Butterfly

Nadia walked home in the empty city. No one walked the streets; they were dim as the sun set against the city skyline. The wind blew softly through her hair, her red satin ribbon waving in the wind. She turned the corner as she made her way through an alley. Dirty water splashed onto her brown boots. She lifted her white cotton dress as she avoided the splashing water. A stray dog went by carrying something. She turned the corner onto Market Street. Her auburn bangs whipped in her face as the wind picked up for a moment. She stopped.

  There, at the corner of her street, was an old gypsy woman. She had never seen anyone out at this time of day. She usually saw no one. She rose too early and came home too late. It was like living in a city with no people. She looked at the old woman. Her brown skin was wrinkled with age, framed by wild black frizz. But her emerald green eyes shone through her rags. She gave Nadia a crooked smile.

  “Hello there, dear.” She said as Nadia politely nodded back. “Would you like a nice, crisp apple? I picked them fresh from my orchard.” Nadia looked at the woman, puzzled. This city didn’t have an orchard, or did it? She looked at the fruit. It was rather shiny, and she was hungry.

  “How much are they?” she asked. The woman smiled.

  “79 cents.” She said, picking one out of the basket. Nadia dug into her dress pocket and brought out a small handful of change.

  “Here you go, ma’am.” The woman handed her the apple. She grabbed Nadia’s hand.

  “You are destined for great things, my dear. Don’t ever lose hope.” This cryptic message left Nadia confused, but she nodded and smiled.

   “Thank you ma’am, I will.” She politely took the apple, and went on her way. She walked down to the end of the block, and turned around. The woman was gone. She looked around.

  ‘Wow, that was fast,’ she thought. ‘I wonder where she went off to in such a hurry?’ she shrugged to herself, and went on her way.  

  The sun was had almost disappeared beyond the horizon when she finally arrived at her doorstep. She fumbled for her keys in her pocket, shifting the apple to her other hand. She unlocked her door, and tip toed into the house.

  Her parents were fast asleep. They worked from morning until night, while she went off to the academy every day. She made her way through the house until she reached the dark stairwell. She tread softly upward, to her room. She closed the door and sighed. She looked at her bland green walls. It looked like an old woman had decorated her room.

  There was a large armoire off to the left, plaid curtains covered her bay window, the shutters were wide open, exposing the evening sky while a floral print arm chair sat off to the right, with her white Persian cat, Donatello perched comfortably on the cushion. She sat on the cushioned windowsill, looking at all the photos that lined her walls, around at the mismatched furniture sitting upon the rugged wood floor. She sighed and untied her hair. Her shaggy hair fell onto her shoulders. She swept her bangs out of her face and twirled her ribbon around her fingers. She sat back and watched the clouds lazily drift through the sky as the sun set. She sat forward and opened her window. A warm breeze swept over her face, carrying the scent of oak and pine into her room. She closed her eyes, submerging herself in the feeling of calm.

  She took the apple out of her pocket, and polished it on her sleeve. She took a bite. It crunched between her teeth, juice running down her chin. She went to her night stand and took a kerchief out of the drawer to wipe with. The ribbon wound around her fingers as she tossed the kerchief in the hamper. She went back to her perch. She wound and unwound her ribbon around her fingers, her mind going in and out of a dream like haze. It had been a long day. The mysterious woman, her cryptic words, it muddled her brain. She sighed as she rested her arms on her window sill.

  A sudden gust of wind blew the ribbon out of her hand. She rested her cheek in her hand.

 ‘Oh drat,” she thought. ‘There it goes,’ she watched it wind around in the breeze before it flew out of sight. She sat back and watched the clouds. The smell of apple pie floated up in her room and caressed her senses. She didn’t know why someone would start baking this late, but as she closed her eyes, she figured it was a nice scent to fall asleep to.

  Across the big city, he stood on a rooftop. Fredrick came by, fluttering in the breeze, carrying a ribbon. A shiny, red ribbon. He dropped it in his hand, and floated around his head. He looked out into the distance.

  “Is this hers?” he asked Fredrick. He bobbed around his head. He looked down at his hand, closing his fingers around the ribbon, and closed his eyes. He stepped forward, and leapt, freefalling from the edifice.

   There was a flash of light, and he was floating on the breeze. He flew between large buildings, swooping and diving through trees and around signs. He flew over the rivers and under the bridge, skimming the water as he went. He floated up above the rooftops of the empty city, searching for her. Fredrick urged him to go forward, assuring him that she was indeed somewhere in the city. 

  Fredrick swooped around him, bouncing around excitedly. He led him around an alleyway and through a lush city park. They dived and dodged the street lights to avoid detection, and finally found the house. The windows were open, curtains gently fluttering in the breeze. They began making a beeline for the open window, where they could see wisps of brown hair floating in the breeze. 

  Nadia was roused from her slumber by the vibrations from her cat Donatello. He had crawled upon her lap, deciding that he too needed a nap. He raised his head and perked his ears. 

  "What is it, boy?" She asked, scratching his ears. He seemed to hold back from purring, listening intently to something that only he could hear. She looked out the window, seeing sparkling lights headed her way. Donatello jumped off of her lap, and bolted towards the wall. She too leapt out of the way as the lights flew into her room. 

  There was a flash of white, and a popping sound. She looked towards the sound, and almost fell backwards in surprise. A tall handsome boy was standing before her. He had platinum blonde hair, and deep shining brown eyes. He was smartly dressed in a well tailored red suit and matching black satin top hat. A light flew into his hat as he set it atop his head. He smiled at her, exuding a boyish charm that befuddled her. She had never met someone so charasmatic. He stepped forward and bowed to her.

  "Hello, beautiful Miss," he said, twirling his hat in his hand as he bowed, and returning it to his head as he faced her. 

  "H-hello." She managed to sputter. "Who are you, sir?" He smiled coyly at her.

  "Forgive me, dear Miss, how could I be so rude? Let me introduce myself." He straightened up and cleared his throat. "My name is Jiyong, the Hatter of Nirvana. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, dear Miss."

END OF CHAPTER 1