ASHEN

Deux •• Down The Rabbit Hole

For 6 years, I have been living with my father's cousin, Bernard, and his family. Bertha, Bernard's wife, disliked me and didn't hide it. But Rachel... Rachel was another story. To put it simply, she hates my guts and I have no idea why. Actually, I do have an idea.

Maybe because her boyfriend, Ashton, broke up with her and tried to hit on me. Or maybe it's because my words are too blunt for her. I'm often told that I'm too honest to the extent that I hurt people.

But nevermind that. What matters now is the situation at hand at the moment. I'm currently sitting in a café, one hand supporting the spine of my book and the other flipping my phone around with my duffel bag sitting on the chair next to me. I sipped on my hot chocolate as I momentarily placed my phone on my lap when halfway through sipping, my phone rang.

"Hello? Margo? Are you still in Seattle?" Charlie. Of course he'd call he's about to pick me up after all. "Yes, Charlie. Still here." I chuckled at his frantic tone. He must have thought that I was already in Port Angeles.

"What time are you supposed to board the plane?"

"A lit– oh, right about now," I took one last sip and hoisted my bag up my shoulder before picking up my book and holding it firmly in my free hand. Exiting the airport's only café, I took light steps; I knew I had time to waste. "Gotta go now, Charlie. I'll see you in a few hours." Shoving my phone into my pocket after ending the call.

• ——— • ——— •

Unlike most people, I actually like being flown to other places via airplane. The view calms me and gives me ideas on what to paint or draw. I always wanted to hug a cloud. I think it was now about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Drumming my fingers on my thighs, I painted pictures on the clouds inside my head when my fingers froze and my breath stilled for a second as an image popped into my head. It was a blurry image of a field, there seems to be two groups. The one on the left were two pale figures and one dark-skinned figure. The other group were all pale ones. It seems that there's a conflict between the two groups.

The image disappeared and I was brought back into reality, like I was just zapped. But that episode is quite normal for me. I've experienced scenarios like that since the death of my parents. I usually ignored the images but I noticed that it becomes reality. It bothered me that I might be even more of a freak than I already am but as usual, I let it be and accepted it.

Taking a deep breath, I glanced at my watch and as if on cue, the stewards announced that we were about to land.

Just on time.

When I landed on Port Angeles, it was raining. I knew it was unavoidable. The rain I mean. Charlie had texted me that he'd be waiting for me outside the airport. And there he was, leaning on his cruiser was Chief of Police Charlie Swan. He welcomed me with open arms. We were quite close back then.

"Should I be happy that you're now here with me safe and sound or should I lecture you about the reason why you're even here?" His dark brows furrowed as he questioned me. "You should be happy."  I playfully shoved him and climbed onto the hood of his cruiser and sat at the center with my legs crossed, tossing my duffel bag inside the car after grabbing my sketch pad and pencil.

I decided to draw the image that I saw earlier and try to make it more... Artistic. There was no other sound that I could hear except from the planes that were landing, the distant sound of nature rustling here and there, tiles screeching, people chattering and my pencil running on the paper until I broke the silence between us with a blank voice, "It wasn't my fault," I drew in an unneeded breath, "I wasn't the one who stole Bernard's money. Rachel stole it to go off on a road trip with her friends and got knocked up halfway through. I just so happened to be too honest."

Charlie chuckled and shook his head.

Bella was taking too long.

A couple of more minutes passed until I could finally see Isabella Swan's dark hair as she walked towards her father's cruises. We only nodded at each other and she sent me a small smile. A polite gesture for her, I guess.

• ——— • ——— •

The car ride was very awkward. Neither Charlie nor Bella were sociable persons and so was I. So I just plugged in my earphones and drowned their conversation out, staring at the endless greens that made me feel more at ease and sparked my imagination.

Well, down the rabbit hole we go.

"This world is but a canvas to our imagination."

–Henry Thoreau