A Heart of Faith – Chapter Twelve
Time. Some think it’s something of which they have lots. But we never can know how much we do have, until it becomes jeopardized. That’s a lesson the Meltsner learnt the hard way, when just that happens to Eugene Meltsner.
All of a sudden, time seems to be slipping away for him, quicker than anyone could have expected. Will the situation be able to be turned around before time is completely gone for good? Only time and faith will reveal what God could possibly have planned for them—of what use the situation could be. And maybe, as the saying goes, “One man’s loss, is another man’s gain.”
Although the events prove to be a fright for the family, and even their close friends, they are all able to find that they can have Hearts of Faith that God will take care of them and their every need.
The sun’s bright, warm rays shone down upon the town. It made for beautiful weather, and just the right conditions for the good folks of Connellsville to spend the day outdoors. In the large, and well manicured lawn of one particular suburban home, a family gathering was being held. A couple of young children ran about after one another, some of the men were gathered around a sizzling barbecue, and wood was being collected in the stone firepit for a bonfire later on.
Sitting on the bottom step of the birch oak wood back deck, Liam smiled. He took another sip of his can of soda, simply looking about at the people around him. The aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, cousins, and the only grandparent who’d been able to make it. The group was quite lively, and the people were numerous. It took him a moment to spot his young wife, Marie-Ann, talking among some of the other ladies.
“Heya!” A voice greeted, not two seconds after the man’d spotted his wife. Looking up, he saw his younger sister waltzing up to him. “Hey, ‘Liza.” He greeted, as Elizabeth planted herself next to her older brother. “Whatcha doing sitting here by yourself?” She asked him, before emptying her own can of cream soda. Liam smirked. “Taking a pause from socializing. You know me.”
“Nah, you’re just trying to decide who’s the next most interesting person to go say hi to.” Elizabeth assumed, nudging her brother’s shoulder. “You should go talk to Charlie and Darcie. I heard they inherited a nice cabin in the woods.” She suggested in reference to two of their younger cousins, smiling playfully. “Um, who died?” Liam asked, sounding only half skeptical. His sister giggled. “No one. I know it’s been a while since we last saw them, but they still have the same wild imagination—even as teenagers!”
“They’re teenagers now?” Elizabeth nodded. “Yup.” She saw her brother’s eyes widen a little. “Aw man, now I feel old…” He said with a slight groan. A comment popped into Elizabeth’s head, one that she knew elicited the same feeling for her twenty-seven year old brother even before her past birthday. She leaned closer, and whispered, “I’m also twenty, now!” Liam shoved his sister out of his personal bubble. “Stop! I can feel myself aging even more!” Elizabeth simply giggled again. Her brother laughed also, while shaking his head.
As their laughter died down, Liam noticed the sunlight reflecting off of Elizabeth’s sweater. Upon looking at the spot, he realized it wasn’t her sweater, it was a locket resting atop her sweater. “You wore your locket today, I see.” Elizabeth brought a hand up to the piece of jewelry, holding the pendant in the palm of her hand. “I wear it every day, Liam.” She informed him. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah! It was a gift from my bro, why wouldn’t I wear it every day?” She countered, giving Liam a small sideways look. “What picture did you put inside of it?” Already snickering again, Elizabeth set down her empty soda can and then opened the locket. Inside was a photograph of both herself and her brother in their young ages—Elizabeth being 6, and Liam 12. Both had their mouths and cheeks dirtied with sticky marshmallow, grinning both happily and crazily at the camera. “Oh, please!”
“What’s the problem?” Liam was laughing again, while one hand came up to cover his face in cringe. “Of all the photos you had to choose from,” He began. His sister giggled more. “That was the one you chose?” Elizabeth nodded proudly. “Where did you even find that photo?” Closing her locket, Elizabeth let it rest on her neck again. “Mom and I were looking through some old photo albums she found in the attic. I saw this one, and decided to photocopy it so it’d fit inside.” A bit suspicious of the explanation, Liam’s eyes narrowed. “That was in a photo album?”
“Yeah!”
“On purpose?”
“Yeah!” Liam still looked skeptical. “I need proof.” He then said. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, standing up. “Alright, ya want proof? I’ll show you proof!” She declared, tugging the sleeve of her brother’s shirt to get him to stand up. “C’mon, I’m showing you the photo album!” Liam stood up, still smiling as he followed his younger sister into the family’s house.
To Liam’s chagrin—almost—Elizabeth led him into the living area of the house. On top of the glass and wood coffee table, sat an aged looking book that had thick pages. Obviously, it was a photo album. Elizabeth picked it up, then as she plopped onto the couch, she began flipping through its pages. Liam sat down beside her, watching as she did. It took a minute, but when his sister finally found the image in question, she all-but-smacked her finger on the photo. “Aha!”
“Uh…” Elizabeth had a bit of a smug look on her face. “I told ya so!” Liam had taken the photo album from her, and was staring at the photo in disbelief. “I look like I was 12… I don’t remember this!” He confessed. “Well, we tend to block certain memories out, sometimes.” Liam looked at her. “If I remember correctly, the cute girl from next door had come over to visit before you could wash the marshmallow off your face.” “Ah… yeah, that was probably embarrassing…” Liam agreed. Elizabeth hummed. Turning a random page in the album, Liam stumbled upon a nice family vacation photo. “Oh, do you remember this?” Elizabeth leaned forward, as her and her brother began looking through the album—momentarily forgetting about everyone out in the yard.
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