one night in the park

2020 - Arthur Cornwall and Rowena Cornwall are 42, Eleanor Cornwall is 13. (Richard Cornwall is 13.)

She'd been sick for a while, but nothing could prepare them for the day she died.

Ellie can't imagine life without her mother. She's only 13, just starting to wear makeup and like boys. How can she become a woman without her mother?

Her father throws himself into work, leaving Ellie home alone at night while he's in his lab. He had always been a serious man, but now he's so distant and cold. If he cries or even feels sad, he never lets Ellie see.

Even when he's around, he's like a ghost. He doesn't pay attention to anything anymore. He always hated how Ellie's cat Nimue loved to sleep on her bed with her, but now he doesn't even notice.

She's supposed to stay in the house when her father's at work, but sometimes she sneaks out to the park across the street. Usually she goes alone, but when Richie finds out he offers to come with her.

She and Richie have been best friends since kindergarten. They've spent countless hours playing at each others' houses and telling each other secrets. But now they're 13, and everything feels different.

They meet at the park late at night. She doesn't know how he managed to sneak out of his house and get to New Athens by himself, but she doesn't ask.

They talk a little, but mostly they just sit together. It's so nice to have some company, to not feel completely alone for a while. When they finally get up to leave, she grabs him and kisses him. She doesn't know why she does it; it's completely impulsive, it suprises her, but it suprises her even more when he kisses back.