Shady Plum Park/2

Elara and Grace
ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara needed to get away from the chaos tat was her family. Ever since Gemma’s death, they’ve grown apart. She hated it. Elara just wanted a happy family. That’s what Gemma would have wanted, righ? So why wans’t her family heeding her older sister’s wishes? Elara was blinking back tears when she heard the sound of soft sobbing coming from behind the tree. She went to investigate. ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara sat down beside the sobbing girl and placed a hand on her back, gently rubbing it. “I’m Elara,“ she said. “What’s yours?” She could tell that whatever the young girl was crying about was something she didn’t want to share. Best to pretend it was a regular day and the both of their lives weren’t falling apart. ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara gave her a smile. “Grace. What a pretty name.” She gazed out to the park. “Such a lovely day today, right?” ELARA CLEDWYN: “Want to go for a walk?” she asked. “We can’t let a day like this go to waste.” ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara squeezed Grace’s hand. “Are you here with someone else?” Elara asked. ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara held the sobbing girl. “Shh,” she whispered. “It’s alright. Everything will be just fine.” Elara closed her eyes. The two of them had more in common than she had originally thought. She sometimes thought that since Gemma’s death, she had been forgotten too. ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara gave Grace a smile. “Of course! Where else would I go?” ELARA CLEDWYN: She took Grace’s hand and led her away from the tree, walking along the path. They settle into a comfortable silence. ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara shut her eyes, not wanting to worry Grace with her problems. The poor girl had enough as it already was. “Just like any other family,” she finally said, saying the biggest lie ever. ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara smiled a tight smile. “Yeah. Lucky.” She would rather jump off a cliff than believe that was true. ELARA CLEDWYN: “Of course!” She took the ball and positioned herself one feet away from Grace. “Let’s play catch!” ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara smiled. Grace was so sweet. She didn’t deserve to be going through what she was. This will be the best day of her life, she decided, throwing the ball again. “Catch, Grace!” ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara looked around and noticed a bird with feathers made of gold. “Grace! Look at that bird!” She pointed to it. ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara called down to the bird and it rested on her finger. She showed it to Grace. “Isn’t she so beautiful?” ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara positioned Grace’s finger and placed the bird on it. “Now make bird noises,” she told her, and demonstrated by clicking her tongue. “See? Easy. Now you try.” ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara squatted beside Grace and clicked to the bird, ordering it to rest on Grace’s finger. The bird obeyed. “Now talk to it,” she told the other elf. “It will like you more if you do.” ELARA CLEDWYN: ”That’s not true,” Elara scolded. “I’m sure your family loves you. But sometimes, because someone loves you so much, they have to make sacrifices. And sometimes, the sacrifice is letting the person they love go. See? They let you go because they love you so much.” ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara put an arm around Grace when she suddenly got an idea. “Want to come home to my family?” she asked. Probably not the best idea, but Grace needed somebody. Might as well be her family. ELARA CLEDWYN: Elara smiled. “Great! I’ll take you there once I tell my family about you. I’m sure they’ll love you!” ELARA CELDWYN: Elara looked back at Grace and sighed, giving her her hand. “Come on, I’ll take you with me. Let’s go meet my family.”