*Shadow*
I sit on the grass under the willow leaves, the drooping branches encircle me in my own private world without snow. But I cannot ignore the bitter cold nipping at my exposed flesh. All I have on is a long sleeved, black shirt. The hem falls to my mid thigh, leaving my long legs and feet exposed to the harsh winter.
I pull my knees up to my chest, burying my tear stained face in the dark fabric of my shirt. My body shakes from both the cold, and my uncontrolled sobs. The sky is dark, and I feel utterly alone. No one is around to save me. I close my eyes tightly against the twenty nine below zero weather. I can feel the salty tears freezing on the tender flesh of my face. I shiver and hug myself even tighter.
A large gust of wind blows my long strands of shiny, dark, smokey gray hair around. I raise my head and glance around, my light gray eyes wide. My sharp senses are on high alert, and I can tell that something is out there, in the shadows, watching me.
"Hello?" I call, but I am only met with another gust of wind. The bushes and trees rattle against each other, and I try to control my breathing. "I know someone is there. Show yourself." I command, my voice shaky but full of power. The large branches of the willow separate, and I am left blinded for a moment. Once I regain my sight, I am looking into the eyes of a man, about my age if not a little older.
"Are you lost?" he asks me, and I shake my head. I know that I truly am lost, but I am more confused than anything. He nods his head before gazing down at my bare legs. "You must be freezing!" he exclaims and reaches a hand down for me. I tense, scared of his touch. Mortals are never supposed to see us, let alone touch us. "Don't worry dear, I am only trying to help. My father has sent me out here. He heard a noise, a long, desperate weeping. I am guessing that you are the cause of the sound."
I nod my head, and I take his out stretched hand. I guess since I am no longer one of glory and praise, that the rules do not completely apply to me. For my touch is not burning his skin, or sending sharp spikes of pain through my body. I am no longer able to disrespect the holy spirits purpose. Yet this boy, who has been sent to find a woman weeping in this dark forest, may be a holy being himself.
"So ma'am, why are you weeping on my families property?" he asks as he pulls me to shaky feet. I stumble, but his warm, large hand captures me around the waist before I can fall. "I am weeping for my loss of beauty, of joy, and the inevitable loss of my love." I respond, and I watch as his mouth falls agape. He helps me walk out of the forest, and we make our way toward a large farm house.
"Loss of beauty, joy, and love? What ever do you mean ma'am?" I shake my head at him as he opens the door for me. "You are beyond humanly beautiful ma'am." his compliment does not make me feel better, but instead causes an uneasiness to seep into my veins. I laugh nervously, and try my best to stand alone. His eyes, the most terrific shade of brown, light up as if a fire is burning behind them. "Your laugh is Heavenly, my dear." he tells me, and I blush. He has no idea.
He walks me to a green and purple stripped couch and I sit. My head falls against the soft material and my eyes begin to droop. "I will be back shortly, I am just getting my father." he tells me as he hurries out of the room, and up a flight of stairs. I can hear murmuring up there, but I try to tone it out. I have a mission that I must complete to go home again.
A small child, a girl who cannot be older than eight years old, walks up to me. She hands me a dress, but I have to shake my head at her kindness. "Do you not like the dress ma'am?" I shake my head, telling her that I do not. My heart breaks as I see her smile drop into a frown.
"I do like it, but not for me. The fabric looks lovely, and the colour is bright, but I do not wear bright. I am not allowed." I tell her, trying to bring her smile back. She has a beautiful smile; her teeth are straight and as white as a pearl. She seems to glow from the inside when she smiles. "Why are you not allowed to wear bright colours?" she asks and I sigh. I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees.
"That's a secret. I cannot tell you. I am sorry sweetie." I tell her, and she moves to sit on the couch next to me. "I can keep a secret. I know a lot that no one has wanted me to know." she tells me, and I raise my brows at her. "I am small and no one sees me. I may as well be invisible here." she tells me, and I feel my eyes begin to water. Her story sounds sad, and I want to know all of it.
"Tell me sweetie, what is your name?"
"My name is Lilac. What is your name?"
"My name is Shadow. So tell me Lilac, why are you invisible?"
She takes a deep breath and looks at me with eyes the same colour as that boys. "My papa only wanted sons, while my mama had always wanted a little girl. Papa wasn't happy when I was born, but he loved mama enough to deal with my being a girl." she sighs and knots her hands together in her lap, never once breaking eye contact with me.
"But mama died not to long ago, and papa hasn't taken it very well. He pretends that I was never born."
"How did your mother die?"
"She died giving birth to my younger brother. He died while in mama's tummy. Drane says that he was a still birth, but I saw my baby brother take one breath, he looked at papa for a second before he died. Papa scared him."
I stare at this little girl, not that old, telling me about her died mother and younger brother. "Why do you think your papa scared him?" I ask and she looks up at me, her eyes wide. "Because papa scares everyone."
Just then I hear the sound of people walking down the stairs. Lilac jumps up from the couch and scurries from the room, whispering to me that she will be back with darker clothing. The boy comes into my line of sight first, than a tall man with blond hair.
"Hello young lady." the man says as the boy stands awkwardly beside him. The man has they same eye colour as the rest of them and I can tell that they are all related. "Hello sir." I respond and stand to shake his hand. His eyes, along with the boy's, travel down my body. "Has my...daughter...not brought you anything to wear?"
He says the word daughter with disgust. "She has, but I cannot wear bright colour, so she left to get me something darker to wear." I respond to him and I glance at the boy, then back to the man. "My name is Shadow." I tell them and they both raise their eyebrows. "What a strange name." says the man and the boy nods in agreement.
"My name is Jaman." the man says and the boy reaches out to shake my hand. "And I am Drane." I gaze at them. They think I have a strange name? Lilac runs up to me and glances at Jaman and Drane. "I couldn't find any dark dresses from mama's closet. I needed to go into Drane's closet. I hope that is okay." she looks up at her brother and he smiles. "Of course it is Lilac." his father turns to Drane and commands him to show me to his bedroom to change.
"Why can I not change in Lilac's room?" I ask, confused. His father laughs. "Because Lilac does not have an actual room. Lilac sleeps on the couch." I nod my head, feeling sad for her as I follow her brother to his room. He pushes his door open and steps in, gesturing me in.
"You will be leaving the room, correct?" he nods and leaves me to change. I look around his room before changing. The room is red, and full of nice looking things. His bed looks very comfortable and I long to sit on it. It reminds me of the clouds I used to love.
I pull the now damp shirt over my head, leaving my body completely naked. Before I can even put anything on to cover me, the door flings open. I jump and grab my shirt to cover myself. I yelp and feel my gray eyes widen. "I am sorry Shadow, but I have brought some of mama's undergarments for you." Lilac says and I sigh in relief that it is only her, and not her brother nor father.
I wave her in and she does as I say. She walks to me, closing the door behind her. "Thank you Lilac." I take the undergarments that she offers, but I struggle with putting them on. The undergarments seem to be very...skimpy. But Lilac soon helps me put the bra and panties on, as she called them.
Once I have them on I pull a plain black sleeveless shirt over my head. The hem stops at my waist, and I am surprised. Drane is much taller than I, so I would have thought his shirt would fall past my slender waist. The pair of pants she give me do not fit so well, but they have a string I am able to tighten to make them stay on my curvy hips. I am soon dressed properly, and my stomach rumbles. Lilac turns to me. "Come, it is time to eat."
