Up in the Stars

Body and Soul

He was her best friend.

She loved to sit with him as he painted, watch his eyebrows furrow as he brought beauty to life on a canvas.

Stretched across the carpet, she'd try to mimic him with crayons and markers.

He'd hang up her messy drawings right beside his masterpieces.

At eight years old on Christmas morning, she was given her first cello.

It was a children's version, but she had taken to it immediately.

She'd practice while her father painted, and he never complained about the grating sound.

When she was ten and still in love with her instrument, he had offered to hire a musical tutor.

Enid had refused.

She was determined to figure it out herself.

Besides, her school tutor, Miss Simons, was an evil witch who made her stop reading and do math equations.

She didn't want any more scary teachers coming to the villa.

Instead, William bought her instructional books and videos.

Filled her room with records of famous musicians.

Her favorite was a boy named Alexander Drewitt.

His violin playing was otherworldly.

William would often tease her that she had a crush on the golden-haired musician when he came across her watching his performances with absolute awe.

That Christmas he took her to the Royal Albert Hall to watch him live.

Fiona dressed her up in her favorite pink dress and plaited her hair.

She had been enraptured the entire performance, her small hand squeezing William's with glee.

Alexander had been nineteen then.

His body lankier, his smile boyish and easy.

Enid had watched his performance with unbridled excitement.

As their chauffeur drove them home, she had gushed about the older boy's talent.

William had chuckled fondly at her and told her that most ten-year-olds didn't know the word virtuosity let alone used it in conversation.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

The next few years she practiced constantly.

Her father had started traveling more and more.

His art was being showcased in galleries all around the world.

He funneled the majority of his earnings into what he liked to call his "Enid Enterprise."

Various charities and philanthropic programs he had started when he adopted her.

Sometimes when she complained about his absence, he would press a kiss on the crown of her hair.

"I'm making the world a better place for you, sunshine. Filling it with love so you'll feel it even when I'm gone." He'd whisper.

With his frequent absences, she found ways to fill the time on her own.

Baking with the chefs, adventuring out into the woods on her own.

Avoiding a certain field where she had faced a wolf and been saved by a deer.

She'd read constantly, consuming every book she could get her hands on.

And she'd practice every day.