Dear Choco,
Our adventure together is coming to an end, but life goes on, yours included, even if it’s in a different way.
I imagine you in good company with Birdie, Choupette, Stella, Mr Smith and Archibald. Tell them all that I miss them too and that I think of them often.
Love to you all,
Loedi
You spun around one too many times before finding the right position to lie down.
After a few minutes, you’d finally relax, stretching out before exhaling with a deep sigh.
Then I’d fall asleep, lulled by your heavy breathing.
Tonight, I fall asleep, letting my thoughts escape to you:
“Come Choco, join me and let’s go for a walk together, just the time of a dream.”
To you, Choco, for all the times you’ve taken the tube, patiently ducked under a seat, kindly removed your paw when a passenger’s foot nearly crushed it, stood when you were dying to lie down… to all the escalators you’ve always refused to use and all the stairs we’ve climbed up and down countless times.
Drawing our memories… so we don’t forget those 7 years when we linked our lives.
We miss you Choco!
Dear Santa Claus,
Man is crazy! Could you bring us a little more love and brotherhood?
Loedi and Choco took advantage of this beautiful autumn day to go for a walk in the Parc de Bercy.
Loedi marvelled at the trees whose foliage was slowly turning orange-yellow. She collected several dead leaves of different shapes and colours and found a bench where she sat down to draw them.
Choco, tired of waiting, was easily distracted by everything around him:
“What is that smell at the foot of the lamp post? And on that tree? Here’s another unknown smell… if I smelled a little closer… could it be a doggy friend around? Oh! A butterfly! Where is it going? I’ll follow it… Here… it’s shiny, what is it? A biscuit paper! Oh… there’s even a piece left… delicious! I lost sight of the butterfly… I better keep sniffing… maybe I’ll find another biscuit… Wow, a ball! I love balls! It’s plastic… a little hard to catch but I’m holding it well! Well, who is the champion ? It’s Choco !!! Who is this child running towards me ? Oh… that must be his ball… I’d better let him have it before I get into trouble. I’m hungry… Maybe Loedi has something greedy to share…”
But Choco found the bench empty, with no one there!
“Where is Loedi? Let’s not panic… my truffle… let’s see where her scent leads me… there she turned right… focus Choco… You are on a mission to find Loedi… ”
With his truffle glued to the ground, Choco followed Loedi’s trail step by step to a magnificent Carousel at the edge of the park. The music of the carousel created a magical atmosphere. The wooden horses, but also the rabbit and the elephant, whirled around and the bright colours brightened up both the young and the old. But Choco still couldn’t see Loedi.
“Loedi where are you?”
The merry-go-round went round and round before he spotted Loedi waving at him from the carriage!
“Loedi! I want a ride too!
“- Chocooooo! Join me! We’ll go for a ride together and then we’ll go for a waffle!”
Choco was not told twice…
– Loedi why come to the Centre Pompidou since neither you nor I really like modern art?
Choco only received a big smile in reply, and then Loedi dashed up the escalators. One floor… two then three… four… five…..six!
On the sixth floor, Loedi crossed the gallery without stopping to look at the many paintings and sculptures. Choco trotted behind her and together they arrived at a huge terrace.
There, loudspeakers were placed along the railing and broadcasting … how can I put it? Sound? Noise? Certainly not music.
– Loedi what are we doing here? This sound installation is bursting my eardrums!
– I agree Choco but that’s not why I brought you here. Let’s ignore the noise and get closer to the edge…. There, you see?
– Wow, the Eiffel Tower! And over there the Arche de La Défense! And oh, there’s Montmartre!
– Yes! And down there is Saint-Eustache. And if you look over there, you’ll also see the Hôtel de Ville and Notre-Dame.
– It’s beautiful Loedi!
– Come on Choco, let’s go back inside now.
– Wait wait wait…. I’d like to keep enjoying it a little longer, it’s the most beautiful view of Paris I know!
– Hahahaha! You see Choco, you managed to forget the noise
“How do you manage to play music on this broken harp?
– I can do it because the music I play represents the soul of a country: it’s the Ukrainian anthem.
– I don’t understand…
– Like this harp, even if everything around you is destroyed, looted and ravaged, never forget that the soul of a country and those of its heroes are immortal… Keep hope Choco, keep faith in the future. ”
_
Душа страны
“- Как играть музыку на этой сломанной арфе?
– Я делаю это потому, что музыка, которую я играю, представляет собой душу страны: это гимн.
– Я не понимаю…
Подобно этой арфе, даже если все вокруг разрушено, разграблено и опустошено, никогда не забывайте, что душа страны и ее герои бессмертны… Сохраняйте надежду, Чоко, сохраняйте веру в будущее.”
PS: Why Kharkiv and not another Ukrainian city? Because the drawing is based on a photo. The one of Alina who left her home when a shell fell in front of her house. She now lives in Paris and tries to keep hope in the future.
_
Почему Харьков, а не другой украинский город? Потому что рисунок основан на фотографии. Алина покинула свой дом, когда перед ее домом упал снаряд. Сейчас она живет в Париже и пытается сохранить надежду на будущее.
Choco and Loedi wanted to visit the Louvre together, but like all museums, it is forbidden to dogs. So they decided to go there at night, without anyone knowing:
“How big the Louvre is… we’ve been walking around for hours and I think we’re lost Loedi.
-Yes, Choco, unless… look at this sign: we’re entering the department of Egyptian antiquities! Egyptology is fascinating! Did you know that… something moved, right?
-Yes, and apparently it’s getting closer…. Let’s get out of here Loedi…
-Oh! Those are cat mummies! Look at them, Choco! That’s amazing!
-Oh no not the cats! Let’s go back Loedi!
-Wait Choco, I think they’re trying to tell us something…
-No no Loedi… let’s go! I’m getting chills… Look at their shadows…. They are not attached to the mummies…
-That would be… the ghosts of the mummified cats?!
For a breathless moment, fright invaded Loedi and Choco who ran away at full speed. Their screams were only matched by their fear and they resounded all the way to the courtyard of the Louvre!
