The song of the Raven

Blind Stone

It was lonely. So lonely. Being surrounded by nothing but stone. As the years went by, more and more men came to hunt the snake-haired monster Medusa. The gift Athena gave her became a curse. She wandered around in the maze of stone statues solemnly running her hands along arms, torsos, even the cold faces of the men who became her victims. The men who came to claim her life, to molest her. No creature alive could she touch, no animal, no babe, no one. For one glance, and they would turn to stone

A girl, a beautiful girl, born blind, cursed to never see the world and her beauty. Maria Pnvekatos was her name, and she was born on a full moon, which definitely affected her looks; with a head full of white hair and moon-like eyes, she was an easy target for slave traders and she was, targeted, I mean; as well as captured and sold to a circus where they forced her to dance in skimpy clothes. She was bound and beaten, scars decorating her hips. She tried to escape from this hell hole many times, but all in vain however this time she made it. She ran without a clue of where she was headed. Startled by the sound of a crow's caw she tripped and tumbled downhill before hitting stone. But not just stone, a statue. She found herself in Medusa's lair and her presence didn't go unnoticed. For Medusa was coming to her, to the poor blind girl whom she thought would succumb to her curse, but upon meeting her she discovered her curse had no effect.

Maria slowly stood up holding onto the piece of stone which she later discovered was a statue.
A strong gust of wind disturbed the area snapping branches and blowing up sand. A crow guffawed and then another joined, soon she was surrounded by crows guffawing and flappy their wings. The noise soon became unbearably loud, shrieks and flaps could be heard from every direction.

She covered her ears trying to block out the sounds. It was of no use. The sounds were in her head and would not leave. Suddenly, the sounds stopped, but the ringing of her head did not. The wind blew and rustled the leaves and the sound remained long after the wind stopped. She soon realized it wasn't leaves rustling but snakes hissing when one stroked her face, it's tongue flicking out of its mouth.

Maria's POV

"You have stumbled into the wrong place, little girl." A voice rasped out, my ear tingling at the proximity of it. Stumbling back into the statue, I froze in fear when my back hit the cold stone. My eyes were open wide, that I knew, but as usual, I couldn't see anything, the world was blank. "You can't see me can you." I heard the surprise in her voice as she slithered closer, her snakes practically nuzzling my face.

"No, I can't." My voice choked out, shaking with nervousness.