenly as her watch started counted down.

Epilogue
Past
Lucas

‘She came into my life as fast as a bullet. A bullet that trips over my dog. Cissa meant the world to me, and as much as I can’t stand her crying over me, it was time I’d go. My only regret was leaving her alone. I being the one that always wiped her tears away, and now I wont be there anymore. My last thought was a wish, for her to see herself they way I do, and before I knew it, her shrill (but still beautiful voice) screamed at others to help had started to fade from me. I wanted to speak all the phrases and words running through my head but I was too weak to speak. It’s a shame that the car came faster.’

Present

She was curled up and asleep in his favorite chair when her watch beeped, and starting counting down again from 10 days...while a boy watched from above, grinning at what was going to come...