1989
They had named him Merlin after Nan's old dog, and had given him the nickname Rosie as a joke because his cheeks were always flushed red. Before he turned one his hair had grown raven black and his eyes bright blue. He didn't grow as fast as most of the other boys had, by the time he reached the age of two he was only a little taller than a one year old, but that didn't stop him getting into all kind of trouble. The second he found his feet, he was climbing into the washing machines and hiding under beds in order to escape bath time. He would sit at the dinner table and draw shapes in his mashed potatoes with his fingers, wiping them on the other children to clean his hands afterwards. He was a cheeky young boy, but everybody loved him. He was a strange child; the nuns noticed that he'd never cry, not even if he'd hurt himself, nor did he act up like the other kids did. He merely sat where he was placed, or did what he was asked, in silence, taking in the world with a childish innocence. It was as if he understood everything he saw and heard, though he was only a toddler and the nuns knew that couldn't be true. He still couldn't talk, but Nan suspected that was because he simply did not want to, rather than him being unable to.
He stood in the hallway with a child's broom in his hand, copying the older girl as she seeped the floor. It was something he did often, copying what the others did. It seemed to be his way of learning but of course the children sometimes found it annoying that this three year old constantly followed them around, imitating their every move and action. They never told him that, of course. Merlin peered up at the girl, whose name was Maria, and grinned widely. It was then that the front door swing open and a policeman walked in. Cowering behind him was a fair haired boy. He wore round glasses and had a prominent scar across the right side of his face. Though Merlin was only three, he knew the boy was afraid.

His name, he said, was Wilbur, and he was seven and a half years old. He appeared afraid of everything and everyone and Merlin found that interesting.
'Now Will, it's nothing to be afraid of. You know it's not.' Mother Rose insisted as Wilburn looked at the statue fearfully. It had been there before the building became an orphanage in the 1800's and was slowly disintegrating; it had lost both it's right arm and it's nose. The nuns had taken to calling her Morgana, after the great witch, though they looked nothing alike. Rose held out her hand and coaxed Wilburn forward. He took a wary step and gripped onto the bottom of the nuns dress tightly.
'What is it that has you so afraid, boy?'
'She's watching me...' Wilburn stuttered. 'She's waiting for me to do something bad so she can take me away.' The boy buried his face in Rose's dress, the fresh sting of tears in his eyes. Merlin watched the scene from the base of the statue. Every now and again he looked up at her face, and a chill would run up his spine though there was no wind. He listened and understood the boys words completely; the older kids had told him the same story not too long ago. They say that she waits for a hold to be naughty, and she would appear at said child's bedroom window at night and take them away to a place called Avalon, where they would live forever as a tree. Merlin understood only half of the story, but still it didn't frighten him. How could a statue come to life?
'Gosh darn it, I told those kids to stop scaring the little ones,' Mother Rose huffed under her breath. 'Now Will, it's just a statue. It's made of stone, you see?' She stepped onto the base of the statue and gave three gentle knocks on the stone. 'Stone is stone, it can't come to life not even if you wanted it to.'
'Bu-but Lily said...'
'Lily is a silly girl! She was just trying to scare you, that's all.'
Wilburn gave the nun an unsure smile and loosened her grip.
'Alright.' He didn't believe a word the nun had said, and he stared up at the statue with a sense of dread in his stomach. Did telling count as being bad? He had been sworn to secrecy by Lily and the others but he had broke that promise and now he was sure that he'd be visited by Morgana that very night. He turned away and looked towards his bedroom window. It was only three stories up, and with the tree branches and ledges that surrounded it any able bodied person could easily climb up to it.
'Are you coming?' Rose's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he hurried forward and took the hand that was stretched out to him. As he made his way back into the building, he glanced back over his shoulder. Merlin still sat at the bottom if the statue, staring after him. A small smirk was on his lips, and for a moment Wilburn thought he saw his eyes turn red.

[[ I know, I know it makes no sense, but there is a reason for that I swear! It will all come together in he end :) ]]