Alice's Vision

"Cynthia," Mary called me over, curling her fingers towards me. "Cynthia, I have to tell you something."

I wearily walked over towards my older sister, shaking my head in disapproval; her energy should be contained sometimes. "What is it now Alice?" Perhaps it was another prophetic vision of hers, another omniscient dreams. She may be older than me, but she surely is more exuberant; I felt like the older one in many situations between the two of us.

She rolled her eyes towards me tiredly, "Cynthia, you must learn to loosen up sometimes. You're too uptight." She straightened her back, folded her hands together and began stiff steps around the room. She was trying to show me this is what I would grow up to be: stiff. We both began laughing.

Trying to clear away my laughter, I asked her, "So what did you call me over for, dearest sister?" Her eyes lit up and her smile illuminated the room. It must've been another prophetic dream.

Mary Alice had a tendency to predict the outcome of the lives of those around her. At night I would wake up and hear thrashing from her side of the room, only to hear the next morning that she had another dream about the future. Almost always, her dream would become a reality. Mary had predicted the Marks' dog dying. Mary had predicted me tripping over a branch and scraping my knee. Mary had even predicted that the farmer's crops would not grow as plentiful as the year before. And every year, Mary would predict her gifts on her birthday. Always, these dreams would come true. We'd decided to keep the visions between ourselves, it would cause mother and father to worry far too much.

"Cynthia, I had another dream again." Her eyes were wide and she was beginning to shake with excitement.

"Control yourself Mary." I ordered her. She had yet another dream, she had been relatively peaceful in her sleep last night, perhaps it was a good vision. I wondered this time what she had envisioned for the future. Another death? Another injury? More success? More wealth? Love? Luck? I pondered this as I looked over back at Mary.

"Cynthia, I had a dream about a man last night." She seemed distracted when she thought of this man.

"Who Alice? Was it John? Anthony? Alexander? Edward? James?" She shook her head.

"No Cynthia, this man does not live in Biloxi." I looked over at her curiously. "It was a stranger."

"What did this man look like Alice?" Why would she dream of a stranger?

"He was tall, much taller that you or I. At least two feet taller than I am. And he was handsome, beautiful. More beautiful than you or I."

I scoffed. "He was more beautiful than you?" I found that hard to believe. Mary knew that she was very pretty and used it to her advantage often. On her petite frame, she carried a small, heart shaped face that had features that would carry strength and grace. She had full lips and a small nose. What was most envious about my sister though was her hair; she had long, flowing, ebony hair, something she'd inherited from our mother. My hair, on the other hand, was the color of straw and completely unmanageable. "I highly doubt that Alice."

She shook her head. "Cynthia, this man was far, far more beautiful that anyone that you have ever seen." I couldn't tell if my sister was serious or joking, but I motioned on for her to continue this vision of hers. "I was in a building, it was somewhere I hadn't recognized, but it was far from Biloxi. This stranger walked in, and my breathing heightened. My reaction to him was totally different than I'd ever had with any other person; it was like the world stood still. He walked over towards me and I said 'You've kept me waiting.' He looked solemn when he looked me in the eyes and bowed. "I'm sorry ma'am.' This man was a southern gentleman; that was for sure." I looked at her in amazement, but she continued. "He leaned over and kissed my forehead. I saw her had scars on his arms and on his face, he was a soldier; that, too was evident about this man. But he seemed so genuine; I wish I knew where he was."

"Alice, your vision sounds like you loved this man. Do you think that he's you're soul mate?" She bit her lip, but nodded. She released her teeth from her lip and smiled. I looked at her sternly. "Do you even know this man's name?"

She looked at me and smiled. "Jasper"