#28 | Intuition
"Edward." Alice greeted him. He froze momentarily. Jasper wasn't kidding. She knew things. Her eyes opened and met his.
He gave a nervous chuckle. "Alice."
Alice pushed away from the tree and walked a few steps away from Edward.
"So, you want to know where I was yesterday during lunch." She stated in such a confident tone it took Edward off guard. She was right, but still. Rubbing the back of his head in uneasiness, he slowly walked up the remaining stairs and stopped when he got to the tree. He wasn't sure how much space he should give her.
When he didn't answer Alice turned her head slightly in his direction and asked, "Am I wrong?"
Edward sighed and walked up next to her, only a few feet away. "The truth? No, you're right."
"And why would you want to know this?" She asked looking out at the scenery before them. She seemed faraway, yet still there.
Edward shrugged. "Well, you know... it's just..."
"Because you don't want me to figure out what you are." Alice finished, looking over at him. He gave a sheepish grin back. She turned back to the scenery. It got quiet after that. Edward didn't know what to say, and Alice had gone off into her own little world.
Soon Edward had also zoned out. That is until Alice spoke.
"Did you know that when the monarch butterfly starts to return to Canada in the spring, they die in states on the way there?" She asked. Edward looked over at her, she was holding her hand out, palm up. To Edward's amazement a butterfly, that seemed to be struggling, landed right in the palm of her hand. She pulled it closer to her and Edward noticed that one of its wings looked... a little bent, or broken.
To his absolute astonishment, Alice reached up and straightened the wing out. He was even more astonished at this, at how gentle she seemed to be, and at how trusting the butterfly was. After fixing its wing she looked up at him.
Edward suddenly remembered she had asked a question. "Uh-uh, no. No, I didn't." He stuttered. "S-so... then what about the ones in Canada?" He asked trying to make conversation.
"Those butterflies are probably their children's children. A monarch butterfly's life isn't very long." She answered tenderly stroking the butterfly's wings.
"You don't say." He murmured. "Then why is that one here? In Forks? Shouldn't it be heading off to Canada?" He asked. "Do you think it go lost?"
Alice shrugged. "Maybe." She paused. "Or maybe it's different than your average monarch. Maybe it knew its life was going to be short and it wanted a little adventure, excitement in its life. So it broke away from the pack. It just wanted to—" She paused and held up the butterfly in her hands, and in one swift movement she removed her hands and the butterfly started to flap its wings. "—fly away." She finished watching it as it flew.
Edward, too, watched the butterfly as it flew up and away.
"A storm is coming." Alice said unexpectedly. Edward looked over at her and followed her gaze. She was staring at some big, dark purple clouds in the distance. A chill ran down his spine as a small gust of icy wind came blowing past. It wasn't hard to hear the double meaning in her words: Trouble was brewing.
Thank you for everything,
TheBrighestNight
