Elodie and Heloise (24 page)

Elodie picked up her guitar and threw the strap around her neck before sitting down in her desk chair. Heloise pulled up a chair until she was sitting about three feet away from her sister. She watched her sister pull out a capo from a desk drawer and place it on the third fret of her guitar, then Elodie began tuning her guitar strings.

“You really seem to like playing music. I could hear you through the walls when you practiced.”

Elodie nodded and smiled. “Remember what Papa said about finding what makes you happy? I really really hope that you take that to heart, what he said about your cooking. You’re so focused and happy when you’re in the kitchen.”

Heloise’s eyes fell to her feet as her sister opened a notebook and began to strum.  “Well, I have been giving something a lot of thought..... since that night. I haven’t told Mom yet, but I’m going to make it through this first semester and drop out to go to a cooking school. I’ve started filling out an application for Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in fact. Just yesterday. I’ve never been to France and I know it’s what Papa would have wanted and really.... cooking is what makes me happiest in life. You’re right. Kyle was right and most of all, Papa was right. I have to do this and follow my happiness. I can’t live a life of regret because I was too scared to try something I really wanted.”

“Oh Heloise that’s wonderful!” Elodie set her guitar down on the floor and proceeded to throw her arms around Heloise. “Beautiful Paris.... You’ll be making it to France before me, you know.”

Heloise chuckled. “Hey, you and Duncan can always come and visit, you know. Just don’t tell Mom yet.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

With that said, Heloise sat back in her chair and watched her sister intently, waiting for the song.

“So here’s my song. It’s called Eternal Smile,” Elodie stated very simply, “and I hope you like it.”

She immediately went into an arpeggiated waltz rhythm, her fingers squeaking across the fretboards as she formed the necessary chords. Heloise tapped her foot lightly on the floor as her sister opened her mouth to sing.

Rings around my rosey

Pockets full of sadness

And all these memories of you

Have almost driven me to madness

I see it in the clouds

And I see it in the sky

The way that happiness

Would light up your eyes

In an eternal smile

Loving life and all its gifts

An eternal smile

Always on your lips

You may be gone from this earth

But that smile still lives in my heart

Then suddenly the song stopped. The last chord rang out in the room and Elodie cleared her throat. “That’s all I have so far. But it’s a start.”

“I think Papa would be proud. Keep going with it.”

Heloise immediately reached out to her sister and gave her a huge hug. In each other’s arms, both sisters cried and blubbered. No words, just crying. 

Friends again. 

Born in Maryland and raised in Virginia, Cecilee Linke knew she wanted to be an author from an early age. She would fill her computer hard drives and notebooks with stories and poems that she hoped other people besides her parents and friends would get to read some day. In middle school, she chose to begin learning French and so began a passion that continues to this day. She studied at Old Dominion University and spent three months in early 2006 studying abroad in France. When she’s not concocting stories, she likes to sing and write music under her first name and give private French lessons. She currently lives in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia with her loving husband and two cats Mardi and Dom Dom.

Her official website for her writings and music is www.cecilee.net