We woke up to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight shining through the broken windows of our apartment.
"Wake up, mes amours(my loves), let us go to zhe place where dreams come true!" Papa said, making us all get up and giggle. He had a small paper bag with him which he set on the table and breakfast was already made-boiled eggs.
"Merci, Papa, this is very good." I said, smiling at my father as I ate my egg. We were all very eager to see what was inside the bag, but Papa made us wait until after breakfast. When we were finished eating, Papa took the bag and opened it and made us close our eyes as he pressed something small and paper-like into our hands.
"Open your eyes!" He said. We did as he told and saw a small ticket in each of our palms. Maddy and I gasped, this was a ticket to see the movie we had been wanting to go to for weeks, Romance in Manhattan.
"Oh merci, merci Papa, thank you so much!" Maddy said, hugging Papa tightly.
"You are welcome, mon petit(my little one), it was the least I could do for my two very patient and sweet daughters, who have helped so much."
"Yes, of course, but the movie starts in thirty minutes!" Mother said, getting up and grabbing her shoes. We all got up and dashed out the door after pulling on our boots and started the long walk to Loew's Wonder Theatres.
We arrived to the theater about seven minutes early and handed our tickets to the man in the booth as we walked into the warm theatre, filled with people talking and laughing and remembering the good life from years past.
"Come on girls, let's get our seats before all the good ones are taken," Mother said, ushering us down the dimly lit rows of velvety seats. We stopped when we were about ten or eleven rows back from the first row, going through and sitting in the middle for the best view of the screen.
About six minutes later the lights turned off and the film started rolling, making everyone hush suddenly to pay attention to the new movie on the screen.
"Everyone shh, it's starting!" I whispered to my parents, who decided that now would be a good idea to talk about something I couldn't hear.
After the movie we began the long walk back to our apartment, seeing many people standing out on the street begging for money or standing in a bread line. We just sort of ignored them; not because we were rude, but because we had nothing to give.
"Stop!! Give that back!!" Maddy suddenly yelled, and we turned to see that someone had snatched her purse and was trying to run away, but there were too many people.
"Monsieur! Stop right zhere! Zhat was your last chance, you are done! I am so sorry mademoiselle, here." The police officer said, handing Maddy's purse back. Another officer came up and arrested the man, most likely taking him to jail, but I recognized the first officer's voice, it was Mathieu!
"Oh my goodness, Mathieu!! It's so nice to see you again!" I said, smiling at him. "Amelia, oui it is very nice to see you. And I see your father and mother are here as well, Monsieur Francis how are you doing? It has been too long my friend," Mathieu said, shaking Papa's hand. Papa smiled at Mathieu.
"I have been well, I heard zhat you helped my daughter zhe other day, zhat was very kind of you," Papa said.
"I was just doing my duty, and it is always a pleasure to help out a friend," Mathieu smiled at me, and I beamed back.
"Would you like to come over for tea? I'm sure my father would love to see you again Monsieur Francis, and of course Madame Alice," Mathieu said kissing Mother's hand.
"Well, if it's alright with the girls then we don't mind," Mother said, "it will be nice to see an old friend."
"Shall we go, mademoiselles?" Mathieu asked, smiling at us. "Oui," Maddy and I said in harmony, causing us to giggle and blush after.
"Alright then, it is settled. Follow me, I will show you the way," Mathieu said, and we began the walk to his house.
We reached our destination about twenty minutes later, and were awed by the largeness of his estate. We knew his father had owned an acting company, but we had never known he was that successful.
Mathieu lead us to the front door and then knocked three times. A man opened the door whom Mathieu greeted with a hug.
"Hello Father, do you remember the Kirkland family?"