Chapter 1

Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl, she was beautiful in appearance however her true beauty came from within. She carried so much joy in her heart it was as if she was illuminated from deep within her soul. Some people found her strange because of this, unaware of the love she carried and others were attracted to her like a moth to a flame, and certainly not always the people she wanted to attract which unfortunately she had learnt the hard way.

It was a windy October evening when she met the man that would change the course of her life, they had noticed each other on several passing occasions. His usual posse that surrounded him was nowhere in sight tonight and as he signed into the club he looked deep into her ocean blue eyes and asked her

“So do you?”

“ Do I…?”

He pointed to the sign sheet where he had written in capital letters PARTY. The girl's cheeks turned rosey as she giggled and looked down to her feet. She had no idea what to do or what to say so she turned to him with a smile and asked for his name to sign him in. “Johnny” , and what is your name?

“Elle”,

“Elle,” and with a wink and bow and a tip of his fedora he headed on his way.

A huge surge of electricity flowed through her, excited she couldn't believe that Johnny had wanted to know her name, was he flirting with her? And what did he mean about asking if she likes to party? A few more customers came through and as she was entering the last one she could see Johnny leaning with his back to the counter and his leather jacket folded over his arm, her heart started to race as her last customer headed down the hall. Johnny kicked his heel out and approached the front desk,

“Hey you're closing up soon, and a few friends of mine are going to check out that new movie Lucy what do ya say…you should come”

“I'd love to but I must be getting home, thank you tho.”

“Awe come on, I hear it's a great show”

“I bet it is and I'd love to see it but I really do have to be getting home.”

“Alright, well have fun with whatever you're doing.” And out the door he went.

As she closed up shop she couldn't stop thinking about Johnny and how she wished she could have gone to the show, however she thought about meeting new people and how shy she can get and how she probably would end up embarrassing herself, staying home was comfortable for her. However, it was always in an instance like this that she wished to be someone else, someone outgoing not afraid to meet new people, someone fully living in the present moment, so the inner dialogue of being inadequate spiraled through her mind and rooted deeper into her life.

She lived uptown in an old heritage home that had been converted into several tiny bachelor apartments, easily the ugliest house on the street with some interesting tenants. Cheap rent is great but cheap attracts gutter bunnies. She loved her little place though, she was on the top floor with a balcony that lined the back amongst the old maple trees. Upon entering her studio suite was her bedroom and living room which had one seafoam green wall, an abstract but calming backdrop to the old upright piano that was lined with candles and her Devil’s Ivy that draped the corner. Her bedroom set was fit for a queen, painted ivory and the bed covered in all sorts of different pillows in varying shades of golds. To the right was the balcony that ran the width of the studio and above was painted with chalkboard paint where she wrote quotes; today was Dr.Seuss “Today you are you this is truer than true! There is no alive that is youer than you! To the left was a double step up into the kitchen that was approximately seven feet squared, painted white with slanted ceilings and white ceramic tile flooring. To the immediate right is a doorway leading into the toilet room which was quite possibly part of the attic at one point, now it seemed like a hallway in Willy Wonka's candy factory with black and white royal motif wallpaper and a slanted ceiling met by the wall hidden from the toilet. Which had a leather elephant laying on his stomach, trunk curled up into the air stretched across the top of the toilet tank. Exiting the toilet room back into the kitchen faced with white cupboards and a backsplash painted with chalkboard paint that had doodles and the remains of a grocery list, was a doorway to the right which led to the boudoir tub room. To the right was a white bench, which was where her black cat Sir Meowington IV liked to spend some of his days, a mirror and a deep maroon towel hanging from a hook on the wall and to the left a white shelf full of an assortment of soaps, oils, lotions and potions, topped with a mason jar of epson salts, essential oils, an Abalone shell with a burnt bundle of white sage and a variety of candles, and last but not least…directly in front the majestic bath tub.

Her cat Sir Meowington IV was already waiting for her, meowing while she unlocked the door.

“Good evening Sir” she greeted him as he rubbed against her legs. It had become a ritual after feeding Sir a can of Friskies that she would go around the apartment and light all of her candles. It brought her peace and a level of mysticism and wonder, she made everything beautiful and the accent candles added to its beauty and vibe. Tonight rather than put her relaxing music on she opted to watch a movie, seeing that she couldn't get her latest proposal out of her head she reached for her favorite, Avatar…in the meanwhile she urged herself to smudge herself and her apartment as she felt the energy off and was unsure if it was merely her self sabotaging thoughts or something else. As she moved into the bedroom with her smoking white sage bundle she said out loud,

“ I fill this space with love, light and positive energy. Only that which is of this vibration may enter this space” the room filled with smoke and as she took a step towards the middle candle of the three that lined her dresser, flame grew larger and larger, it spit and sparks flew from its wick, she repeated louder and firm,

“I fill this space with love, light, and positive energy. Only that which is of this vibration may enter this space” the flame grew larger once more and then blew completely out.

Well that was kinda cool she thought to herself as a wave of energy flushed over her body, proceeded around the apartment once more and then cracked some windows open to air the apartment out. She got herself ready for bed, donning her comfiest track pants and favorite sleeping top all while the bag of Orville Redenbacher popcorn popped in the microwave. She closed all of the windows, climbed into bed, everything she needed within reach popcorn, water, remote control and Sir Meowington nestled beside her legs. She clicked play. As the movie played out, the leather elephant that stretched across her toilet flew out of the bathroom and into the middle of the kitchen floor. She looked to her right to see it laying there in the middle of the kitchen floor, immediately assuming it was her cat she said,

“Sir, what are you doing?”

Only to be nudged by a stretched out lazy sleeping cat to her left.

“How” she said out loud, then thought she must've left the window open and jumped out of bed to investigate, only to find the window had been closed.

“Well this is peculiar, how does an elephant fly off of the toilet, up the hallway and out the door!?”

There was no explanation for it and as she sat there in wonder, the two candles that lit the dresser in a warm glow started to flicker and dance as if there was a warm breeze, the middle candle's flame spontaneously reignited and grew larger and brighter, still swaying as if to some kind of melody until sparks flew from the wick and the candles became still in an instant.

“Okay….” she said aloud…understanding that something was wanting to be acknowledged,

“I hear you.”