“Let’s do it,” he said.
She began to look around at their surroundings as she said, “Let’s start with something small.”
She stood and walked around in the grassy clearing where some wildflowers had started to bloom and butterflies fluttered around her.
Her eyes lingered on the butterflies as she said, “How about we start with a butterfly?”
Adam shrugged. He was game for anything, but he wasn’t sure what she meant.
“A butterfly?”
She nodded and said, “Yes. That will be a perfect thing to start with. Think of a butterfly, but not just any butterfly. You have to think of a butterfly that is unique. Make it your own, with distinct markings and colors. It must be a butterfly unique enough that you would know it if you saw it again later. It can’t look like any of these common butterflies. You have to be able to know without a doubt that it is the butterfly you manifested.”
Adam lay back on the blanket, closed his eyes, and tried to think of a unique butterfly. He didn’t know anything about butterflies. He had never really paid any attention to what they looked like or what was common or uncommon. So he just made one up in his mind. He didn’t even know if the butterfly he imagined really existed or not. But in his mind he pictured a neon-blue butterfly with thin black lines outlining the edges of each wing, and even thinner black lines sort of spider-webbing throughout the wings like veins. In the bottom quadrant of the wings, he pictured a yellow circle with black markings inside of the circle that almost made it look like an eye on each wing. He held the thought of that specific butterfly in his mind for several minutes. Then he sat up, opened his eyes, and said, “Okay. I’ve got it.”
Maddie said, “Now keep thinking of that butterfly. You must believe that the butterfly already exists and that you will see it soon. You must believe you have already received it, and be thankful for it, and know without a doubt that the butterfly will appear.”
Adam looked around the grassy meadow and noticed that all the butterflies in the vicinity were yellow. He didn’t see any neon-blue butterflies anywhere. He wondered if he had pictured a butterfly that didn’t even exist. He tried to put that negative thought out of his mind immediately. He tried to keep visualizing the butterfly in his mind—his butterfly.
The sun was starting to set and it was getting dark, so they packed up their things to go. Adam never did see his butterfly that day, but Maddie assured him that it would come. He just had to believe. She told him to think about the butterfly every chance he got so that it would materialize. He was determined to make it happen. As they drove home that evening, and in the following days, Adam thought of the butterfly often.
Chapter 33
Maddie and Adam settled into a routine in the days following the fishing trip. Adam was beginning to quit worrying about Maddie leaving. It appeared that she had truly made up her mind to stay. So he relaxed a little bit about letting her out of his sight. Even so, they were pretty much inseparable when they weren’t working.
About four days after the fishing trip, Adam went to the farmers market to get some fresh herbs for the gourmet meal that he was planning to prepare for Maddie that evening. As he was walking down the street, he passed a sidewalk newsstand. A Rolling Stone magazine caught his eye. One of his favorite musicians was on the front cover, and he stopped to look at it. As he reached for the magazine, his hand froze in mid-air. In that instant, a butterfly landed on the corner of that very magazine. And it wasn’t just any butterfly. It was a neon-blue butterfly with black outlining the wings and black spider webbing through the wings like veins. On the lower half of each wing was a yellow circle with black markings that made it look like an eye. It was the butterfly. It was his butterfly—the butterfly he had pictured in his mind.
Adam’s heart was beating fast. He could hardly contain his excitement. He had manifested something! He needed proof. His first thought was to swat it, kill it, and take it back to show Maddie. But he figured she probably wouldn’t be happy about that. So instead, he held his breath as he slowly took his cell phone out of his pocket and snapped a few pictures of it before it flew away.
He had done it. RTP had actually worked. He had manifested the butterfly. Sure, it took him four days to do it, but he had done it nonetheless. He was so excited. He texted the picture of the butterfly to Maddie. She responded almost immediately.
“I knew you could do it!”
Adam couldn’t wait to get back to the apartment and tell her all about it and show her more pictures. It was the greatest feeling. It was at that moment that he knew beyond a doubt he could master RTP. It might take some time and a lot of work, but he knew he could do it. And by the nature of RTP, that was all he needed—to believe he could do it. He realized that was what it would take. And now he was a true believer.
Chapter 34
The next few months went by with no major incidents, no natural disasters, and no near-death experiences. There was no sign of Paul or his cronies. Maddie still suspected that breaking her usual pattern and returning to New York City had thrown them off. She and Adam also theorized that maybe the KTP thought they had succeeded in their mission by killing her in the avalanche. Whatever the case, they were just glad the KTP seemed to be leaving them alone.
Adam and Maddie decided to make the most of every
