Ellie's Song (5 page)

The night was
beautiful and mild with the absence of the bitter winter wind
. It would have been a perfect night for an ice skating or sledding party, Ellie thought to
herself
.  She wondered if any of the Lincoln Terrace kids had been ice skating before.

Before making sure they got across the street safely
, Luke stopped the kids to remind them to arrive a bit early the next day as they’d be sitting together in the front of the church. Then he added, “I’m so proud of all of you and can’t wait for you to make your families and the congregation of St. Andrew’s proud of you as well.  Look up in the sky, can you see the stars?”

They all looked up together at the night sky
that was dotted with an endless sea of twinkling stars. Their mouths opened in amazement as if they had just noticed it for the first time.

“Those stars might be shining bright tonight, but tomorrow, you’ll be the ones shining; the stars of the night.
And Ellie, thank you so much for your help this week, you
and the kids are
going to blow them away tomorrow. “

“Thank you, Miss Ellie!” Th
e kids called out to her before crossing
the street to head home for the night, leaving Ellie and Luke alone
once again
.

He turned to face her, his back to the street, and he took her hands in his.
“So, Miss Ellie, be honest with me. Do you still think that kids are annoying?”

Ellie laughed, feeling euphoric with a mixture of excitement for the kids and the fact that her hands were i
n his. His touch
felt good and she was glad that she hadn’t put her gloves on yet.

“
I know I told you that I’d take you to dinner after Christmas, but honestly, I don’t think I can wait that long to spend time alone with you. Do you have plans for tonight?”

Before Ellie even had time
to say yes, she was distracted by a vision behind Luke. It was Calvin, leaving the group and heading back towards the street. She caught a glimpse of something in the street and realized it was the picture book she’d given him. He must have dropped it and was going back for it. He didn’t tell the others he was going and was by himself, heading straight for the book.

He wasn’t lo
oking for cars because if he would have been,
he would have seen the big red truck speeding towards him. But Ellie saw it. She was seized with terror and felt her heart stop. Calvin was going to be hit. She didn’t have time to reach him but had to get his attention.

“CALVIN
, STOP!” E
llie screamed as loud as she could
, her voice raw with fear.
She felt like she was watching the sickening scene
unfold in slow motion. Calvin had heard her piercing scream for him and as he looked up he saw the lights from the truck shine on his face. Ellie sensed Luke turning to run for him but she knew he wouldn’t get there on time.

Right as the truck was upon him, Calvin was jerked backwards onto the curb, as if by an invisible force. The truck swerved and honked at him
as it sped by
. After it had passed, Ellie could see that it hadn’t bee
n an invisible force. It was Cori, who had also heard Ellie’s scream, and like a flash of lightning, jumped back to Calvin and was able to grab onto the hood of his jacket and pull him out of harm’s way.

Luke and Ellie ran to them to make sure Calvin was ok. Luckily, he hadn’t been hurt, but Ellie could tell he was scared by his wide eyes and shaking hands. She hugged him tightly and whispered, “Thank God you’re ok!” She realized that she was shaking, too.
And she’
d severely strained
her vocal chords
when she had screamed
.
Even whispering was excruciating on her raw throat.
Calvin reached out his hand and
pointed to the book sti
ll in the road.
Luke
walked over, looking both ways before he
p
icked it up and handed it to Calvin
.

“
So this is what you were after.” Luke said. Then, turning to
Cori,
he added, “T
hat was some fast thinking
on your part. You
really saved the day.”

“I wouldn’t have even noticed him if I hadn’t heard
Miss
Ellie yelling his name. She’s the one who saved the day.”

The other kids were standing
around, stunned, looking at Calvin. Luke walked over and picked him up out of Ellie’s arms to carry him home. “He’s going to be ok, it was just a scare. Let this be a reminder to everyone to always, ALWAYS, look both ways before stepping out onto that street. We were very lucky this time, it was a close call.”

When they got to Cori and Calvin’s home, Cori opened the door with her key. Their aunt was still at work. Luke and Ellie made sure that they were settled before they left. They set out to walk back to the church parking lot together when Luke addressed Ellie. “You’ve been pretty quiet, are you ok?”

She couldn’t hol
d it in any more. She hadn’t wanted
to upset the kids, but she wasn’t able to speak. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked helplessly
into Luke’s eyes. He looked sympathetic
ally at her and reached out to
put his hand on her arm.

“Oh no, Ellie.
Does it hurt when you try to talk?”

She nodded at him and blinked back the tears.

“You must have strained your voice when you yelled to get Calvin’s attention. It’ll be ok. Let’s take you to get some tea, would you like that? Wait, don’t answer,
just
nod.”

She smiled and nodded.

***

Sitting together once again at the Sit-n-Sip, Luke bought Ellie her tea with honey and lemon. She thought she must have looked a wreck with her tear-stained eyes.
She had cried on the way there and
could feel mascara runs on her cheeks. 

“Don’t worry,
you’ll be ok. I’ve strained my vocal chords many times, it comes with the territory.  It’ll heal soon.” He saw her eyes tear up again and added, “Is it really bad? Do you think you should see a doctor?”

She shook her head no and tried to say something but the words stuck in her throat like knives trying to carve their way out. She put her hand quickly to her throat.

Luke reached out and grabbed her hand. “I know it’s hard but don’t even try to talk.
” Then he looked around before adding, “
Wait, I have an idea.”

He walked up to the counter and started talking with the girl working behind it. Ellie couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying but the girl nodded and walked over to the register while he turned to Ellie and gave her
a thumbs
up sign. The girl came back and hand
ed him a notebook
and a pen.

When she saw what his idea was she smiled and gave him a thumbs up sign back. He set the notebook and pen down in front of her and said, “This is how you’re going to talk to me. I don’t want you to be even tempted to try to use your voice, it’s not worth it. Now, write down what you were trying to say to me.”

She took the pen, opened the notebook to the first page, scribbled a message and then handed it back to him.

Luke read the message she’d written.
“
I don’t need to see a doctor, I know I’ll heal, but I’m sad that I won’t be able to sing for the Christmas program tomorrow.
Sad face
.”

Then he looked up at her, “That’s what you’re sad about? Don’t worry about that, it’s not a problem at all.”

She grabbed the pen and scribbled another message.

“
I don’t want to let the kids down,”
he read.

“Oh, Ellie, you’re not letting anybody down. Your v
oice saved Calvin’s life. D
on’t worry about it. Join u
s at the service tomorrow night;
the kids will be thrilled just to have you there. Let them sing for you. Ok?”

It didn’t really feel ok to Ellie but she wasn’t sure exactly how to explain it to him. She nodded and felt a hot tear drop on her cheek. He reached out and gently touched it. “Did anyone ever tell you how adorable you are when you cry? Usually crying is pretty unflatterin
g, I mean, usually
faces get red and puffy and everything.
But not you.
Everything you do is adorable
, Ellie
.”

She wrote another message and then held up the notebook.

“You are just saying that to make me feel good.”
Luke laughed. “Is it working?”

They sat there awhile longer while Ellie finished her tea. Luke to
ld her some stories about his Broadway days. He made her laugh, even if it hurt a little bit and by the time they left she was feeling better. He walked her to her car and before she got in, he stopped her, turning her around to face him.

He lifted her chin in his hands and leaned down to kiss her. She hadn’t been expecting it and was ta
ken off guard at first, but soon
it felt like the most natural thing in the world, like they’d kissed each other a hundred times before.
Their lips fit together perfectly.
She didn’t want the kiss to end.

But finally, he
pulled away and looked at her. “I’m so glad I ran into you again and that we’ve gotten to know each other better. It’s going to be hard to see you leave again after break is over.”

She just shook her head no and put her finger on his lips. And then she kissed him again.

***

The following night, Christmas Eve, Ellie’s voice had showed no improvement. It was sore even when she wasn’t
trying to speak. She left a few minutes
early to the St. Andrew’s Christmas Eve s
ervice to make sure that she could find
a good seat.
She brought her paren
ts along, too. After hearing the stories she’d been sharing with them about all the kids
, they were excited to hear the choir
sing.

S
he saw Luke waiting for the children
in the front of the ch
urch and looked at her
. She felt her body getting warm as she remembered their kiss
the night before,
under the winter
’s
night stars.

“Is that Luke?” her mother asked, as if reading her mind, startling her. Ellie nodded and her mother waved at Luke.
“Oh,
Eleanore
, he is a very attractive young man.”

The old church was beautiful all lit up for the service. On the altar were tall Christmas trees decorated with handmade ornaments and little gold crosses. The scent of pine and incense lingered in the air, filling the church.

More people began to arrive and
Ellie watched as one by one the choir kids made their way to the front row to sit next to Luke. They were dressed up compared to how she’d usually see them, and even though they may have been wearing hand me downs, they looked so proud and glowing with Christmas spirit,
it
filled Ellie’s heart with joy to look at them.

The service got underway with a prayer. Then the kids took to the risers and sang their first song,
Away
in a Manger. They did a great job and Ellie caught the eyes of a few of them. She hoped that they knew how proud she was. Her mom leaned over and pointed to a little boy on the end
of a row
.

“That must be Calvin?” she whispered to Ellie, who nodded in response.

The service was wonderful and the kids did a great job with each of their songs. The solo parts sung by Jasmine and Cori were breathtaking.
Even though she couldn’t speak, Ellie made sure that she clapped the loudest.

Just when she thought it was the end of the service, she was surprised to see Luke walk up to a microphone set up in front of the altar.
Ellie thought that maybe he was going to say a few words and
thank the choir kids, their families and the St. Andrew’s congregation and he did just that, but she got the feeling that something was up, something she wasn’t quite sure about. While Luke was talking
she saw Max and Jasmine burst into a fit of
giggles and Cori was looking at her and smiling like the cat
who
ate the canary.

As he concluded his speech, Luke looked right at Ellie and said, “
and
now, we have one last song, dedicate
d to someone very special to us, Ellie Morgan. She’s a talented singer who gave us a hand at our practices this week and had planned to sing a solo tonight but unfortunately, she has laryngitis so she won’t be able to.
We know this song is special to her and we hope we can do it justice.”

Ellie’s eyes were glistening as her mother gave her hand a squeeze
and her father looked on her with pride. The kids
were singing for her and they were singing her song. O Holy Night. And they sounded like angels. She had no idea how they pulled it off, they hadn’t even practiced that song, but they sang it with love and emotion and it was the most beautiful song that they’d sung that night.
The most beautiful song Ellie had ever heard.
Ellie was speechless, in more ways than one.