If the Sun refused to Shine: The Story of Lily Maria Page

Chapter 8: The soul of a woman

           The fireplace crackled and warmed everyone's faces to a rosy red. The smell of pine from the tree lingered in the air, and the taste of hot chocolate sat on Lily's tongue. She looked around as everybody was sitting around and socializing. She noticed then that her Uncle Jonesy was looking at her with a little grin. Lily cocked her head, confused. Jonesy held one finger up as he took a big gulp of the chocolate and whipped cream goodness. When he placed the mug on the table, he pointed to his face, and smiled. Lily looked at his whipped cream moustache, and began to giggle. She eagerly sipped her cocoa to get the same result. When she put the mug down, whip cream was plastered on her face, and warm drops of her drink ran down her lips, and onto her dress. This of course caused Jonesy to chuckle at Lily, and that caused Lily to laugh along too.

Jimmy turned around to his daughter to see what was so funny, and when Lily turned to him, with her white moustache, a smile lept across Jimmy's face. When he looked at her, all he could think of was her Mum. How she would make the simplest things funny, or find a way to make somebody smile in dark situations. He locked eyes with Lily, and watched the flame from the sweltering fire glow in her eyes. The glimmer of happiness that shone through her was contagious, and without even knowing, he too was smiling with his eyes. Lily looked away from Jimmy, and went back to her hot chocolate. With a sigh, Jimmy slouched backwards onto the sofa. The cushions hugged his back, with the outdated floral pattern groping every inch of him. Silence filled the room afterwards, only the crackle of burning logs broke the silence. Jimmy let out a small chuckle before he spoke.

"Bonzo.. Do you remember the Achilles incident?" Jimmy said with a smile as he looked over at his friend. He watched Robert and Jonesy sit up happily, perked up, and nodded their heads.

"More of a miracle than an incident I think." Robert said while flicking his golden curls away from his face.

Jonesy nodded his head, "Yeah.. It was amazing what she did with that horse. I remember getting my bass tuned, Bonzo, you were looking for your sticks, Robert was just being the poofy git he always is-"

"Oi! That's not true!"

"Whatever you say Robert, anyways, and Jimmy was unpacking his guitar and telling us about his new life. Then he happened to look out the window, and saw her with that black stallion, and jumped on him.. And they were off." Jonesy finished.

"Just the happiness in that horse's eye. She did the unthinkable you know Pagey, that horse almost killed a kid." Bonzo said looking up at the ceiling. Jimmy smiled proudly, then he remembered.

She's not dead.