Capturing Ella

Chapter 30 - Joe

I resurfaced the next day slightly groggy, as I was rudely woken from my empty dream by seagulls squawking consistently nearby. I squinted against the sunlight that had branded my new room, annoyed with myself for not being able to see the future (effectively, at least) and forgetting to close the blackout curtains last night. I had a lot on my mind, I told myself. After Ella had stormed off after something had made her upset, I had awkwardly hung around, sitting on the beach and mentally drawing up a list of things I could do in this month away which had included quite a lot of things to do with her, going from shopping to some more things that probably shouldn't be listed under any circumstances. When I came back up to the bungalow, completely shattered after not sleeping the night before when in confinement and the whole journey had nearly killed me off, Ella was already in her bedroom, the door closed. I stood there for a second, my hand on the door handle scared that she would be in there crying or freezing but I didn't want to appear clingy or even overly worried and paranoid. I lifted my hands and just got ready for bed.

I surfaced about four in the morning, when I heard the TV turn on, and the games console which was here when we arrived start up before being turned off again. I had no motivation to get up at four to see what had happened, but sure enough I just fell back asleep. I had guessed it was Ella who couldn't sleep so didn't check which was foolish. When we were both under death threats from the people who were planning on bombing, not checking a mysterious noise four in the morning was stupid, but I was more confused when I fell back to sleep and straight into a premonition.

It was odd as seeing the future wasn't my gift. It was more of an add on off my mind altering gift. As my gift focused on an individual's thinking pattern, if they lived more in the future than in the past it meant I could see the future as I connected to the way they interpret events. If they interpret events that happen in the present as part of their future, I could see their future. If they interpret events as linked to a chain in the past, I could see the past. Handy, sure. Ella very much lived in the future, seeing the events happening how as linking to a future event. I tell myself this to myself to try and make sense of what I saw.

Ella and I were in a hospital ward somewhere. It was a relatively private room we were in, Ella was in fluffy baggy pyjamas, leaning into my side. I was in a pair of joggers and an old shirt. We were both just sitting on the sofa, kind of leaning on each other but we weren't moulded to each other. Only out sides were touching, arms down by our side. Both of us watched in near enough silence as six people who stood in a relative diamonds all hostile. Ella and I were on the sofa in the corner of the hospital room, watching the heated discussion happen over our heads. Michael stood on one side of the room leaning against a bedside cabinet which had bottle of prescription pills. Ella's other brothers; Xav and Zed both sat on the end of the hospital bed, with the older brother reading the medical chart of someone. Jake also was in the room, leaning against the door frame. Some others were in the room, bickering about something that I couldn't quite hear which upset Ella. She leaned into my chest as I put my arm around her shoulders, hugging her to my side. I pulled myself out of the premonition knowing it's not good to look too keenly into the future as it's hardly ever right – you can end up with that reality if people make the choices.

Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect? There's a quote that goes hand in hand with the effect. A tiny butterfly that flap it's wings today can cause a devastating hurricane weeks from now. It suggest that there is multiple paths that lead out from this second based on the options you make – the options you make today will create a path, leading to the future. My gift when it does this picks one potential path out of potential thousands. Effectively, my gift likes to feed me bullshit that, changes are, won't happen.