June 27, 2009~
The streets of the small country town are empty as I walk among them. About a mile south of the orphanage is the town Darius Lake. Founded in seventeen eighty seven by blah, blah, blah.
The new nun at our orphanage, Sister Fiona (my favorite), has decided to take us into town today to do some exploring. The last time I was out in the world was probably when I was four years old, so I am entirely fascinated by everything around here. The sun is so bright and shiny as it beats down on my back. I skip along the sidewalk with Violet trailing behind me.
"Wait up, Ness!" she calls anxiously.
I come to a halt in front of a pet store, pressing my nose up against the window and peering inside.
"Oooh," I say, smiling. "Look what's in here, Vi! Puppies!!"
"That's great," Violet pants, leaning on her knees for support as she saunters toward me, too tired to say anything.
"Where's Sister Fiona?" I ask, not bothering to turn away from the thick glass. A little black lab puppy claws at his cage as he squeaks and wags his tail at me. "Hey there, little fella..."
"Sister Fiona is in the ice cream shop with the other girls," Violet says. "A few older girls went down the road a little more to go browsing in some clothing stores." Violet rolls her eyes. "But those are just the older girls." She looks into the window and the little puppy yelps excitedly.
"He sure is a cute one," Vi says, putting her hand up to the glass.
I sigh. I wish I had some time alone...
"How 'bout you go and get some ice cream with Sister Fiona? We never get ice cream at the orphanage, only the little kids. And only on really hot days."
Violet shrugs. "Whatever. I'll tell Sister Fiona where you are." And with that, she sprints off happily to the ice cream parlor.
I exhale deeply and open the door of the pet shop. Inside, there are cages everywhere and the strong smell of animals fills the room. There is a tall kid wearing a beanie hat behind the desk. He has a shaggy scrap of a beard on the edge of his chin and his feet are up. When the bell chimes to signal a customer, he quickly takes them down and looks up from his magazine. "Oh. Hey there, kid. Lookin' for a hamster?" He has a slight lisp.
I frown and shake my head. "Actually I was just looking through here. Pretty interesting place ya got here." I search through the aisles, looking up and down at the cages and supplies. A few birds squawk loudly, and the mice squeak innocently. All of a sudden, the door bell chimes again. I stand on my tippy toes and peek above the dog food jars to see Edward standing there, his hands in his pockets. He shuffles back to me and kneels down to my height.
"Hey, Nessie," he whispers, giving me that warm crooked grin.
"Hi," I murmur. I give him a big smile and a hug. "Where've you been for the past few days? You missed the fourth of July party last night!" Every day since Edward first visited me in June, he always came back and talked to me.
"Sorry," Edward confessed. "I was busy with Emmett."
"Okay." I look at my feet. "But you're here to stay now, right?"
"Actually...that's why I came to talk to you." He takes my hand and looks me square in the eye. "I'm leaving today, Renesmee."
For a second, I stop breathing. "What?" I stutter nervously. "What did you say?"
Edward takes a deep breath. "I'm going home. To Washington."
I begin to panic. How could Edward do this to me? Why does he want to go home? He is the only one I could connect to about Bella. He can't just leave me here! Could he?
Sure, I'm not his only priority but...that's right, though. He probably has a family and a job and a life back in Washington. Most important, he has Bella.
"How long will you be gone?" I stammer.
"Oh, not long. A few weeks," Edward says naturally. "I'll be back very soon, I promise."
I let out a sigh of relief. Of course he'll be back soon. Of course. He would never just leave me here alone.
"Come on," Edward says, taking my hand. "Let's get you back to Sister Fiona before she leaves." And we stand up and walk out the door.
Then, I woke up.