Carved from Marble

Preview

A/N: This is a memory from Erena's childhood. The prologue and other chapters will all be in first person, from the point of view of Erena. Enjoy!

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"Erena? Erena!"

Erena opened her eyes to see the bright flashes of red and blue. She rubbed her little eyes and began to see stars. She felt wet and sticky at the back of her head and dizzy, ever so dizzy. Her lips felt dry, and as she looked at her hands they looked like a funny colour. 

"Help! We need help now!" a frantic voice shouted. It was Erena's mother. It came out a frail sound, dissipating into a desperate whisper for her only child. Her mother felt tiny in her body, and her stomach twisted and turned in the most grotesque ways. Images of her daughter drowning flooded through her brain, she could practically feel the water seeping into her lungs. What kind of mother does this make me? What kind? The kind that lets her own kid drown?

A few moments ago, Erena fell off the shaky old wooden dock at their family cottage. A small child, only four years of age, she didn't know how to swim. Her body sank deep into the water. She held a hand out as she looked at the fading light. Her blonde hair floated around her, as she began to feel cold. She closed her eyes and let go of her last breath. Her father jumped in with what he hoped was enough time to lay her back on dock after resurfacing, the thought of danger pumping his adrenaline and allowing him to take long strides down to where he could barely see his baby girl laying in the sand.

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"Hi baby girl, you are doing just fine. How old were you again? Can you tell me?"

Erena stared blankly at the paramedic in front of her. The lady in front of Erena hid behind the dark brown hair that cascaded down her face, and Erena's eyes traced the soft curls. I am her baby girl? I thought I was mommy and daddy's baby, she thought to herself before deciding to like this woman. She looks up at the woman's big brown eyes and smiles, awkwardly holding up a wobbly four fingers. "This many!" She shook her head carefully and noticed that some of her golden hair was stained red. "No, this many?" she moves her fingers as she tries to work her way through it. Giving up, she lets out a little sigh. "Why is my hair red?" She looks up at the paramedic with scared eyes and the paramedic moves quickly to examine where Erena's laceration is.

"Tony? Come take a look at this! I have never seen anything like it!" The paramedic calls for her partner. Her partner gently puts a hand on Erena's mother's shoulder before kindly dismissing himself. Tony walks over briskly, leaving Erena's parents by the dock. He looks at his partner quizzically, before tracing his eyes over to where she was pointing at. Sure enough, there was a lot of blood at the back of her head. Poor thing must have bashed her head off a rock, it is a wonder why she is still alive. Melanie, his partner, walks back around to face Erena.

"Sweetie, you are doing so good! Can you tell me where it hurts? Tony and I are going to fix you right up so your mommy and daddy can take you home. But first, we need to know where it hurts." Melanie smiled softly at Erena, thinking about her own kids that are at home. Erena shrugged, almost casually. "You don't know where? Is it your head? Does your head hurt?"

"No, I'm all better now," she said smiling. Her eyes shone bright, and her skin was beginning to regain its colour. Melanie raised an eyebrow at Erena, and went to open her mouth to say something before thinking carefully about what to say.

"You're all better now? Tell me more, so I know if Tony and I can still help." She carefully prods at the back of Erena's fragile little head, trying to feel out any bumps or tenderness. She makes sure to be extra gentle, her fingers gently massaging around Erena's scalp to make her feel comfortable and safe. Her searching fingers find nothing, and Melanie frowns to herself at the thought of potential internal damage.

"Michael made it all better. He fixed me!" Erena giggles as she looks to the dock and she points to where she fell. "Michael is the best swimmer," she continues as her face lights up, "and he put a special band-aid on me. So I am all better now. I can go home I think." Erena puts her hand on Melanie's, the smaller hand radiating warmth through to Melanie's.

"Who's Michael, little love?" Melanie asks, putting her other hand on top of Erena's.

"He's my special friend," Erena begins with a yawn. She looks up to continue, before blinking slowly. Melanie waits for Erena to continue, but sleep overtakes the little girl as she leans against Melanie, nestling her little nose into Melanie's coat.

The paramedic laughed in disbelief. "Your special friend, huh? More like a guardian angel."