Her Name Was Ellie

Chapter 3

She told me her name was Ellie. I began to suspect that she was in that cupboard for inspiration. Then I came to believe that she was in there for no reason other than curiosity. She was strange, but following her was probably the most fun I'd had in years.

She pushed me to see things differently, to look deeper than the surface. We looked for stories behind people and places. She drug me along to places I'd never even heard of, even in places I thought I knew every inch of.

We stopped in a cute little cafe for lunch, since we'd both been in the studio without anything to eat. The walls were covered in quirky murals, and the workers seemed to know Ellie well. She never told me anything about the place, though, instead wanting to know what I thought the story was. We ended up trading increasingly silly made up stories about the cafe and the customers.

As I followed her throughout the city, she positively glowed with each new thing she pointed out and each person she waved to. No matter where we were, she always looked like she was completely in her element. She shifted easily between talking to strangers and cooing at babies to admiring the colors in the trees and watching butterflies flutter between flowers.

She was incredibly easy to get along with, and I felt so comfortable with her it was hard to believe that we'd only met earlier that day. It was as if we'd been friends for years.

I found myself in absolute awe of this small, mysterious, energetic woman. She seemed like she could change the world with just her presence. She was absolutely radiant, and at times I had to make sure that it was the sun shining, not her.

By the time I had to get back to the studio, I wished that the day could've lasted forever. I wanted to explore the hidden corners of the city with her, and watch her face light up at the sight of something that others wouldn't even notice.

Going back to work on my piece was the last thing I wanted to do. At least I had some fresh ideas now. In that sense, she accomplished her mission: to inspire me.

On the way back to the studio, we encountered a stray cat. It was dark gray, and so skinny that Ellie immediately stopped and searched her pockets for something she could feed it. I still had a bit of my sandwich left that I was saving for later, so I tore off some of the bread for it. Even though it was a stray, and possibly dangerous, Ellie insisted she had to pet the "charcoal beauty." Apparently, her charms even work on cats, because it seemed perfectly fine with that, and she couldn't stop gushing about how sweet it was and how soft its fur was. She even tried to convince me to pet it, but it was just skittish enough around me that I wouldn't risk it.

Eventually, we parted ways, and I returned to the studio to work. 

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 *Author's Note*

I felt like "Better When I'm Dancing" by Meghan Trainor fit Ellie really well, so that's why it's in this chapter.