Sylvie

Semi-lost looking at the light yellow flames from the fireplace, Casey nodded. “Yeah.”  Casey cleared her throat, “Since I stopped being a ward, all of the issues I didn’t have to think about have been floating in my head, making me rather miserable.”  Casey poked the little straw into the package and took a light sip, “Fireplace, the tools there?”  Casey watched her mom stop swinging and lean forward. “I..um..hit Brian with a poker.  So, it’s a reminder of the night and…well you get it.”  Casey sucked the fruity drink dry and spread out on the loveseat, then looked up at the ceiling.

Hopping out of her seat, Jennifer walked over to the loveseat and laid down beside her daughter and pulled her into a tight hug. “I know baby girl, I know.”  Jennifer felt the light sobs Casey had started. “It will be alright, we’ll figure something out.”  She rubbed her daughter’s back, content to let Casey get out what pain she could at the moment.

--

Awakened by a loud rumble that shook the entire house, Casey came out of her slumber to the sound of a Navy jet passing close to her mother's house.  “Mom?”  Casey groggily inquired and opened her eyes to a small piece of sticky-paper on her forehead.  “Cute.”  Registering that it was well into the afternoon, Casey knew that she’d slept off both jetlag and the hefty amount of alcohol she’d consumed.  After pulling the note free, Casey sat up and rubbed her neck and shoulders while she read:

‘In the studio, breakfast or lunch is on the stove.  Come on in when you are ready.’

Once Casey had taken care of her immediate needs and hygiene, She made her way into the kitchen and laughed when she saw her mother’s idea of breakfast.  A plate of three oatmeal bars and two strawberry toaster pastries lay there unopened with yet another note:

‘Sofa Monster.  I left enough for you and I, so grab something to drink and head into the..lair.’

Gathering up the items, Casey opened the refrigerator and grabbed four fruit punch drinks and headed for her mother's studio.  Unlike the last few times she’d seen her mother's studio, Casey was pleasantly surprised when she saw shiny silver paper covering the windows, blotting out the sunlight.  Just as Jennifer explained, the entire place was covered in some sort of silver.  Setting down the items on a silver painted bench, Casey pointed to her mother's small kiln and art chair. “Really, you changed the cushions on the chair?  And how did you get silver on the oven there?”  Casey noticed that the colorful butterflies had been taken down and replaced by butterflies made from solid silver. “That must have cost you a fortune Mom.”

Jennifer looked up from the wood carving she was working on, “Not really.”  She pulled out her phone and tapped it a few times. “It’s about twenty-five dollars an ounce.”  Jennifer smiled and opened one of the oatmeal bars. “The real pain is waiting for delivery.”  Taking a light bite of the small bar, Jennifer walked behind her daughter and rubbed her shoulders once more. “I didn’t want to wake you up after you passed out…although I know that couch isn’t the most comfortable.”  She pointed at the small bottle of acetaminophen beside the door. “Plenty in there, dear.”

Thankful for the pain reliever, Casey took a couple pills and downed them with one of her drink pouches. “I am shocked that you don’t use that metric ton of weed that you are growing to fix pain.”  Casey laughed and pointed to the four bushy plants. “I had forgotten how loud the jets are around here.  That is what woke me up, or I would probably still be asleep.”  Rubbing her temples lightly, Casey pulled up a stool and sat down beside her mom and watched her start carving again. “I didn’t mean to dump all that on you last night, Mom.”  

Jennifer blew a few wood scrapings free from her project and looked up at Casey. “Why on earth are you apologizing for that?”  She tapped the V tool she was using against her chest lightly. “That is what I am here for.  You know, scraped knees, support as you learned how to swim and start winning, yelling at you to get out of trees before you break your neck.”  Jennifer laughed, “Sure, you are grown now.”  She pointed the carving tool at her daughter, “It doesn’t change a thing.  You’ll always be my baby, my little girl.  My role has changed, but my love and support hasn’t.”  Jennifer winked and resumed carving.

Casey looked at the designs her mother was carefully weaving into the wood. “I thought you were into silver.  That looks remarkably like little shooting stars and the moon.”  Casey smiled and took a bite of strawberry pastry.

“If this were for me, I would agree with you.”  Jennifer winked. “It is for someone else.”  Jennifer closed her eyes and brushed her fingers over what she’d created, feeling every curve and point. “I said we’d figure out everything, didn’t I?”

Watching her mother work sometimes fascinated Casey. “I don’t know how you do that blind.”  She paused, “Yes, yes you did.” Feeling a slight chill, Casey rubbed her arms and waited for her mother to respond.

Breathing deeply, Jennifer picked up a small chisel and whittled the wood carving. “It might sound stupid, but it is about seeing the object you want in your head and going with what you see inside.”  Jennifer paused for a breath, “Sometimes your eyes aren’t what you need to see with.”

“How does this fit into last night?”  Casey sighed and picked up a silver plastic pinwheel and blew on it so the points spun wildly and sent streaks of reflective light throughout the studio. “I just want to forget all this and do something.”  Casey sighed, “It is just hard to separate the guilt associated with losing both Brian and Linda.  I know I didn’t kill either of them..”  Casey dropped the toy back on the bench and broke another piece of pastry to eat. “How do I deal with this?  I can’t tell anyone… well I guess I can tell you now…but...”

Jennifer slowly opened her brown eyes and took a steady breath before setting down all of her tools. “Casey.”  She reached for her daughter's hand and patted it lightly. “I am pretty good at reading and understanding people.  You know.”  She pointed to herself and Casey. “I used to be able to look into your innocent eyes and see the world in them.  Your dreams and little tickles of excitement.”  Jennifer kissed the top of Casey’s hand. “Now?  You’ve changed, sweetheart.  I mean you are still you, of course…but there is something just out of alignment.”  Jennifer jumped off her stool and rummaged through her rolled up canvases. “Ah-ha.”  Handing it to Casey, she nodded. “Go on, open it.”

Unfurling the painting Casey saw that it was an image of herself with a smile and frown, one lovely gleaming brown eye and her other eye smeared and misshapen.  Holding the painting back, Casey took in the full image and realized that it was her in two distinct halves. “You’ve felt like I am losing myself for a while, Mom.”

“Nope, I did that two days ago when you said you were coming home.  Your tone of voice made me come back here and paint it.”  Jennifer smiled. “Can you think of anything that will bring the other half of you back into focus?”

Tears began pooling in Casey’s chocolate brown eyes and she nodded slowly. “I…I think so.”  She sniffled and wiped the tears on her battered blouse. “She’s the only real friend that I have left after the mess.”  Casey watched Jennifer smile and shake her head. “Sylvie.”

Picking up her completed project, Jennifer handed Casey the wood chime. “Those are her moons, the stars are just something you wish on.  They are the source that will whistle when the wind blows.”  She pointed to the last part she’d carved with her eyes closed. “Sun.”  Jennifer kissed the top of Casey’s head. “Give her a call, the phone is in the other room..already charged.”  

“What if she…”  Casey rubbed the sun and thought she felt the warmth coming from it.

Jennifer opened another of her fruit punches, “Then sit here with me drinking punch and maybe later we will get stoned and sleep in all this silver.”  She winked and pointed to the other room. “We have a few hours before nightfall, get a shower, for god sake change that shoe-string blouse and make yourself feel better.”

Casey looked at the wind chime and nodded, “I think she’ll love this, Mom.”  Casey headed out of the studio and looked back a final time. “I’ll give her a call.  Thanks, I love you.”  She watched her mother lean on one of her hands, then get an odd look in her own brown eyes. “Okay, okay.  I’m going.”  Casey laughed and closed the studio door behind her.