The Gardens Part 2
☕ Coffee, Pie & Surprise
Well, Not completely….Someone did drop a cookie.
Eloise whispered “I knew it!!”
People turned.
People listened.
Violet stood on the edge of the fountain.
Cello in hand.
Lantern light flickering around her.
The same fountain she’d spent years avoiding.
The same fountain everybody had spent days talking about.
She drew the bow across the strings.
The sound floated through The Gardens.
Warm.
Rich.
Familiar…..It was like hearing your favorite story told again and again.
Nobody spoke.
The melody wound its way through the courtyard.
Past flowerbeds.
Past lanterns.
Past coffee cups abandoned on tables.
Theo smiled immediately when he saw his sister Violet!!
Maren sat down on the fountain edge to listen.
Even Ravi stopped trying to solve things for five whole minutes.
A personal record.
The song continued.
Beside Violet stood Lucinda.
At first she simply listened.
One hand resting against the fountain.
Dark curls catching the lantern light.
Completely still for once.
Then Violet heard something.
Lucinda was humming.Softly.Without thinking.
The note appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Lucinda stopped.
Her eyes widened.
“What?”Theo called from the crowd.
Lucinda looked genuinely startled.
“I know this song.”
An expectant hush settled over the courtyard.
Violet played the melody again…Slower this time…Giving it room.
Lucinda laughed nervously.
Shook her head.
Then listened.
And little pieces started returning.
A stage.
A spotlight.
Velvet curtains.
Flowers tossed from an audience.
People singing along.
Applause.
The memories didn’t arrive in order.They arrived as scattered starry pictures and moments in Lucinda’s mind.
Tiny pieces of something bigger…
Lucinda pressed a hand to her chest.
“Oh.”The word escaped before she could stop it.
For a moment she looked younger.Softer.Vulnerable.Then she looked at Violet.
Violet simply smiled her kind smile.The one that made Lucinda feel like she is finally home, again and again!! And that made everything easier.
“Go on.”Violet said quietly.
“What if I’m terrible?”
“You aren’t.”
“What if I am?”
“You’ll still have an audience.”
A laugh escaped her.
Then Lucinda took a breath.And sang.
The first few notes trembled.
The second few didn’t.
By the end of the first verse something had unlocked.
Not just the memory, but the joy of it!!
The entire courtyard was ablaze with sound, lights and love!
Theo joined in on guitar. Although nobody had asked him to.
He simply did.
Maren laughed.Then began singing too.
Mateo joined.Poorly.
Eloise joined.Loudly.
Soon half of The Gardens was singing.
The other half was making up words.
Nobody cared.
The whole thing fell gloriously apart.
People missed verses….Repeated choruses….Forgot lyrics…Started laughing halfway through.And somehow…It became even better!!
At some point Eloise started crying.
“You’re emotional.”Iris told her.
“I’m old.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“It is tonight.”
The song finally came to an end beneath a sky full of lantern light..Everyone just sat there smiling.
The fountain whispered.The lanterns danced overhead.Someone handed Mateo a napkin because apparently he was very emotional too.
Eventually applause arrived.
Warm.Loud.Wholehearted.
Lucinda drank it in.
Half embarrassed.Half delighted.The expression on her face made Violet’s heart ache in the nicest way.
It was like watching someone find a missing piece of themselves.
The evening lasted a little longer after that.
People talked.Shared cookies.Told stories.Nobody seemed too eager to leave.
One by one….Eventually they did.
Only a few lanterns remained glowing over the courtyard.
The fountain hummed softly.
A stolen rose from a few nights ago sat in a glass jar beside Mateo’s café window.
Violet and Lucinda sat together on the edge of the fountain.Watching the last lights go out.
For a while neither spoke.Then Lucinda looked up at the stars and said.“I think I used to love singing.”Violet smiled.“I think you still do.”Lucinda laughed softly.“Maybe.”
A comfortable silence settled between them.The kind that no longer needed filling.The Gardens slept peacefully around them.
A Home.
Then Lucinda suddenly reached into her coat pocket.Violet groaned immediately.“Oh no.”
“What?”
“You found something?”
Lucinda grinned.
“Maybe.”“
Lucinda explains”“It’s a map.”
Of course it was!!
Violet shook her head and smiled…Knowing that somewhere beyond the next path, the next mystery, and behind the next wonderfully terrible idea…Another story was already waiting for the both of them. 🌹☕🎻👻✨
End of Part Two.
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