Gifted

Chapter 2: Survival

It was nearly noon when Bella awoke. Her stomach was growling rather conspicuously though it was probably the steadily increasing rain that jolted her out of sleep. She checked her watch, then with practiced hands she untied herself and her sleeping bag from the tree branches and rolled it up inside her backpack. She looked around and spotted no one in the area. With a small smile she stood on a branch, then after quickly glancing around once more, leaped to the ground-over 50 feet below.

She did not plummet to her death. Instead she felt the wind thicken underneath her, almost like an invisible but-to her-a palpable cushion that held her as she gently drifted down. When she was mere inches from the forest floor the air cushion disintegrated and she landed.

This particular gift always made her smile. But as always, as she felt the joy radiating through her she forced herself to stop. She gritted her teeth and took a few slow, deliberate breaths.

"Well, a good morning to you too, Bella," she said to herself sarcastically.

Normally she would wait until the schools let out before she wandered back into town (unwise to attract attention...and a young girl alone and not in school day after day would definitely attract unwanted attention), but she needed a couple of new shirts and embarrassingly, she needed to shore up her feminine hygiene supplies. It doesn't sound like much, but Bella had no money. Therefore in order to procure anything she had to resort to some creative, and less than legal means.

She had to be extremely careful. Not only did she have to watch for the obvious-not get caught stealing, she also had to time everything just right so her...methods...wouldn't be detected.

She decided to start at the supermarket. It was a big place that was busy all the time. Easy to be inconspicuous. She walked along the main road for 20 minutes before spotting the giant box store and the hundreds of cars belonging to its patrons. She immediately felt the butterflies in her stomach shift around. In all the years since...since the incident, she spent as little time as possible around other people. It was a miracle she hadn't lost her mind actually. But sane or not, she now felt incredibly uneasy in the presence of large crowds. Uneasy yet...so envious. To be normal like them...she shook her head as she felt her heart tighten and she hissed at herself, "stop it! Breathe, Bella, breathe."

She made it to the door without further incident, grabbed a basket and walked inside.

Though she'd been inside countless stores and buildings over the years, she still felt a small shock every time she experienced the contrast of the garish fluorescent lighting to the natural outdoors. Yes, you're a regular Pocahontas now, she chuckled to herself. A young man near her heard her laugh and smiled at her. Bella's face quickly turned blank and she turned in the opposite direction before she could do something to attract more attention.

Here we go, she thought as she started her routine.

She walked down the aisles of the store, neither strolling nor in any particular rush. She had to be careful not to appear out of place, occasionally pondering some product or another and putting something inside her basket. All the while though, she scanned the people around her. She always looked for a particular type-expensive clothing, a bulky purse, or a bulging coat pocket. Without the ability to read minds, she had no other method save for her intuition to determine who had enough money that they wouldn't miss it if some of it inexplicably disappeared.

She was making a show of looking at the different varieties of bagged nuts when she thought she found a suitable candidate. He was a gruff looking middle-aged man wearing a very nice overcoat...and as he passed her, Bella saw a thick wallet in his pocket stuffed with cash.

She didn't move to follow him, but quickly looked back and forth and saw that no one else was in that aisle. She placed the bag of nuts in her basket and walked purposefully in the man's direction, pretending to look up at the big sign at the end of the aisle. As she neared him, he bent down slightly to examine whatever was on the shelves. Gotcha, she thought. She could see the wad of cash perfectly from this angle. She took a deep but quiet breath and called on her gift.

Under her gaze, four $20 bills slid from the rest and zoomed, too fast for even the security cameras to see, into Bella's empty pocket. She didn't break her stride, but continued walking to the next aisle. The whole encounter had taken just 3 seconds.

She didn't show any outward signs of change, but in her mind Bella relaxed a little. Now that the necessary "prep" for her shopping was complete she did start to feel some guilt, but she shook her head to quickly rid those thoughts. She did everything possible to minimize these...activities. She was always careful with who she took from. Besides, it's not like she partied with this cash. Really, that she could live on such meager funds and not need to repeat this episode for a few more weeks was quite a feat.

Sighing, she knew she was making excuses...trying to minimize her crimes. But really, what else could she do? It's not like she could get a job. The second anyone realized she didn't have an address or adult supervision...No, she didn't like it but this was the only way to keep from hurting others.

10 minutes later, Bella was back outside carrying a box of tampons, some non-perishable food, and value pack of underwear. She walked another half hour till she found a second-hand clothing store. There she lucked out and found 2 t-shirts, a light jacket, and a pair of blue jeans with only one hole in each knee all for under $20. She still had $40 left and she carefully folded those bills inside her left shoe.

All in all, a pretty successful afternoon. She smiled slightly and hummed to herself as she made her way back to her library.