Shadow's Story
Several gargoyles were there.
Most of which were the females for the males usually never stepped foot
into the rookery. One of the females was evident that she was the elder.
Her long white hair held up in a ponytail and hair that went down to her
waist. Her pale pink skin covered with battle scars showed that she was
attractive at one time in her life, and still was. She wore a typical
white pull over dress that was typical in most female gargoyles. Her eyes
showed all the years that she had lived, the sadness, good times, and much more.
By just looking into her eyes you could see her life story. Protect
and guard. That was her purpose and it was up to her to pass that lesson
on to generations.
"Verna!"
called another female gargess running into the room.
The old gargess smiled softly
and looked over at the younger gargoyle, "Calm down child, now what is
it that you wish to tell me?"
The tall
green gargoyle smiled at her elder. She blew a piece of her flaming
red/orange hair before she spoke. Her hair was short due to an earlier
accident with a human invention called bubble gum. But how was she to know
that the stuff was that sticky? Catching her breath the younger gargoyle
decided to speak, "Have they hatched yet?"
Verna chuckled, Jo was always the one to be
impatient, "No not yet child." Verna looked at the eggs in the
hay. There were not many perhaps 10 or maybe even less. Because of
more humans wandering around their little town during the summer it cut back the
laying time. Some of the younger gargesses became nervous and would lay
their eggs fast. Usually the eggs would be dead.
As Verna looked at the eggs one of
them shook a bit and then stilled. Verna smiled and looked up at
Jo, "But, they will hatch soon."
Jo
smiled and watched the eggs, but no further movement was noticed. So she
wandered outside the little cave to stand guard with some of the other
gargoyles.
Verna sighed, she remembered her
first hatching. What a wonderful time indeed. Everyone was happy and
full of joy. The males sat in a circle usually singing or bragging about
how well a warrior the hatchlings would be. Some of the males would even
be in the rookery with their mates waiting for the eggs to hatch.
Verna was snapped out of her reverie by a sound of
cracking. She looked towards the eggs and noticed one of the eggs
had a big crack down the side and little flecks of egg were being picked off of
it every second.
Verna looked around and
noticed that she was the only one there. Forgetting her age and being so
happy that their clan would grow again Verna jumped up like a hatchling. She
jumped a few more times, not showing her age at all. And then she finally
ran out screaming like a banshee that the eggs were hatching.
Varnum her mate just chuckled. He looked
her up and down and finally said that she was just dreaming again. Verna snorted annoyed. She loved Varnum but sometimes,
ohh! She just wanted wring his neck then and there.
Another female around her age but just a bit
younger looked up at her. This gargoyle was pretty but she also showed her age
much more than Verna. She was a soft blue color and once had gold hair.
Her hair went past her waist and flow down in amazing golden curls. Her
hazel eyes were at times hard to read. She was extremely thin, this
happened after her mate, Charlie, had died. He died saving a human from a
drive by. It was extremely uncommon in this part of the country but it
happened anyways. In the process Charlie was shot in the head. Goldie, his
mate, was so devastated that she tried to starve herself in attempts to be with
her mate again. But that was long ago. And now Goldie realizes how stupid
she was.
Goldie smiled trying not to laugh,
"Verna, you can not be serious. You are jumping around like one of the
young ones and trying to tell us that the eggs are hatching?!"
Verna said nothing. Goldie and her were the
best of friends but they did have their quarrels some time. Especially
since Goldie and Varnum were usually right about things.
Another couple looked over at them in disbelief. The male gargoyle, strong
and somewhat muscular looked at her. His eyes were of a copper color and
his skin was pure white. His hair was turning white too, but had brown/red
streaks running through it giving him a quite handsome look. His mate,
Deb, was a darker shade of blue. She had light copper eyes and pure
white hair. She was the healer of the group. Her being through much
stress, had made her look much older than she actually was. Dave asked a
question that all the others were wondering as well, "Verna are you telling
us the truth?"
Verna nodded, "Of course I am!
I would not lie of such a thing! How--!"
Verna said nothing more for Deb had cut her off,
"Well then let's go
see!"
All the other gargoyles had nodded in
agreement and practically charged into the rookery. They all stopped when
they saw 5 tiny newborn hatchling lying on the ground in the hay screaming.
But, the moment was shattered when a cry was heard from outside, "We
are under attack!!!!!!!"
That was enough to shock
all. The humans around here were a bit mean to them but still. Some
of the humans even knew their lair. A few of the humans that knew of their
lair, were quite different from some. They hated the gargoyles, they
thought they were doing nothing good and wanted them destroyed.
All the gargoyles with their eyes blazing, ran out to
prepare for the battle.
***** MINUTES LATER
The battle being done and the dead bodies of gargoyles lying across the field;
the humans cheered in victory. The battle was fierce and even some of
their own men were killed.
A little kid ran out
in the battlefield and just laughed at Varnum's dead body. He kicked the
body and ran off with his friends. As he was running near the cave
he heard a cry. Thinking it was another gargoyle and wanting to show to
the others that he was able to fight on his own, he entered the cave.
The cave was dark and quite hard to see. The
cry was heard again and the boy stepped on something that cracked. Looking
down he realized that it was a piece of an eggshell. He looked around and
finally realized that the cry he had heard was not a battle cry at all, but the
cry of a newborn hatchling wanting to be fed. Searching around he quickly
picked up two hatchlings and ran off with the screaming bundles in his arms.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 YEARS
LATER
A young tan gargoyle with short extremely curly black
hair grinned evilly. She ran off after a chicken chasing it. The
chicken was not meant for food to the human family but as a pet. Just as
the two gargoyles that they had stolen years ago were. Of course the
gargoyles did not think that way. They thought they were equals, as did
some of the human children who enjoyed the young gargoyles company.
As the young gargoyle was running past, a door opened
and a human female ran out with a broom swinging at the young gargoyle. The
hatchling who tripped on her large jean 'supposedly' shorts and tee shirts ran
off. She was scared and disappointed that the fascinating new game called
"pick all the feathers off the chicken to see what it would look like"
ended. She ran into the village square and sat under the fountain. Every
few moments she stopped to fix her clothes to keep from walking on them.
She sat under the fountain
pouting. Pouting was
something she became very good at. But it was also something that humans
hated. But it did get her some extra attention, so to her, it
couldn't be that bad.
She laughed as another
young gargoyle that looked almost like her tripped over her own clothes. The
gargoyle was almost exactly like her except she was a lighter shade. White
skin, greenish aqua hair and light green wings. Her clothes were
also lighter shades. Her jeans were a faded blue and her shirt was white
instead of black like hers were.
The other hatchling sat down next
to the tan one. Her green hair blew in her face as she spoke, "This place is no fun. All they do all day is work work work."
The blackhaired hatchling nodded,
"Yeah. Why
can't we ever do anything fun? And how come we are treated differently?
There is not really much difference between us and Tommy except for out
tail and wings. "
The green haired looked at her talons and
giggled, "And, our deformed hands and toes!"
The
black haired laughed so hard she nearly fell over.
The
green haired giggled but then stopped, "Hey you wanna see what I can
do?"
This now made the black haired interested,
"What?"
"I said I can do something interesting."
The green haired hatchling pointed to a nearby barrel filled with
petunias. The black haired gargoyle watched with interest. Soon a
light appeared from the hatchlings fingers and the barrel shattered.
"Wow! That was cool!" The black haired
gargoyle was so caught up on how cool it was she forgot an important question.
The black haired gargoyle looked over at green haired in puzzlement, "How'd ya do that?"
The green haired gargoyle just
shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno."
The black haired
gargoyle sighed and looked down, "Wish I could do that..."
The green haired gargoyle grinned,
"Maybe you can...."
The black haired gargoyle smiled,
"Maybe I can," she
pointed to a chicken. In a moment it was almost fried crispy. She
giggled. "Now I am cool!!"
The green
gargoyle nodded, "Yeah! Let's go tell the humans!"
With
that the two gargoyles scampered off to a nearby house.
The black haired gargoyle knocked on the door.
The door opened and a woman walked out,
"Yes?
What is it that you want?"
The green haired gargoyle
grinned, "Look at what we can do!" With that she fried half the
flowers on the block.
The lady turned pale,
"I will be right
back..." she disappeared into the house. When she came back she
had a few more villagers and all of them with guns. She pointed to the
two, "It was them. They just fried the flowers!"
One
of the men nodded and shot at the gargoyle. The two jumped and ran with
the villagers at their heels. They started crying and were extremely
scared but they did not stop running.
The green haired fell but the
black haired couldn't turn back fast enough. She continued running and
that was the last time she saw her sister again.
***** OVER 10 YEARS LATER
A
young female gargoyle swoops above the village streets. Pulling her wings in,
she dives, heading straight towards the rooftop of a supermarket. At the last
second she opens her wings, landing gracefully on the roof of the old building.
Through the moonlight she is finally seen; tan skin, dark eyes, and long dark
brown hair. She pushed a strand of her dark colored hair behind one of her
elongated ears and caped her wings. She sighed and walked towards a door hidden
almost completely in the shadows.
She reached out and grasped the doorknob
gently and turned it slowly. She smiled in satisfaction as the door slid open
with ease. Quiet as the moon as it appears in the sky, she eased her way down
the dark cement steps.
A faint glow of light welcomed her as she entered the
back room of the employees area. She walked past and around all the crates and
boxes that littered the floor until she found what she was looking for.
Sitting
atop two crates of old cereal lay a toasted onion bagel topped with cream cheese
and a bottle of orange juice. She stood there for a moment, letting the aroma of
the foods linger around her nose. This was her favorite breakfast.
After a few
years an employee noticed that a few items were missing after each night. Although afraid of the gargoyle that lurked around the village at night, he
brought food for her anyway. The gargess knew that the young employee did it
just to keep his job, but she considered it nice just the same.
Her stomach interrupted
her morning ritual with a growl of protest. She quickly picked up
the bagel and ate. She knew she couldn't stay long, the dogs would come up and
give her away. Once the food was done she scampered up the steps and quickly
shut the door behind her. She sighed in boredom and walked over to the edge of
the rooftop.
There wasn't much crime around anymore and nights were so slow in
the village. For the millionth time she wished something exciting would happen.
Really, like something exciting would ever happen around here... she told
herself.
A scream interrupted her thoughts.
"Well maybe not," she
mumbled as she dove off the roof. She miscalculated her landing and landed a bit
harder than she planned, almost catching herself off balance. A woman, probably
in her mid-forties, stood next to her perfectly calm. In a controlled voice, her
back towards the gargoyle, she said, "Those horrible snakes! Ugh!
The
officials should have gotten rid of them when-- Ahh!" That was when she
decided to turn around. The gargoyle realized it a bit to late and ended up with
ringing ears to prove it. "Oh my... a... a demon!" and upon saying the
last sentence, fainted.
The gargess caught the human before she smacked her
head on the pavement. "Ok.. now this is weird and definitely not good.
Every
night now.." The sound of footsteps approaching made her stop in mid
sentence. She laid the woman gently on the ground. She hopped to her feet and
stepped back off the sidewalk into the grass. She stood there for a moment
before she started to fade slowly away, as if the darkness of the night engulfed
her. Before she was gone though, her voice echoed in the night,
"Snakes..." A muffled giggle was heard and there was no more.
*****
Inside a nearby cave at the far end of the village, a black and white tom cat
lay. He was content as can be just lying on the dried leaves. A shimmer of light
enveloped the cave and as fast as it appeared, it left, leaving only the
gargoyle standing where it once was.
The cat, still was sleeping as soundly as
it was before she arrived and did not even flinch a whisker.
"Hiyas 'Punk
Head'," said the gargoyle as she patted the cat gently on the head.
The cat
made a sound that was a mix between a cry and a purr. It rolled right-side up
and stretched, revealing bright emerald green eyes. The cat stood and yawned
revealing his tiny kitten size teeth, his cat-grin so much like his much larger
cousins.
The gargoyle smiled and petted the cat again on the head,
"Have a
nice nap, Tuffy? Glad you had fun. Lately, well all you need to know is that it
has been hectic." The gargoyle stopped stroking his head and stood up.
The
cat stopped his stretching and yawning and sat down at her feet, watching her as
if he understood every word that she was saying.
A loud crash sounded nearby,
causing the duo to turn towards the front entrance of their forest home.
Cautiously and as silent as she could manage, the
gargess walked towards the
sound. She stuck to the shadows of the cave and peered out through the large
crack between the large amount of rocks that formed the entryway to the cave.
She gasped in surprise at what she saw.
"Oh boy.. now I'm in trouble,"
she whispered silently to the cat. Turning quickly, she shouted, "Tuffy,
come."
Obediently, Tuffy ran and hopped into her arms.
With the cat in her
arms, she ran as fast as she could, reacting only on fear. The villagers with
the guns that were on the outside of the cave, yelled out in surprise at the
gargoyle suddenly burst from the cave.
Guns were now being fired. Her eyes
searched around wildly for a place to grab a hold of. Finally, she found a large
dead, thick, an rotting tree laying in the grass. That was a welcome sight to
her, since she really didn't want to start a fight with the villagers. She
picked up her speed and soon she felt her talons sink into the rotting wood.
Quickly, she spread her dark colored wings; and that was when she felt the pain.
A sharp stab of pain, followed by a burning sensation erupted in her left wing.
Turning her head, she saw the problem. Red oozing liquid dripped from her wings.
She had gotten shot! Now, she knew it was useless trying to glide. So she did the
one other thing she didn't want to do. She stayed.
After being shot at, she
turned towards the villagers. She growled, by now her eyes were glowing scarlet
red. At the site of her, some villagers quickly fled, not wanting to mess with
this new creature.
The gargoyle quickly set Tuffy down. The cat, however, did
not move. It sat on it's haunches watching the villagers with an almost daring
look.
One of the villagers charged at the gargoyle. With a quick sweep of her
tail, he was off his feet. Another villager jumped to grab the cat. But,
instead, he ended up half human, half mouse. The cat watched with a twinkle in
his now bright green eyes.
Two more villagers ran towards the gargoyle, this
time with guns. The cat hissed and the guns were roses. The villagers stared
unbelievingly at the flowers they held in their hands. The gargess turned
around and saw that the villagers were occupied. She took this time to decide to
leave and ran off quickly. The cat looked up, surprised at her sudden take off.
Hopping from the tree he quickly followed.
***** HOURS LATER
The young gargoyle
leaned against a maple tree coughing in exhaustion. She glanced at the sky only
to see the sun was beginning to show itself at the distant horizon.
Leaves began
to blow across the grass furiously as if wind was pushing them. But there was no
wind. When the leaves settled, Tuffy sat patiently.
The gargoyle grinned at the
cat and patted him gently on the head and shut her eyes. Trying to ignore the
pain that was shooting through her wings, she caped them across her shoulders
and stepped forward. "Sun is going to rise soon and I need sleep. You do,
of course, know what that means?"
The cat looked at her with a look that
almost said he understood. But he quietly lied down on the leaves. The golden
wave of the suns rays shown through the green canopy above and there was
silence. Where the gargoyle once stood, sat a statue, quite out of place in the
forest setting.
*****
With a loud cat-like roar the gargoyle awoke. She flared
her newly healed wings, stretching them to there limits.
"Its about time
you woke up," said an unfamiliar voice.
The gargoyle spun around,
startled, to face the stranger that stood before her.
"I know of
you...you're that one creature that lives in E-town aren't you?"
The
gargoyle didn't answer immediately but instead studied the human. He was male
and not that tall. Obviously he was in his forties. His blue eyes twinkled
knowingly and his face held no anger, but instead, a mockingly grin. Realizing
this guy was no threat, she answered. "How do you know of me? How did you
find me? And where's Tuffy?" She hammered the questions at him at quick
speed.
"Woah! Calm down now, girlies." He held up his hands in a
peaceful gesture. "My name is Bryan. And everyone around these parts has
heard of you. And I found you because you are on my land and it isn't everyday
you find a statue up in theses mountains." He paused, obviously thinking.
"Tuffy? Oh..the cat, right? He is fine. He is down at my place. My wife set
out milk for him."
The gargoyle nodded slowly, all the while taking all
this information in. She caped her wings in a peaceful gesture, "I am
sorry...I do not knnw what to say. You are the first human that hasn't fainted,
screamed or tried to attack me. So I guess I should say thank you."
Bryan
grinned," No problem, Shadow."
The gargoyle raised a brow at that
comment, "Shadow? What?"
Bryan laughed, "Shadow. It is a name. Do
you have a name?"
The gargoyle hesitated before responding,
"No.."
"Well you need to be called something. How do you feel about the name
Shadow?"
"It's fine."
"Good. It fits you. You can easily
hide in the shadows with that coloring. And I would not be able to find you if
my life depended on it."
Shadow nodded. Bryan grabbed
a hold of her arm
gently, "You must be hungry. I have some food at my house. I'm sure my wife
and son won't mind if I brought a friend over. Why don't you come with me?"
Although this sounded nice to Shadow, a part of her told her not to go.
"I don't know..", she mumbled.
"Hey, it's okay. I know you've
probably haven't seen many humans that aren't afraid or actually trust you. But,
I won't hurt you." Bryan looked at Shadow, his face filled with
understanding and sympathy, "So, what do you say?"
"Well, okay...I
guess I'll go."
Bryan smiled and elbowed her gently,
"Oh come on now,
you sound as if I asked you to work for me or something."
Shadow smiled
back, "Nah, this is just so....weird. You know?"
Bryan nodded as he
guided her towards the old white house, "Yeah, I understand. Times are
probably rough for you right now."
Shadow followed Bryan, sticking mostly
to the dark shadows, for safety. "If only you know..", she mumbled
sadly.
*****
Bryan walked in the door, stamping his feet on the mat,
"Hello?"
Shadow slowly walked through the door that Bryan was holding open for her. Her
eyes scanned the room carefully. The kitchen was dark with only one window and a
light shining faintly in the center of the room. Dark green sunflowers and light
blue geese littered the tiny kitchen walls.
"Bryan?" Came a voice from
the doorway on the other side of the room.
Shadow backed up quickly, hitting the
corner of the kitchen sink in the process. Her eyes looked over the new human.
She had a long nose, light blue-green eyes, and her red hair barely went past
her chin. She was big but she wasn't 'skinny' either.
"Who did you bring in
this time, Bryan?" asked the woman looking over her husband's shoulder.
For
a moment Shadow thought she had been seen. But then the lady asked her question
so calmly that Shadow realized what the lady saw. She almost had to laugh,
nothing! She saw shadows and not a gargoyle. A wave of relief rushed through the
young gargoyle.
"Oh this?" Bryan
asked. And at that moment she felt a
hand grasp her own and pull her forward.
Shadow stumbled from hiding, tripping
over her tail, stood in front of the woman.
Before anything could happen between
the two, Bryan stepped forward, "Melissa, I would like you to meet a new
friend of mine, Shadow.. the Gargoyle."
Shadow interrupted,
"Umm
actually, only part gargoyle.."
Melissa nodded and smiled,
"Well
whatever you say. But, welcome to our home."
Shadow returned the smile.
Bryan stood behind Melissa, grinning from ear to ear.
"You could stay here
if you like. Poor thing. Out there all alone. Well not anymore. Well, lets see,
you could stay in the guest bedroom but oh.. um that wouldn't do." Melissa hurried
around the room talking to herself.
Shadow spun around, her eyes and ears
trying to keep up with Melissa, "Um, I wasn't alone. I had a cat.."
Deciding that this was his moment to come out of hiding, Tuffy pranced across
the room and wrapped himself around Shadow's feet, purring loudly.
Melissa
stopped and smiled, looking at the cat. "That cat was so hungry. Does he
have a name"? she asked, stooping down to let the cat sniff her hand.
"Tuffy," replied Shadow watching the two,
"And I don't sleep in
guest rooms.. in fact, I'm not up during the day. I sleep during that time and I
turn to stone."
Melissa stood a smile escaping her lips.
Shadow
giggled, "No not that kind of stone!" At that the whole room burst out
in laughter. Once it had all died down, Shadow stole a glance at the clock
resting on the wall. Time sure had flown! "I think I should be going
now.."
Melissa stopped laughing and stood in front of her,
"No you
aren't. As far as I'm concerned you need a family. You are just a...well judging
by the looks of you, a teenager or probably a young adult. You need a family, we
can be your family. The garden.. there's a pedestal in the garden where the bird
bath sets. If we could move that, you could sleep there and wouldn't be out of
place."
Shadow listened and stared at Melissa, surprised at how sincere she
sounded. "Well I guess..."
Melissa hugged Shadow, "Good, now go
on outside and get ready for your.. sleep. Bryan should already have gone out to
move the bath."
Shadow nodded and for the first time, realized that he was
gone. She walked towards the door and stepped out into the garden. She spotted
the perch, in the middle of the garden in between a patch of Rose of Sharons.
Smiling she stood up on it and posed, waiting for the first of the suns rays to
hit her. A new name.. a new town.. a new family.. a new beginning. I like the
sound of that, 'home'. She repeated the words to herself a few more times
testing them out. When the rays of the sun touched her, a statue stood, a smile
on its' face. Perhaps things would change after all.
The End
