Three Knots for Three Souls

Chapter Seven

All of them, James, Luke, Maggs, and Elsa went on to be happy, mostly anyway.

Maggs finished high school by the time she was nineteen and went on to teaching school. She graduated top of her class from Boston College and became an elementary school teacher. During college she met Damian Grey, they married at twenty five and had three children, Adien, Cassie and Jessica. Maggs died peacefully in her sleep a week be for her husband at 84 years old.

Luke finished high school and immediately enrolled in the Army, during that time constantly exchanging letters with Elsa. He retiered at age 63 to move out to the country to live with his partner. He died at age 98, twenty years after his partner.

James kept up with school work and graduated in time be for going to Louisiana State and becoming a doctor. After graduating Luke met Amanda, after only three months of dating they went to Vegas and got married. Soon after they had twins, Jessie and Tyler. Five years later a daughter, Amanda Elsa. Amanda passed away at sixty with lung cancer. James followed her at seventy nine.

Elsa dropped out of high school. She didn't go to collage either. Instead she did what thousands of artists do. They move to New York. The difference for her was that the right person saw her work. She got big, her own gallery, in New York.

Her paintings and drawings were considered 'raw' and 'painful'. People loved them.

Her most famous was a massive, life size work of two people walking in the snow. A male and a female, they were holding clutching each other's hands. She was colasped on the ground, blood streaked across her face and hands. Years running down her face. He was crying too. The thing that everyone loved was that he left no footprints, but you could see where she had tripped and tried to get back up.

The title was "A girl holds on too long."

She died at fifty-nine, leaving a share house full of more paintings and drawings. Elsa Dryer never married or had children. She was buried next to Jessie Addams, her true family and best friend.