Heart Finders.

There were only five million people left on earth after The Incident. The survivors came to a collective acceptance that they were left on Earth for a reason. But I guess that is what an Extra-Terrestrial invasion would do to you. It was like nothing that I’ve ever heard or expected an Alien invasion to be like. It wasn’t even an invasion in the sense of the word, but that is what governments and the media call it, or ‘The Incident.’

After The Incident, babies were born with a heart-shaped locket around their neck attached to them, made from this silicone-like substance connected to a necklace made from the same weird material. People started calling it a Heart Finder. Surprisingly, it never came up on ultrasounds or strangulated the baby during gestation. It was some sort of branding that is believed to have been from the Extra-Terrestrials. Because the day of The Incident, a spaceship wrapped in green glowing lights descended the Atmosphere, a high-pitched frequency rang from the sky for a moment and then the spaceship vanished. It has not returned since. It was later discovered that only mothers heard that sound and for a while, it was a mystery as to what the Heart Finder meant and what it would do.

Its purpose finally became apparent twenty years after The Incident. A woman from Cape Town married a man from the Gold Coast and they realised they had matching Heart Finders. Suddenly, this eerie coincidence started occurring with all partners. The woman said that she felt an instant connection to her husband the moment she met him. It was revealed that for every baby born, there is another baby born with the same Heart Finder. Its purpose was finally unveiled. A cosmic connection unifying two human beings in a precarious and mystical sense. Funnily enough, the generation of the Heart Finders did not even connect or consider anyone else romantically. It was like some sort of biological reset and until this day it has repopulated the earth remarkably with genetically gifted offspring. Every baby born since The Incident had a Heart Finder and always found their soulmate eventually.

Until I was born.

It was a complete shock which eventually led to the whole world finding out. Even though before The Incident I would have just been another normal baby being born, I became the abnormal one. My parents were confused and scared for me. Was I supposed to just accept that I’ll never find my soulmate and fall in love? I felt like I was an anomalous circus freak. It became so unbearable on my parents that we moved into the woods so that I could be left alone. I was never bothered again and truthfully, I preferred it that way.

We lived in a wooden cabin that my Father made and learned how to survive, for the most part. For me, it was the most enjoyable and happiest time of my life, because that's all I've ever known. Sadly, it took a toll on my parents that they could never come back from. I knew they wanted to protect me and that’s why they moved me to the middle of nowhere. But after realising that there’s only so much that Eucalyptus leaves can do to prevent sicknesses, they eventually died from an incurable disease. Now, I am on my own in that same cabin. I had to accept my lonely fate.

It has been thirty years since my parents have passed. I contemplate about a different life. A normal life in the city with a family and a purpose. But what I'm really doing is walking down to the river to wash my clothes. I mean, it is Sunday and it’s laundry day.

As I set my clothes down to begin, I hear the bushes behind me start moving around. I grab for my hunting knife inside my belt and slowly turn around. What I see in front of me was beyond anything I could imagine and believe me, I’ve lived through a lot of bizarre experiences.

It is a man.

I thought I was hallucinating for a second. I have not seen another man besides my father in the last thirty-five years. I froze. As he slowly walks toward me, he raises his right hand with his palm facing me. Naturally, I do the same. I'm in awe of his courage to approach me as I'm clearly in a state of daze and look like I've been in the wilderness for many, many years. But I'm excited to see another human being. I honestly thought I'd never see another person again.

As he slowly approaches me I realise that he has a birthmark across his left cheek. It's shaped like a jagged heart with three small dots inside the heart. I suddenly remember something my Mother once told me:

People used to believe that when a baby is born and they have a birthmark, it was actually a mark of how they died in their past life.

I think she told me that so I didn’t feel as bad about being born without a Heart Finder. But maybe because I also have a birthmark of a jagged-shaped heart with three dots inside the heart at the bottom of my left foot.

Without exchanging any words, I lift my foot towards him and he crouches down to take a closer look. I stare at him to see how he will react. He grins as he still holds onto my foot. He stands up with a grin still on his face.

“I knew I’d find you!” He said joyfully.