Chapter 13:
Marron felt somebody touching her face.
Probably mother, she thought sheepishly. Mother always come and check up on me every morning, hey wait! Memories flooded through her mind. She remembered that she had traded voice for the potion that would make her into a human. Then who's touching my face?
Marron snapped her eyes open and stared right into the icy blue eyes of the Man!
She froze and savoured the tingle of his cool fingertips on her cheek. She felt a shot of disappointment when he took his hand off his face when he noticed that she was awake.
Marron glanced around her. She was lying on the beach with the wind blowing softly through her damp hair. The sand felt so soft beneath her and the sunlight warmed her face. The man was kneeling beside her. When he saw that she opened her eyes, he started to speak.
"Hey," his voice was friendly. "How are you feeling?"
Marron opened her mouth but nothing came out. The Sea Witch took my voice, she thought, now I can't talk! She felt a pang of regret but she quickly shook it off. What's been done is done. There was nothing she could do about it. She could feel the man staring at her, waiting for her to answer. Marron blushed and looked down.
"Don't be afraid," she heard the man say. "I won't hurt you. Look at me, don't be afraid." He used a finger to tilt her chin up. "Can you please answer me?"
She shook her head slightly.
"You don't want to talk to me?"
She shook her head again.
"Then what?"
She lifted her hand and pointed towards her throat.
"Your throat hurts?" he asked.
Marron closed her eyes. This is hopeless, her mind
screamed. I might as well go back to the sea or something. She
erased that thought. I can't give up now; I can't give up! Well, at least,
not yet.
She tried to sit up but she felt dizzy and weak. He pushed her back down gently. "Don't sit up," he said. "Save your strength. My friend has already gone to get help, he'll be back soon."
He said something else too, but Marron couldn't hear him as she slowly drifted into unconsciousness.