Love Eternal

Chapter 1

He had always been there in the background, silently standing in the shadows. And when I say he was always there, I mean he has been there for as long as I can remember. The earliest memory I have was when I was five or six years old. I remember running through the park at dusk and falling, tearing the knee of my pants and my palms.

I had run away from my parents in the park, insistent that I was old enough to play alone. I had been running down the path, my hair getting in my face and I didn't see the lifted root. I wasn't one to cry, even as a child but I remember the sting that ran through me, so it was no wonder that my lip quivered and a few tears slipped out.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up and didn't fight the quiver in my lip anymore, nodding and letting a few more tears slip. The man before me was a giant, blocking the rising moon from my eyes before he knelt down to be closer to me. He had hair longer than I'd seen on a man before, and brown eyes that looked the colour of chocolate. He had a funny voice, but he made soothing noises as he wiped the tears from my face.

"Running too fast?" he asked softly, looking at my bleeding palms and then to my knees.

I nodded and sniffed. The man pulled the bag from his shoulder and shifted through it before pulling out a bottle of water.

"Put your hands out, you need to clean them off," he said gently. I cradled my hands to my chest. Any time I cut up my hands or had scrapes, Mom always cleaned them with something that stung even more. I shook my head but the man was patient.

"I promise it won't hurt," he pushed, holding it out to me. I carefully held one hand out, resting it in his warm hand. He cradled it gently as he poured the water over it, and I watched it turn pink as it washed over my hand. Realizing that it wasn't going to hurt, I held my other hand out too.

"See, I told you it would be okay. Now, let's look at these knees, yeah? Do they hurt?"

"Stings a little," I said quietly. The man gave me a kind smile as he moved things around in his bag again and pulled out a rag. He pulled out what looks like a shirt. He folded it up and poured some water on it too.

"Just like last time, it won't hurt," he said. I nodded and moved my knee towards him and he gently wiped at the torn skin. I flinched when the shirt caught the ragged skin and whimpered. The man apologized quietly and continued to clean my knees.

Once he was done, he packed his things away and held his hand out. "How about we go find your parents?"

I nodded and took it, letting him help me stand up.

"What's your name?"

"Mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers," I said quietly, tucking my hands behind my back.

"Then how are we to find your parents? My name is Dimitri," he said with a small smile. I looked up at him and rocked on the balls of my feet.

"Rose. But Mommy calls me Rosemarie."

"Rose. Little Roza," he said, holding his hand out to me. I looked from his hand to his eyes and shrugged. He simply smiled and let me lead him the way back to my parents. I was careful to watch where I stepped so I didn't trip again.

"Where are you from? Your voice is funny," I asked, making Dimitri laugh loudly.

"I'm from another country," he stated, lifting me up over a large log I was struggling to climb over in the dark. He didn't put me down and simply perched me on his side, following the path back towards the clearing in the park that I left my parents in.

I felt insecure this high off the ground, he was taller than Dad or Mom, so I clutched onto his neck, not wanting to fall. The dark was making me tired as we walked, and as we walked my eyes dropped, the feeling of his large, warm hand on my back encouraging a feeling of safety.