"(02) Whispers in the Dark - Fond Rememberings" by Meghan Engele

Fond Rememberings

There were few things she remembered from her childhood, but one clearing she recalled with exceptional clarity. Though she scarcely knew why this one memory remained intact. All of the others were -- tainted. Perhaps it was the one time she had to hold onto. Perhaps it was the last time she saw the world with a sense of naive simplicity.

This were her moments to appreciate the world in a different light, because she knew that she'd have to return soon. She didn't realize until she was much older, that it wasn't His world she was returning to.

Her eyes were fixed on the stars above. This was one of the few clear nights during the full moon that she was able to enjoy. The milky light caused a magical glow in the clearing where she laid.

Small, for a girl of five, she rolled onto her knees and observed the foliage. Ants paraded below, monitored by a lady bug above. She didn't wonder how many existed below her; she simply admired them.

They must lead such simple lives for being so small.

"Surely they must." She spoke as though to affirm her own thoughts.

They were so insignificantly tiny, but their whole colony was so grand. Her eyes picked out the near by any hill as she mused. Each one must contribute to the over all good. These ones below her did the grunt work for the ones back home - the children?

The mommy...

Perhaps that's how the big city worked as well. She often wondered about it, but her questions always went unanswered. It didn't bother her at this stage, but she remembered it being a constant in her life from these early years on.

Having risen to her feet, she stopped with a puzzled look on her face. There was a sense of budding curiosity about her regarding this smaller world. She didn't have a part to play in the world of insects. Of course she didn't, she was much larger. "Then..." Suddenly, a brilliant idea toucher her mind. "I shall be their Guardian!"

The girl errupted into a frenzy of elated dance. To any onlooker, it seemed more of a brief spaz moment to stomp the ground and flail her hands. All of this went quite well until she landed on her bottom in a poof of dandelion fluff and a fit of laughter.

Of course, such news couldn't be kept a secret in the mind of a child. What sort of Guardian would she be if no one knew of her newly found status? Even still, she had no way of knowing how he'd react. He was quite strange about such things, but that hardly phased the young girl.

With determination, she found her feet and waved goodbye to the moonlit clearning. Though she scarcely knew of elegance of pageantry, she flourished into a deep bow before bidding her Little Ones farewell. The forest beckoned, and she pranced off to find him.

~*~

It was difficult to see anything in the darkness of the trees, even with the wavering moonlight bathing the clearing below. The only hint of his existance on the thick bough of the sturdy decidous was a brief flicker of his eyes. His dark skin, a pallid charcoal, seemed to blend into the bark behind, and his dark touseled hair did much the same. The sharp features of his face were visible only briefly through the higher branchs, but his thin lips were pursed; his mind was troubled.

There was a disquiet about him, despite the laughter of the child below. It wasn't a warming sensation for him, but he'd found it was necessary for her. Silence wasn't the friend of a young girl, and there was nothing he could do to maintain quiet unless she had these moments to herself.

With wary eyes and keen senses, he was merely her guard as she played.

Children were a challenge on many levels for a life of hiding. He knew this much even before his life changed. Still, the plan was never for him to rear an infant. For all intents and purposes, his life was supposed to remain static, but there was no way for him to save them all. His job was to keep them, all three, concealed - safe. A lot of good he did them.

A lot of good he did anyone.

Over the last five years, he'd deluded himself into thinking that the difficult part of this journey was over. As monthes passed, this girl continued to prove him wrong.

From his perch, he observed the girl. There was no other way to ensure her safety as she played. Such free spirits tend to wander, and he couldn't allow that. She'd managed to give him - HIM - a scare just under a year ago. He decided that was the last time.

Even with such focus, his mind was plagued. Such an innocent child in his possession could only end poorly. The malice and horror of his past would destroy something so fragile. How could he prepare this girl so entertained by a small clearing to deal with the events to come?

These happenings were never supposed to touch him.

Not here.

These thoughts haunted him, as it would any Elf from the Abyss. His homeworld thrived on conflict. As such, his early years were a mosaic of pain and disipline. He couldn't bear to cause a youngster the same misfortune that enabled him to cope with the world, but she still needed to be ready.

Perhaps it was the excitement and curiosity behind her eyes that troubled him most. It seemed abnormal to him. Of course, most things in the world of day light was strange. Even the Moon was blinding mere decades ago, so he was hardly in a position to judge the normality of children here.

As he watched her tumble onto the grass, he felt a smile break through his thoughts and onto his face. The simple pleasure might carry her through the trials to come. Maybe she'd have the grace to come out unchanged.

Possibly...

His ears caught the sound of quickened clumsy foot falls on the forest floor. She couldn't get far fast, and he allowed himself one moment's thought. 'There she goes.' In an instant, he leapt from his perch and disappeared into the shadows.

For now, the girl was delighted in thinking she was always able to find him. He didn't have the heart to tell her the truth. Instead, he maintained the illusion. He stopped after a short time, and waited for the child to emerge behind him. In fact, she very nearly bumped into him.

"Oooi! Found you! Guess what?" The shrill cry would be something to work on, but he'd scarcely time enough to think that before she began tugging at his wrist. The wirey Elf knelt down, and he pressed one gloved finger to his lips. Her response was sheepish and hardly serious.

"Ooooh... I know. Quiet." She stared at her toes and swayed briefly before returning to a light bounce. "I was in the clearing." The child gestured vaguely in the direction she came from. "I'm a Guardian now."

There she stood, pleased with herself. The concern he felt left a look of bewilderment on his face. He imagined most parents would be inclined to reward them with a feigned interest of their accomplishment.

Could it be genuine.

No, he felt that it wasn't likely.

"What do you guard Laurel?" He adjusted slightly to see her eyes more clearly. In this light, all things were crisp for him. It was the light that clouded his vision. He'd not yet begun to wonder what might cloud hers as the years passed.

"The Little Ones." It was amazing how a child could speak as though he ought to know something that he wasn't previously told. Of all the things, such inflections almost puzzled him more. Responding was more difficult, and he knew his silence unsettled the girl. At this age, every fleeting emotion was displayed on her tiny cherubic face.

Those deep carefree eyes now peered at him judgmentally. How soon would her innocence turn to hate?