My nephew. Luis. He lost the fight with the disease. Who: Lúthien and Cadence When: After the cure, before Cadence got mugged Where: The Park What: Random Encounter, and building a friendship! Rating: PG Status: Complete when posted
Cadence kept herself very busy after the cure came out. So many people had died, so much pain and grief. She was embarrassed about the way she'd handled things, or, not handled them, actually. It was a birthday she'd rather forget.
Today she was doing outreach, cleaning the Park with her church's youth group. She hadn't talked to anyone about her birthday, or her doubts and fears about God. It was weird to keep it all pent up inside, but her excuse was she was grieving, so people left her alone.
She was painting one of the wooden trash can covers when the girl shed been working with was called away to help sift through the sand under the swingset.
Lúthien was taking a walk in the park. She was happy to be out, and not cooped up due to the quarantine. She generally handled the indoors well, having always enjoyed caves and caverns (much to her father's dismay), but sometimes, it was really nice to walk in the sun. She hummed to herself as she walked.
Cadence was lost in thought as she reached for the bucket of paint. Her fingers fumbled with it, and she gave a little yelp of surprise as the thing tipped over. Green paint spoiled all across the pavement where Lúthien was walking.
It splashed over her shoes, and she looked down in surprise. She gave out a soft cry of dismay, before jumping up and away from the paint. It was too late for her shoes, and she kicked her feet a bit. “Blast.” Her voice had a vaguely exotic lilt to it.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Cadence sprung to her feet and moved over to try and clean up the mess. It was a terrible mess. “Oh wow, I really... so sorry...!” She felt like a complete and total moron for knocking over the damn bucket of paint.
“It’s all right! They’re just shoes,” she replied, stepping onto the grass and kicking them off. She was more concerned about splatters on her jeans. She tried to give Cadence a reassuring smile. “It takes a bit more than that to make me angry.”
“Well, that’s kind of you to say,” Cadence said, but she still felt terrible. “I really am sorry, though. I can replace them.” She was more concerned about the shoes than the jeans, as she hadn’t noticed them getting much paint on them so far. She brought out some wipes to hold out to the girl. “These should take at least some of that paint off,” she said, sheepishly. “I’m really sorry,” she added again, feeling like a broken record.
Lúthien took the wipes, kneeling to try to salvage what we left of her shoes. It was a lost cause, and she knew it, feeling a momentary wift of annoyance. But it was an accident. She shook her head. “I’m afraid they’re ruined. Luckily, they didn’t cost that much.”
“I will absolutely be paying for them. And your jeans, too.” Cadence said, frowning a bit at her own clumsiness. “It was a complete accident, and again I’m so sorry. Let me... let me buy you a cup of coffee or something. I feel awful.”
“All right.” Lúthien knew better than to argue - she would probably act the same way were their positions reversed. “But first, introductions. I’m Lúthien, and you’ve probably never heard of me, which is wonderful.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Cadence said, standing up. She reached a hand out for Lúthien to shake. “Cadence. I haven’t heard of you. I’m just... here with the Youth Group. Cleaning up the park.”
She took Cadence’s hand. “That’s a very lyrical name. I approve.” She gave the woman a little wink as they shook, and joked, “Cleaning up, or making a little extra mess?”
Cadence grinned. “My mom gave it to me. Thanks.” She said, softly, then laughed. “I guess maybe I’m doing a bit of both.” She said, sheepishly. “Hopefully it’ll look better... in the long run. The girls love cleaning the trash, though. They say the grass is even greener without the trash cluttering it up.”
“And now it’s extra green.” Lúthien laughed. “Let me help you a bit. I wouldn’t want to take you away from good works, and I don’t have anything planned for today except singing practice..”
“Really?” Cadence asked. She broke into a smile. “I’d love an extra set of hands. The gal I was working with headed off to help sift through the sand under the swingset.” She moved to scoop up whatever she could get of the paint and bring it back over to the trash can. “Here’s an extra paintbrush.” The wooden box that held the plastic trash can was almost finished. Thankfully they wouldn’t need a whole lot of green paint to finish it up.
Nodding, and pulling off her sweater to reveal a white tank top with a lyrical looking heart on it, Lúthien took the paint brush and dipped it into the paint can. “I don’t mind getting a little dirty. It can be fun, no?”
“Very much so. Gives a good feeling. Doing something good for the community.” Cadence said. She beamed as they were painting the trash can cover together. “I think the girls picked out a really nice shade of green.” She added, painting in long brush strokes up and down.
“Green is a nice color. I’m fond of blue, too. Earthy colors, night colors are my favorite. We used to paint my bedroom in stars at night. My mother would sing the most amazing lullabies.” Lúthien hummed a little tune as she painted. “How did you get started in this?”
“That’s lovely,” Cadence said with a warm smile. She dipped her paintbrush in the paint, and continued to brush it against the trash can holder. “I’ve been doing volunteer work with my church since I was a little girl. I come back to help the younger kids and make sure that they have great experiences like I did when I was their age. I want them to be as passionate about these sorts of things as I am.’
“Charity is something that everyone should be passionate about. Not all people are as fortunate as I am. That was a lesson I learned at a young age.” She moved around to the other side, looking for any missed spots.
Cadence gave a nod. “I spend a lot of my life giving to others. Whenever I can.” She put the brush back into the bucket, then dusted her hands off. “It was rather frightening last week when I got the call canceling my volunteer hours at the hospital during the quarantine.”
Lúthien nodded her head, stepping back around the can holder. It looked like they were finished. “That whole thing was rather frightening. It’s scary how something so small can cause so much harm.”
Cadence nodded. A surge of sorrow passed through her, bubbling up inside and threatening to burst forth. She blinked her eyes a few times, fighting back tears, and lifted her hand to wipe at her face. She left a smear of green across her cheek, accidentally, and didn’t notice. “Yeah. A lot of harm.”
“Oh,” she said softly. It seemed personal, though she wasn’t sure how much so, and if she should pry. Instead, she said, “I’m sorry.” Lúthien felt like that simply wasn’t enough.
“Thank you.” Cadence said. her eyes were filled with tears now, and her nose burning. She shook her head. “My nephew. Luis. He lost the fight with the disease. May he rest in peace.”
Nodding her head, the singer impulsively put her arms around Cadence. “I’m sure he’s resting peacefully. As peacefully as a child can. After all, children are meant to dance and sing and play.”
Cadence took a moment of hesitation, then wrapped one arm down and around the woman. It was strange, they’d just met, but suddenly Cadence felt like she’d found a friend. “Thank you.” She said, giving a hearty, wavering sigh. “I’m supposed to speak at his memorial service, and I really don’t know what to say.”
“What is the song in your heart when you think of him?”
Cadence took a moment to think about it. “True Colors, by Cyndi Lauper.” She said, softly.
She touched Cadence’s cheek, stroking it lightly with two fingers. “And how do you think you could translate that into a eulogy?”
“I... I have no idea.” Cadence said, softly. She lifted her hand and wiped at her other cheek, hoping that the tears would stay at bay. “He had so much life. So much love. So much potential. I miss him, but I miss what he could have become, too.”
“I think you might have found your own words, no?” Lúthien tipped Cadence’s head up by the chin. “Smile for me, and for him. For the child, and the man he should have be. That’s the best eulogy.”
“Maybe.” Cadence said, then turned to look into the other’s eyes when her chin was tipped. She gave a little nod. “I think so. I don’t know.” She gave a great sigh, then nodded again. “Thank you. I don’t know how I’m going to go through with it, but I’m going to have to try.”
“That’s all you can do. I can’t say I’ve lost someone so close to me, or so young, so I won’t attempt to understand your pain, but I think that it does no one any good to wallow in what was lost.” Her smile was kind, and gentle. “Instead, I think one should celebrate what was.”
Cadence nodded softly. She wiped at her face again then picked up the paint bucket and tossed it into a wagon sitting near the can was that they’d been painting. “Yeah. I’m gonna go through all my photos of him, and we’re putting together a little slide show. I think it’s going to be nice.”
Lúthien hugged her again. “I’m sure it will be nice.” She stepped back, tilting her head. “You know, if you want, I could sing for him.”
The hug felt nice. Cadence returned it. Somehow, some strange way, she knew she’d found a friend today. In the most random way possible. She smiled and nodded. “You’d do that? For Luis?”
“I would, for Luis, and for you. You have my word.” She kissed Cadence on the cheeks, in that odd European fashion.
Cadence blushed, smiling, and returned the kisses. “Thank you.” She said. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Please, there’s no need.” She straightened. “Now, where shall we clean up next?”