"What do you think my special gift is?" I asked intensely.
"I think your special gift is communicating with animals," said Renesmee. "Have you always had a connection with animals?"
I started to ponder my connection with animals and remembered that when I was a human, animals had just seemed to flock to me. An example was with a dog called Coco. My foster parents had a friend called Terese, who had a lot of Pomeranians. One of these Pomeranians, Coco had just given birth to three puppies.
Coco did not normally like people. When someone came towards her or her puppies she would growl and try to protect them. One day we went to visit Terese. Coco growled at my foster parents and curled protectively around her puppies. When I approached, however, Coco ran to me and started fiercely licking me. Terese had been astonished. "I have never seen Coco like anyone other than me before," she said to me.
I remembered that Aro had said the talents I had as a human would be amplified when I became a vampire.
"Yes I have always had a connection with animals," I said. "I think this is my special gift."
"Let's test it out," Renesmee said.
I put my arms out and waited. Suddenly, I heard frenzied chittering and saw a group of small, agile rodents with an air of absolute purpose scurrying up my wheelchair. One of them hopped confidently onto my outstretched hand. I felt like Snow White when all the animals clambered over her.
"How can I help you?" I asked the squirrel.
"Do you have any nuts?" the squirrel asked, looking imploringly up at me.
"I don't but I can get you some. Where do you live?" I asked.
"Not anywhere at the moment. Our tree was knocked down by humans and our nest was destroyed."
"You can follow me back to my home," I said. "We have lots of trees and humans don't come there."
"We're saved!" exclaimed the Squirrel.
Suddenly, I heard the beating of massive wings.
"A bird is coming. Hide!" one of the squirrels said. They scurried off in alarm, their bushy tails streaming behind them.
With an elegant flap, a horizontally striped brown and white owl descended onto my lap.
"My name is Lechuza," he introduced. "I was just admiring the furry morsels on your lap. Have you brought a snack for me?"
What do I do? I thought. It's the circle of life. Owls eat squirrels. But I've just said goodbye to these squirrels who like me and who I like. How do you persuade an owl that they can't eat their primary food source? It's hard. Maybe I needed to make a legal case for it!
"Can you please not eat them?" I pleaded.
"You've denied me the liberty of eating my prey," the owl said indignantly.With an aggrieved air, he glided off to sulk.
I looked back at Renesmee. She was staring at me with a big smile on her face.
"Affirmative for talent identification!" she said excitedly.
After a lovely day at La Push, the wolves dropped us home. As we slid down from the wolves' backs, Alice ran out of the cottage. She frantically beckoned us to follow her.
"What's wrong?" I asked with concern.
"What's wrong?" she mimicked with disgust. "Look at the two of you. You're positively filthy! Ella, you are covered in feathers and squirrel fur and positively reek of wolf down!"
"Ummm, we've had an exciting day..." I started to explain.
"You can explain later. Just get in here girls. We are planning the party of the century and we don't have a moment to lose!"
Soundtrack
While I was writing this, I was listening to:
A Perfect Day Miriam Stockey (the one from the original Peter Rabbit animated series)
A Perfect Day Hoku (the one from Legally Blonde)
Editor's note: Ella decided that she needed songs about perfect days, as having a day with animals is her idea of a perfect day.
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