Prologue

     Cars zipped by the small, old, broken house as a little girl with long, dark, curly brown hair swung slowly on an old wooden-framed swing set. She had a beautiful dress on that looked like it could be from the 1800's, it was black with white lace and small white flowers sewn into an intricute pattern at the hem. Her big blue eyes were over flowing with tears as she watched the police and their guns rush toward her home and a woman she'd never seen before come to tend to her cuts and broken bones. The large emperor rotweiler, Prince, that had been sitting only a foot from the little girl took an immediate defensive stance as the woman came too close for his comfort. The dog had a large cut across his left eye, giving him a menacing look that made the woman stop dead in her tracks.

     "Down boy, I'm here to help." The woman put one of her hands out as a motion of peace, but Prince snapped feircely at her hand and she took three steps back. The dog sat at attention directly beside the little girl, eyes locked on the strange, new woman. She sat down and spoke to the dog, hoping to calm it down and make it trust her. She spoke about her husband, her job, herself, and eventually the dog layed down and the woman took a few steps closer, continueing to talk. Fourty five minutes later she was only two feet from the dog and the girl, the dog was comfortable with the proximity, and the girl had stopped crying, but still wouldn't say anything.

     "What's your name?" The woman waited in silence as the girl stared at her, contemplating a reply. "Can you tell me how you got hurt?" More silence, more staring, more time for the woman to grow increasingly worried about the silent girl sitting in front of her. She held out her hand for the girl. "Will you come with me? I can get you something to eat, and you can stay with me tonight, is that all right?"

     "Prince is coming with me." The girl jumped from the swing and hugged her dog around his neck whispering, "Prince, we are going with this lady. We are going to spend the night at her house. Like a sleep over. I need you to be nice." The dog licked her cheek in consent and the three of them walked to a black 1998 Mustang. The woman opened the back passenger side door for the girl and her dog, who gave the woman one last look before deciding it was safe to go with her.

     "I'll be right back all right? I need to tell my boss I'm leaving so he doesn't worry." The girl nodded as Prince layed his head in her lap, looking, for the first time since the woman had met the beastly dog, harmless.

     "What did you find out, Amanda?" Special Agent Thompson's gravely voice sounded cold and urgent, the tone sent shivers down Amanda's back.

     "She wouldn't tell me anything, so I'm going to have her stay at my place for a while until she gets comfortable with me. The only thing she said was "Prince is coming with me". Prince is her dog, and, by the way he acted when I came near them, I think the girl has been abused by someone, perhaps someone she'd never met before. Did you identify the bodies?" Thompson's cold, composed face turned sad and pitying the second the word "bodies" was said.

     "Her parents." And with that the sympathy was gone and Amanda was left alone, eyes as big as plates, and heart in her stomach. She walked slowly back to the car and got into the driver's seat. Prince was alseep and the girl who refused to speak was singing a song.

"little child, be not afraid
though rain pounds harshly against the glass
like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger
I am here tonight

little child, be not afraid
though thunder explodes and lightning flash
illuminates your tear-stained face
I am here tonight

and someday you'll know
that nature is so
the same rain that draws you near me
falls on rivers and land
on forests and sand
makes the beautiful world that you'll see
in the morning

little child, be not afraid
though storm clouds mask your beloved moon
and its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams
I am here tonight

little child, be not afraid
though wind makes creatures of our trees
and their branches to hands, they're not real, understand
and I am here tonight

for you know, once even I was a
little child, and I was afraid
but a gentle someone always came
to dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears
and to give a kiss goodnight

well now I am grown
and these years have shown
that rain's a part of how life goes
but it's dark and it's late
so I'll hold you and wait
'til your frightened eyes do close

and I hope that you'll know...

everything's fine in the morning
the rain'll be gone in the morning
but I'll still be here in the morning"

 

     Tears pooled in Amanda's eyes as the girl's song came to an end, and she came to wonder how old the girl was. She had a beautiful voice, and she spoke like she was at least ten, but she looked only three or four years old.

     "I heard that song one night on the radio. It makes me feel better when bad things happen." The girl's eyes were down, looking lovingly at the large dog beside her.

     "It is a very beautiful song," Amanda, wiping her eyes and gathering herself, started the car and pulled away from the busy house of blood and secrets. "Such a beautiful song..." The rest of the ride was spent in silence. Amanda's head full of questions, assumptions, and empty conclusions. The song the girl sang rang in her head over, and over, until she couldn't help but want to hear it again. Before she could wrap her head around reality they were in the driveway of her house, and her husband, Sean, was standing at the door with a quizzical expression on his face.

     "Miss...? We are at your house..." The girl's voice was soft and scared, and the dog beside her was at alert in his new enviroment. Amanda silently got out of the car and opened the door for the two to step out. The girl nodded her head in thanks.

     "Oh, God. What happened?" Sean rushed to the little girl, immediately greeted by Prince's echoing bark and frightening canine teeth, bared and ready to rip into his flesh if he were to take a step closer. The girl whistled a long, high pitched, and somehow sad whistle and Prince sat down immediately, all signs of anger gone.

     "He doesn't like it when people he doesn't know rush at me like that." Her tone was empty and had no signs of the more common apology when someone's dog threatened a well-meaning stranger.

     "So I see. No matter, he has every right to be protective. Dear, what happened to your face?" Sean was kneeling on one knee now, trying to lean closer to examine the little girl's wounds. He was a doctor and had seen children with wounds like this, but never as bad as what he was now looking at. His mind immediately went to child abuse. "Hm, never mind that, would you like to get cleaned up?"

     "Yes please." With that they all went inside and the girl was put into a warm bath to clean herself up, Prince loyally in the bathroom beside the tub. Again, she sang that sad lullaby, her voice echoing in the small bathroom. She admired the curtains, deep blue with cherryblossoms snaking up toward the brightly lit ceiling, the walls, a matching deep blue, the tiles, an off-white with the same cherryblossom pattern as the shower curtains. She decided she liked the room, and especially how well it matched.

     While the girl was cleaning up, Sean and Amanda were in the kitchen preparing something for dinner. They didn't know what she liked so they decided on one of their favorite meals and hoped that she liked it. Yakisoba with green, orange, yellow, and red bell peppers, water chessnuts, and onions, cooked in teriyaki sauce in their wok.

     "What happened to her? Why did you bring her here? Why with that giant beast? What's her name? Where's she from?" Sean started asking questions and just couldn't stop. There was so much he didn't know about the girl that was now living with him and his wife, and he didn't like not having the answers.

     "Her parents were killed last night, we don't know how, or why, and she was beat at some point before, durring, or after the murders. I need her to talk to me, to trust me, and I thought maybe we could... er.. take her in... You know, be her new family.. She won't tell me her name or age yet, she only really talks when it involves her dog, Prince." Amanda couldn't look him in the face, not after suggesting they adopt a strange girl who won't even speak to them.

     "I know you're pitying her right now, but we have to think this through. Does she even know her parents are dead?" He turned to get the sliced bell peppers from the counter behind him and saw the girl, wrapped in a towel and soaking wet, staring at them.

     "I know they are dead. I called the police..." Prince was sitting at her side, eyeing the couple as they stared, shocked, at the little girl. "I may be three, but I'm not stupid..."

     "I know you're not honey, we just didn't know if-" Prince barked, cutting Amanda's words off before she could finish.

     "I don't mind if you're my new mom and dad... But, I need something to wear... All my clothes are at my house..." Stunned, Sean took the girl's hand and lead her to the hall closet, giving her one of his shirts to wear for the night.

     "You can wear this and we can go shopping tomorrow, ok?"

     "Can we get my clothes from my house? They are all one of a kinds and I don't want to lose them..."

     "It might be a while before we can do that."

     "I can wait."

     "Then we will as soon as we can. Are you sure you're ok with us being your new parents?"

     "Yes. I don't have much of a say in it, anyway. I like your guys' home, and you both are nice people. Why would I have a problem with it?"

     "You are extemely mature for your age."

     "That's what my mom hated about me." She began to walk back to the kitchen before turning around and looking Sean in the eyes. "My name is Rosalie." With that she continued to the kitchen in silence, her dog close behind her.

Reviews

[capn_bribri]

this is good i like how she is three and acts like she is an adult and stuff i love the hole dog thing to its funny my old dog was like that lol
anyway loved the story want more
and you should check out mine it called twin magic i think you'll like it and your good at telling people if it sucks or not and what they can change lol
love you long time :)

[DeathByChoice]

Absolutely amazing ending, although I think this is a bit unbelievable that she's only three... five I think would be more realistic, just cause most three year olds I know can hardly talk in simplistic terms, let alone speak closer to an adult level. But love the whole idea, and very very curious to know what happened to her parents. It almost makes me think that this is some psycho child.... Lol
Anyway great job! A+

[Neronine]

You have a lot of talent, if you ever want to lend some of it I'd be glad to take some off your hands. I do plead for you to write more so I can read it. Always send me a reading request when you write something new. Love it, continue on in your brilliant writing.

[Sean M. Addams]

wow!!! i thought you have a great start to this ..the storyline and characters really draws you in... awesome keep going with this... you defintley have so great going on here

[Kelley]

WOW I would say your a pretty amazing writer and I am hooked.
This was a great start to a story. I like the mystery of what happen
to the little girls parents. I love the idea of a big protective dog too.
Thanks for sending the request to read this Lunar Lightning !

[Tatter]

This is gorgeous, really, it is. The words, the phrasing... Lovely. The ideas are brilliant. Great job! :)

[Rain Kissed Secret]

You were right to be excited over this Toni. ^-^ It's a wonderful idea, and so beautifully written.