"I'm... here..."
Emeraldiamond Blueleaves turned her head quickly, her long, shimmering blonde hair falling in a shower of gold across her slim shoulders. Her azure eyes shone, the only light in the darkness of the frozen landscape, sparkling with an oceanic glow that illuminated her dainty, pale face.
"Who's there?" she whispered, her beautiful voice naught but a trembling breath of wind in the howling wilderness. "I can hear you... but I can't see you anywhere!"
"Emeraldiamond, I am awaiting you... you can find us all if you only look."
"But I can't find you!" she cried softly, crystal tears sparkling in her cerulean eyes. "I'm so... alone..."
Suddenly, the world around her shook and rumbled-
And Carrie Brewer woke with a start.
Immediately, she reached out, clutching her soft white rabbit, Phillip, to her body, shivering beneath her ragged blankets.
"Oh, Phillip," she murmured, sweet voice trembling as she heard the howling wind of the spring tempest outside the boarded-up windows of her attic room. "I heard his voice again... he was worried for me... and I couldn't find him this time, either."
Phillip twitched his perfect little nose at her, watching with compassion in his amber bunny eyes. Carrie sighed, cuddling him closer.
"Oh, Phillip. You're the only friend I have in this cruel, cruel world. Why must I suffer like this? I wish I could find someone who cared for me like you do... or like the man in my dreams."
Carrie's hair, which normally would have glistened like pure gold even in the dim non-light of the storm, was streaked with soot and ashes, a silent witness to the constant work she was forced to perform day and night. Her beautiful blue eyes were blackened from the abuse she suffered at the cruel hands of her parents.
"Why do they hate me, Phillip? Why?" she whispered, musical voice shaking as she fought to stem the flow of agonized tears. "Day after day, they hurt me. They make me clean for hours, and I have to cook while not getting any food myself for days on end! No other child suffers as I do... but I will not complain. I will stay strong."
Bravely, she swept back her long gossamer hair, wiping the glistening tears from her grimy cheeks. Beneath the dirt of her labors, her fair skin was a contrast to the intensity and depth of her sapphire eyes. She turned her glimmering orbs to the window, peering out through the silvery sheets of rain. Suddenly, she heard a voice calling her.
"Emeraldiamond..."
"That's not truly my name..." she whispered, without knowing exactly to whom she was speaking. "I wish... I was she, however."
Suddenly, within her mind, she had a flash of the person speaking. She could not see his face; just his long, golden hair, flowing past his shoulders, second only to the beauty of her own. He started to turn, and she caught a glimpse of his ear, delicately pointed. But, before she could see his eyes, see the smile she instinctively knew must be there on his face, he vanished, leaving her as alone as before.
With dainty, trembling fingers she reached up to touch her own ear. She had never known what her pointed ears signified, but her cruel family constantly derided her for the different feature.
Carrie stood in one graceful motion, her ragged clothing only serving to accentuate her beauty. She clutched Phillip to her chest, cooing softly in his ear.
"I have a feeling, Phillip. A feeling that someone out within that accursed storm is awaiting me. You... you don't have to follow. I will understand- this could be dangerous and perhaps deadly."
Phillip twitched.
Carrie hugged him joyously. "I knew you would stand by me forever, Phillip! I will protect you, I promise upon my life. Thank you for your loyalty."
Phillip gnawed quietly on the tiny remainder of the little food that she was allowed. She wanted nothing more than to give him enough to eat, but she barely had enough to survive upon as it was.
"Quietly, now, lest they hear and awaken," she whispered. On tiny, perfect feet she crept noiselessly from the window, leaping down the three stories to land gracefully in the dewy emerald grass.
Rain hung in her hair, washing away the grime and allowing the gold of her beautiful locks to shine through. She walked through the rain, though she moved with such grace that she could be said to be instead dancing. Phillip stayed still in her arms, trusting his mistress to protect him as she always had.
Suddenly, there was a white flash and a crack, as of a gunshot. Carrie screamed, her voice trembling as she dropped to her knees beside Phillip's lifeless body.
"Phillip! NOOOOO!" she wailed, her shoulders shaking with petite sobs. "He was... just trying to protect me... oh, Phillip. Why did you take that bolt of lightning? You sacrificed your life that I might be safe!" With dainty fingers, she smoothed Phillip's white fur. "Oh Phillip... my only friend in the world..."
She looked to the sky, just in time to see a second diamond bolt of lightning come shooting down from the ebony sky. As it touched her, sending volts shooting through her body, she half-fancied that somewhere, far away, she could hear a voice calling her name...
"Emeraldiamond..."
"I'm coming..." she murmured, as the world around her faded into darkness.
And for a long time, she knew nothing at all.
