Disclaimer: I don't own wicked, but I would love it if I did.
Elphaba and Water
The girl stands on a rock. Around her a small stream flows. She hates water. Her feet are covered with water-proof boots to keep out the wet. Even though she would only have to make a short leap to get across, her fear of falling into the water holds her. A hooded cloak protects her from any splashes and hides her face. Although these heathen, the Quadlings, are uneducated, they know a girl with green skin is unnatural. She is used by her father. She is a tool for his conversions to Unionism: nothing more than a tool.
"Elphaba come here before the water rises," calls Nanny as she walks briskly towards the bank.
The girl shakes her head and plants her feet firmly on the rock. Nanny stops at the edge and reaches out a hand.
"Nanny will help you across, but Nanny won't carry you." She said.
"Fine," replied Elphaba in a tone of indifference.
Nanny caught her as she leapt across in a way that would have made any frog proud.
They trudged back to the wagon to find Melena there with Nessarose. Nessarose was propped up in her basket. The small figure was wrapped snugly in a blanket. Her skin was pale in comparison to her green sister, but then again, anyone's skin would pale in comparison to Elphaba's. Melena slept on the floor of the wagon, a piece of cloth over her face to shade her from the sun. Nessa looks around with her large, brown, cow eyes and finally settles them on Nanny. She starts to rock side to side.
"Nanny," she says craning her neck; her reddish-brown hair faintly glowing.
Nanny picks her up and places her on the ground beside the wagon. Elphaba stands behind Nessa to keep her from falling back.
"Melena, time to get up," says Nanny shaking Melena gently.
Melena sits up and the cloth falls from her face. Her light brown hair is disheveled and her deep blue dress is frayed along the hem. She has eyes like Nessa, but they don't seem quite as big. The rest of her features are small and light.
"Has Frex returned from his haranguing," asks Melena as she lifts herself from the wagon. A small cloud of dust forms around her and sticks to her clothes. Elphaba still stands behind Nessarose, her green hands on Nessa's slender shoulders to steady her.
Nessa's dress is simply a sack with a hole cut for her head and a scrap of cord for a sash. The small, pale, feet are wrapped in cloth with tiny leather sandals. Elphaba's thick boots make her feel more comfortable in this wet climate. The dress she wears is also made of a sack, but has sleeves made from another sack.
The pale child has no arms. The pride of her father because she could not possibly his fault. In a way, Nessa's life seemed to be owed to the death of their Quadling friend, Turtle Heart. Turtle Heart had lived with them for quite some time and was the reason for their missionary work in Quadling Country. In contrast, the green girl was proof to Frex that he had failed; failed to keep the lowly people of Nest Hardings from going in droves to the Pleasure Faith.
Elphaba was always put last. Her sharp teeth didn't help the fact that she already looked like a demon child. With that skin the color of the leaves that hung off the trees and hair blacker than shadows on a moonless night. She doesn't know what makes Papa angry all the time: she can only look at him and love him. Strange as she may be, she is a child. She wants to be accepted by her father, by her mother.
She still smashes the occasional bug, but when she holds frail little Nessarose she calms down. She sees that her sister is helpless. The unnatural green pigments of her skin made her stand out, but for things she did not know of yet, she would have to stand out.
The sky darkened quickly as a sudden cloud burst rushed in. Elphaba tugged her cloak over her head with one hand, while using the other to keep Nessa steady. A large drop landed on the back of the hand that sat on Nessarose's shoulder. The wetness burned her skin, but she dared not let go of her sister. She bit her bottom lip somewhat gently, not caring if she made herself bleed.
Finally, Nanny came over and picked up little Nessie. She placed her in the wagon and pulled the cover tight. When she went back to get Elphaba, she saw the look of pain in her dark greenish-brownish eyes, then the sore that had formed on the back of her hand. Nanny scooped her up and quickly placed her in the wagon beside Nessa. She took their cloaks off, being careful not to let any of the water drip near Elphaba. A towel was used to dry them off quickly and a scrap of cotton wrapped around Elphaba's hand for a bandage.
The canvas covering darkened as the rain continued. Elphaba sat huddled with Nessa sleeping beside her. Drops of that terrible water fell in a never-ending drone. She dared not sleep, lest the cover start to drip on her, giving her more burns. Frex had returned a while ago. She knew because she had heard them talking; talking out in that dreadful rain of all places.
The clouds departed just as quickly as they had arrived. Nanny loosened the cover and lifted the girls out. She handed Nessarose to Melena and set Elphaba on the ground. Frex looked very much like a rat or other small animal, or Animal, which was on the verge of drowning. Water ran down his beard and hair, making small splashes on the ground.
Elphaba took a step back from him and put her bandaged hand up in defense when he came closer. A single drop of water from his beard landed on the back of her other hand. This time, she didn't care. She screamed as loud as she could and ran. She ran as fast and as far as her small legs would carry her. When she couldn't run any longer, she stood there; her small chest pounding from the exertion.
"Elphaba!" she heard Frex yell.
"Elphaba come back over here," shouted Nanny.
"No!" Elphaba screamed back at them. They had Nessarose, what do they need her for? It didn't matter to them what happened to her.
Melena, still holding Nessie, started to walk in the direction Elphaba had run off. She would find a way to reason with her green daughter. She didn't love Elphaba, no, she could never love her, but because she was her own flesh and blood, she found her endearing. Nessa was wrapped in a sling that went across Melena and crossed in the back to form a carrier.
Elphaba quickly turned away when she saw them coming. She held her newly burnt hand in her bandaged one. Melena tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around with a strange look of terror and suspicion in her eyes. At the sight of this woman she called Mama, and Nessa, she relaxed. Melena tore a piece from her underskirt that was perfectly dry and wrapped it around Elphaba's newly damaged hand.
"What a child you are Elphaba," Melena said, more to herself than to Elphaba, as they walked back to the wagon together, "your green skin, your sharp teeth, I could handle that. But you are a cruel child, who is burned by ordinary water. What a child you are."