Shadows that Linger and Fade

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Barely enough air remained inside little Goldie Darwin as her tears dripped rapidly from her young, unblemished face as she fled her home.

Earlier that morning, Goldie had seated herself at the small dining table in the center of her quaint home, furnished with red, white-spotted curtains, three charming little rocking chairs, and a small sofa for her and her parents to recline upon. Her eyes remained fixed on the large expanse of the mahogany dining table that lay before her and began to linger on the two empty seats at the table belonging to her parents, Christopher and Pauline Darwin.

Recalling her parents could not help but bring about the sadness that she felt that they were still ill from the disease they had contracted from their attempt to travel to the village for food a few days ago. Goldie was extremely lucky that she had not contracted the disease, but she did not feel lucky or blessed as she saw the disease consume her parents from within, each day. 

She left the dining table and any lingering sadness to resume her role as a nursemaid for her parents. She prepared her breakfast and gently stir the watery bowl of oatmeal before taking the meal to her parents, rendered immobile in their bed. Neither mama nor papa could open their eyes to see the sweet little breakfast their child had made. Instead, they both remained to lay flat atop their bed with their eyes closed and their faces abnormally pale. Goldie had soon noticed that neither of her parents' chests rose or fell to indicate their breathing. They were not asleep. Wetness began to gather beneath Goldie's heartbroken blue eyes.

Goldie could not bear to see the cold, pale faces of her parents anymore. Her mama would never get up again and help her with her hair like she had done many mornings before the disease stole her away. Her ears would also never again receive the blessing of her papa's sweet singing voice that settled her to sleep.

With her tears leaking down her face and her legs burning, Goldie saw a small log cabin amongst the towering cypress trees. A little happy cloud of smoke churned from within the house and she could hear laughter echoing throughout the forest from that very same cabin. She inched closer to the cabin and began to tap on the door. After waiting patiently, Goldie heard the slow creaking sound of the front door opening and her luminous blue eyes gazed up at a large figure.

It was a large bear-like creature with gnarled black claws and scars stretching across its matted brown fur. Then she saw a woman approach. She dressed like any average woman that one could find in the village, but she had thick brown hair and was very tall and seemed to tower over Goldie's small six-year-old form. In her eyes, Goldie could see that this woman did not look pleased. She appeared to find Goldie repulsive with her dark and disdainful look. Suddenly, the tall woman began to utter a mumble-like sound that also incorporated ragged growling in it. The large brown, bear-like creature in front of her began to growl a similar sound in return and Goldie say the creature's bones shift and audibly crackle underneath its skin and was staring into the face of a man.

The man had a large beard adorning his face and matted curly hair lay tousled atop his head. His auburn eyes focused on Goldie as he said, "What is this? A small village child?" He studied Goldie closely in her tiny blue frock covered with a smattering of grass and tear stains. Lastly, he looked at her face and a look of sadness similar to hers crossed the features of his face. He picked up Goldie and said, "Child, why have you wandered into our home?"

Goldie began to process this and her eyes were wet anew as she recalled her discovery of her parents lying dead in their home from the deadly flu. The face of the tall woman beside the man shifted from a look of disdain to one of the frustrations, in hushed tones she said to the bear-man, "Stellan, we have no room to comfort this child. Think of our children. Jann, Attier, and Trejan need our sole focus to survive and teach them the ways of our people. By nurturing another child, let alone one without nature's gifts, we are wasting our time and we should just let this child wander back to the village where she came from." The irritated woman, whose name she had learned later was Tesha, began to glare at Stellan with his sudden compassion for the child which he held.

"There are much worse actions than befriending a human, Tesha. Besides, this child is young enough that she can at least learn respect for our ways, regardless of her abilities, and she will likely be unable to find the village on her own from here. Tesha, let us welcome this child and not shun her as our parents did to us when they learned of our abilities." Stellan declared defiantly.

The impact of Stellan's words must have been very surprising to his reluctant wife whose face turned a faint shade of red and eyebrows darted up in astonishment. Tesha said," Stellan, let me have the girl and take her to the beds where she will stay."

Goldie felt the strong grasp of Tesha as the woman guided her roughly to a room strewn with small wooden toys and three worn-out beds which a child with soft, curly brown hair sleeping atop each of them. Tesha proceeded to roll out a thick black rug onto the hard-packed dirt floor and commanded her to sleep. Goldie allowed herself to succumb to her desire to sleep after restlessly fidgeting her shoulders in an attempt to become comfortable on the floor.

It was not until she had awoken the next morning on the cold floor to meet the gazes of three little boys with tufts of brown curly hair named Trejan, Attier, and Jann.

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