Eloise woke to the tickling smell of smoke and magic, her eyes tight from the night before, and her heart sore. It was still night and a hovering cloak of fog covered everything.
When she sat up and leaned back against the trunk of the newly blossomed peach tree she let out a sigh and shook her head to empty strange dreams.
That woman, the one with the pretty face and the short brown hair had invaded her thoughts, but this time had felt like a threat.
Lady Macbeth made a chittering sound, sitting on her back legs and her black hands motioning through the air. There was an air of concern that smelled like rust hitting the back of Eloise's throat.
"What is it, Lady?"
A click of yellow glow drew her eyes up to the second story of the house and she wondered if Ursula had awoken to an eerie feeling as well so she scooped up Lady and then they were moving through the dew-laced grass into the dark kitchen.
A sleepy Casper padded his way down the hallway followed closely by Ursula who was wearing a long, black tshirt Eloise suspected might belong to a certain Brawny man. Her black hair was mussed and she rubbed her eyes.
"You feel it too?"
Eloise nodded. It was four in the morning so the day was closer than the night before. "Breakfast?"
"I have brioche."
"I'll make the coffee."
She made coffee, Ursula whipped up a brioche french toast with blackberry compote while Casper and Lady ate a late-night snack, but as she lifted the raccoon mug to her lips she paused. She didn't smell the Guatemalan roast of coffee as it steamed up into the air. Instead, she smelled something bright and harsh. Swimming pools heavily medicated with chlorine and a gardenia blossom when it browns around the edges wilting in too much sun.
She picked up one of Ursula's vanilla and tobacco candles to try and cleanse the smell from her nose.
They each grabbed a lit candle and a plate of french toast with their mugs of coffee and blankets wrapped around theirshoulders. The string lights were flipped on, their glow trying to shine through the thick fog that looked like a plane of ghostly white cutting through the middle of the yard.
"This is perfectly spooky," Eloise said. The temperature was warmer than usual on a too early spring morning, but the fog carried a wet chill that made her grateful for the blanket around her shoulders.
"How are you doing?" Ursula asked.
"Fine," Eloise said easily, though that ease did not match the inside of her. She wasn't fine. She was in turmoil and pain and she knew her best friend wasn't going to be hoodwinked into thinking otherwise.
"You want to talk about it?"
She shook her head and looked up into the night sky with the stars trying to peek through the thick, foggy veil like a bride.
"I'm here if you do," she said softly.
She looked at Ursula, her dearest friend and reached over with her hand open, their fingers laced together and she knew she would be okay. Eventually.
"Just a little heartbreak," she said.
Ursula's mouth pulled up a little in a knowing, sad smile and she said, "Yeah, just a little heartbreak."
And wasn't that it? A little heartbreak could crack a person in half, rendering them incapacitated for a while. The grief alone could alter a person's heart and mind, Eloise knew well. Heartbreak struck a person when they were open and willing to love, like a hunter waiting for the perfect shot. But it wouldn't kill her. And right now she could feel this ache with the knowledge that she had opened her heart, something she wasn't sure she'd be able to do again.
"Do you think heartbreak kills more people than we realize?"
Ursula tilted her head with concern and Eloise smiled sadly adding, "I'm not there. This is just a dollop." Had Taylor not cutit off when he did, she wondered how deep the cut could have gotten. There can be kindness inside of goodbyes like these.
"Yeah," Ursula answered her question. "Maybe the souls go somewhere special."
Eloise smiled at that thought. A place for broken souls to mend.
"Do me a favor," Ursula's voice was soft. "Don't run this time."
Her plea struck that already aching spot inside of Eloise and a rush of tears made their way to the surface, clogging her throat making words impossible so she squeezed her hand in a promise.
