Little Boy
Prompt:
include the following: little boy, torn page, market, cart
I got the idea for this off of a creative writing website and found the prompt above. It took me awhile to figure out the story, but then this came out. This is one of my favorite pieces of writing. The song that goes with it (more the lyrics than the actual song) is Forever Young by Bob Dylan. If you don't get why, PM and I'll explain my thinking. Enjoy.
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How I found myself, a 95-year-old vampire who drinks animal blood, at a grocery store, I'll never fully understand.
One minute, little human Bella came into our house and announced that she was hungry. Ok, she didn't announce it, she just said she'd like a bagel and cream cheese. Of course, being vampires, we had no real food in the house. We only had food for Bella and only if someone remembered when our supply ran out.
The next minute, I was shoved out the front door, towards Bella's rust-bucket piece of crap with a pocket full of cash.
"Be nice, have some girl time" Edward had whispered over Bella's head as she held on to him for dear life. I swear, every time they were going to be out of each other's sight, it was like some cheesy airport scene in a movie where the girl is leaving for some exotic place for a year. Yuck.
I rolled my eyes at the two; their lovey-doveyness left a bad taste of venom in my mouth. Without destroying Bella's truck, I gracefully got in the passenger seat, crossed my arms and legs, and pulled down the vanity mirror.
Bella drove like a grandmother. The truck barely reached 40mph and she literally drove on the far right of the road. Her eyes were glued to the road, like if she looked away for one half a second, that the road would disappear beneath her.
After the longest half hour of my life, we finally pulled into the parking lot of the market. Bella grabbed a cart as we walked in, I'm surprised she didn't end up hurting herself. Then she started walking up and down the aisles.
Up and down.
Up and down.
Up and down.
Normal grocery shopping is tedious; shopping with Bella was a nightmare.
After three aisles of following Bella and having to watch her debate on different types of vegetables; I decided to go exploring on my own.
I wandered through the market, using my supernatural sense of smell to follow a bitter-sweet scent: chocolate.
I loved chocolate, it was one of the only things I remembered from my human life. I was going to have a chocolate fudge cake at my wedding.
I held a simple bar of Hershey's chocolate in my hand, wishing for the trillionth time that I could eat it without being repulsed. I was stuck in my daydream when I heard a child cry out.
"Mommy!" The little boy cried, salty tears falling down his cherub face. He was beautiful: wispy blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, a button nose. If I were human, I would've been gasping for breath. Slowly, so slowly that it seemed to take hours, the little boy turned his head to me. His tears stopped and he cocked his head to the side. His blue eyes bore into mine for a moment, then he smiled a cute little smile, some of his teeth missing. I smiled back, unconsciously taking a step forward.
I was about to run over and scoop up the little boy, when his mother pushed the cart down the aisle out of sight.
I swear my heart actually broke.
I was frozen for a minute, then took off after the. It wasn't stalking, per se, I just felt this pull towards the little boy.
I followed them through the store, hiding behind shelves and using my vampire speed to stay out of sight.
Just before they left, I stepped out, not knowing what I was thinking, I just knew I had to get closer to the little boy. I was a few meters from them, a smile on my face, ready to introduce myself when
"Rosalie!" She called. I cursed under my breath, damn Bella. I looked at the boy once more, he waved at me, then I bowed my head and walked towards Bella.
Through the sliding glass doors, I saw the little boy and his mother pack up the car and drive away, a smile on both their faces. I sighed, which caused Bella to give me a strange, confused look.
We walked to the truck, I loaded the groceries after Bella spilt an entire bag of cans, and Bella started the drive home.
While Bella focused once again on the ever-elusive road, I reached into my coat pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. The paper was a torn page out of a family album; my old friend Vera's family album. It was of Vera, her husband, and their little boy (which I found out they named Anthony). The child was the exact copy of the little boy I saw in the store. The black and white had faded, leaving the picture with a yellowish hue, but it was still beautiful. I was so envious of Vera, still am; she had a life, a child, and she was allowed to die when her time came.
It was like the universe of teasing me, showing me the little boy in the market, placing the thing I yearned for most within my grasp, just brushing my fingertips, then ripping it away, leaving me gasping, heart pounding in agonizing pain.
I felt venom well up in my eyes.
"Rosalie" Bella said, hand placed lightly on my shoulder. My eyes snapped up, my body flinching from her touch. I was dazed for a moment, taking in Bella's worried expression. I looked around; we were home. As fast as possible, I unloaded the groceries into the kitchen, then locked myself in my room.
I'm not sure if it was just the expected human reaction, but my body shook. Venom tears welled up into my eyes until everything looked blurry. I slid down the door, curling up my body, holding my knees to my chest. And I cried.
I cried when Emmett picked me up and carried me to the bed. I cried when he wrapped his arms around me. I cried when he whispered sweet-nothings into my ear and told me that it was all right, everything was okay.
It wasn't till later that night, once Emmett and the others left to go hunting, that the tears stopped. I sat up slowly, brushing under my eyes even though it was dry. I took three deep breaths, closing my eyes to try and calm myself.
I unconsciously felt myself walked up the stairs, stopping in front of Edward's... Edward's and Bella's room. I knocked twice, softly. Hoping against hope that she was asleep. No such luck.
"Edward" Bella mumbled, her voice quiet with a hint of sleep still in it.
I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst.
"No, Bella. It's me." She sat up, looking at me with somewhat frightened doe eyes. Was I really that horrible to this girl?
"Rosalie"
"Can I come in?" Please say no, I chanted in my head. Anything to get me out of doing this.
"Uh, sure" She said, pulling the blankets closer to her body and sitting up on the leather couch. Cautiously, I walked in and sat down, keeping my eyes away from Bella's.
"How much do you know about me, Bella?" I asked, ready to take the plunge, no matter how much it killed me inside.
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