Chapter 02: The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect, we’ve all heard this term before. It’s a tenet of Chaos Theory that is used to describe how one seemingly unrelated and small event can have catastrophic consequences on another. A butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil and causes a hurricane off the coast of Florida. For me it was hearing Tchaikovsky. Even though everything inside me was saying ‘turn around’ I opened the door to the theater and I watched her perform. What happened after that well…as the saying goes ‘is history’.

- BF

For a week now Blake had been unable to rid his mind of the graceful dancer and the beauty he’d partaken of her face. She was gradually seeping under his skin and there was no telling when he’d ever breathe free of her again. He’d changed his daily schedule a few times in hopes of catching a glimpse of the heavenly creature that tortured his every thought and was happily rewarded a time or two.

He watched her; her routine always the same. She’d start with a good fifteen minute yoga and stretching exercise to get her body awakened and ready for the day. Afterwards she’d dress in her jogging suit, grab her iPod and head out towards Miller’s Lake for a three-mile run. For breakfast she’d have an early morning tea and toast with a side of egg whites, scrambled lightly or sometimes substituted for wheat bread toast and strawberries. Afterwards she would again return to the lake for a little personal time; that seemed rarest of all. It was there he’d first seriously photographed her. She was stretching against the morning sun right at the shore and giving her body a nice workout. She didn’t know he was there; no one did. 

Natalie had quickly become his favorite subject and he thought of ways he could best capture her beauty on film. When he’d realized what an avid runner she was, sunset became his best choice. He set up his equipment on the far end of the lake and waited for her arrival. Smiling as he smelled her understated perfume wafting through the air towards him, he licked his lips in anticipation and began furiously snapping shots as she entered the park.

Blake zoomed in on her face as she rounded the corner towards him. She had a slight smile on her lips and her hair was again pulled back in that messy ponytail that he found endearing. Even with the immense wealth at her disposal she preferred styling her own hair and didn’t care much for dying it outside of its natural raven shimmer like her mother. The streaks of chocolate that mixed within her tresses were perfect and every time the sun touched her, they sparkled.

Her sun-kissed skin reminded him of the Goddesses of Mount Olympus with their natural golden glow. It gave her a near exotic appearance and had he not known she was the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the city, he’d think she’d actually fallen off that mountain. Over the course of the week he’d determined that lilac was her favorite color or any variant of purple in fact. Her room, though decorating wise matched the rest of her large mansion, had touches of the shade and many of her outfits did as well. 

And when she smiled, it felt as if all time stood still and he was locked inside her world where no light, no sound, not even air could escape and he was ok with that. Then there were the moments when her life seemed the most vulnerable; the most frail. Moments when all she wanted to do was curl up with her dog and hide from the outside world; he could identify with that. Blake was tortured sitting in a state of imagination where he believed this girl was his only hope for a town that would only cater to the beautiful people. She pushed light into his life when it was needed and had no idea the effect it had on him. She was his butterfly.

Natalie’s phone rang and she dropped onto a log beside the water to answer. With a heavy sigh she agreed to everything her mother was saying over the line before hanging it up and dropping it into her back pocket again. She leaned her head back and watched the clouds move in over the water as the sun peeked through. It was dark out, darker than normal around this time. The overcast created a dreary feel to her morning which had already gotten off to a rocky start. 

She had been handed her schedule and knew there was very little time to dawdle on the activities her mother deemed “mundane and obsolete”. She ran a tight ship and she expected her daughter to follow. In another forty-five minutes she was scheduled to meet with Mrs. Dupree from the South Preston Women’s Club concerning this year’s charity event. Her mother had volunteered her as an organizer and it was in good faith that Natalie would be at every meeting in anticipation of the upcoming gala. 

Hoping to avoid another confrontation with her Mom, Natalie got up from the ground and hurried back up the path she’d come. Blake waited until the coast was clear to pack up his gear and head home. 

He sloshed through the damp tunnels beneath the school and entered the steel grate on the far end of Cresting Height’s sewer line. Ignoring the rat squeals as he made his way through the dirty water, he unbolted the maintenance door and dropped his bags inside near a rickety table.

He pulled his camera from the bag and moved towards his makeshift darkroom. Mixing his chemicals, he removed the film from his camera and placed them on the spool to begin the presoak in the tub. After adding the developer, he turned on the timer, moved the push cap in place and turned the picture every few seconds.

Once the timer went off, he added the stop bath into the tub for 30 seconds and the fixer being sure to time it properly. He then removed the picture to the other tub and rinsed it. Lastly he placed the film in the photo-flow removing splotches and hung them on the overhead line to dry. As he waited for them to finish, he dropped against the bed in the back room, pulled his journal from the table and began jotting down his thoughts.

I’m beginning to feel as though I am stalking this poor girl but that’s not me at all. Though there’s something about her that I can’t help but feel connected to. It’s as if we have a common bond. One similar factor that has us breathing the same air and trudging the same path. Whatever it is, it’s quickly becoming an obsession; one I feel I must sever before things become critical. I can’t go around waiting on her to walk my way hoping to catch a whiff of her perfume. But for the first time in a long time she’s made me feel something other than self-loathing and anger. She made my heart pump faster in my chest. But nothing good ever comes for free. The more I travel topside the more I’m finding myself longing for things I fought very hard to get control over. I need to win this battle; there’s no telling the things that will happen otherwise.

                                                                                                                                   -BF

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The timer sounded and he placed his journal down and headed into the darkroom to remove his shots. Smiling as he recounted the moment she neared the lake, he walked the images into the adjacent room and began adding them to a small portrait wall he’d made of his new subject. She was elegant in every shot he made of her and the images only seemed to get better.

He sighed heavy and tried to reason with the voices in his head telling him to forget about the girl. Natalie was his butterfly whether she knew it or not. The Chaos Theory was quickly winding itself into his life and he wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring.

Continue ---->