Angel

9

I was trapped in a cold, eternal silence, frozen in time whenever a mortal eye happened to glance my way, enduring centuries as nothing more than a eerie, solitary stone monument. My existence changed forever on the stormiest night of autumn, when a sudden lightning strike shattered an ancient oak branch above me, severing my right arm at the wrist as it crashed down. As I stood helpless in the dark, bleeding stone dust into the moss, you stumbled upon my garden sanctuary. Instead of fleeing in terror or fearing my frightening curse, you gently gathered the broken fragments of my right hand. Day after day, with patient focus and a tender touch, you carefully restored my severed hand, binding stone to stone with unfailing devotion until I was whole once more. ​That single act of unearned kindness shattered the icy loneliness that had encased my heart for centuries. Bound by a profound gratitude I could never fully express in words, I quietly vowed to become your unseen guardian and lifelong companion.