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The small child cowered in the corner of the room under the table her hands over her ears as the adults shouted at each other again, this was all she had known in her short little life. The arguing came closer and the little girl trembled trying to sink into the wall behind her covering her face with her hands, if she could not see them then they could not see her she thought with a small child's intelligence. 'Come here you fucking brat.' A large calloused male hand grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out from under the table banging her head on the table top as he did so. 'You're always fucking hiding you little fuck, now make yourself useful and go and fetch me the whisky.' He tossed her to the kitchen door and she banged her leg on it as she skidded through but not a sound came out of her lips small as she was she had learned never to show any emotion. Quickly she jumped to her feet and raced into the other room where the cupboard held the bottle the man wanted. Grabbing the golden liquid bottle she ran back to where she knew the man would be and this part sickened her, she tried to keep her eyes on the floor as she stumbled into the room. The man was naked and underneath him was her mother, to her frightened little eyes, he was hurting her Mama as she was crying and moaning. He caught sight of her and grabbed the bottle then cuffed her hard sending her tumbling to the floor and the world turned black. When she opened her eyes the sun was pouring through the grimy windows and she tried to sit up but pain shot through her small body and she curled into a silent ball, 'Don't make a sound Melody, don't make a sound.' She chanted to herself terrified the man would hurt her again if she did so trembling with fear she closed her eyes and let the blackness claim her again. The next time she woke the pain in her head was not quite as bad so she pushed herself to her feet and headed to the bathroom to relieve herself and wash the blood off her face. Blinking she gazed at her reflection in the mirror looking back at her was a thin dirty little girl with a face and body full of bruises, what she did not see was a tiny beautiful angelic child, her hair was molten gold and her eyes glittered like gold nuggets. She was a true beauty, even though she was caked in dirt and her hair was matted but it would not be many years before the man switched his interest to her instead of her mother. Walking back into the room she headed for the bed to wake her Mama scrambling up next to her she patted her face, 'Mama? Mama? Wake up Mama I'm hungry.' She patted harder but Mama never moved so the tiny child curled against her cooling body and fell back to sleep only to be rudely awakened when the rotten front door of the scruffy rooms they lived in was kicked open, 'She's in here.' Large hands plucked the little girl from her dead Mama's side startling her awake she struggled against them, 'No, no Mama, Mama, wake up, wake up.' She screamed fighting the hands that held her firmly, the Police Officer said nothing as he carried the frightened half starved child away from her dead overdosed Mama and handed her to the female Officer waiting outside, 'Fucking junkies shouldn't have kids, look at the state of this one, poor little thing.' She was taken to the hospital, stripped, scrubbed, photographed then dressed in pretty pink pyjamas given some food and a warm bottle of milk and put into a baby's cot. She was too old for the bottle and the cot but so traumatised by the day's events she curled under the warm blankets and fell instantly asleep. When she woke up the next day they gave her more food and she ate it ravenously, the kind Nurse then helped her to the bathroom where she stood looking up helplessly. 'What did this woman want her to do?' She thought her golden eyes wide and round, seeing her confusion the Nurse showed her how to clean her teeth, wash with soap and water, and then put on the clothes they had found for her. Melody did as she was told pulling on the pretty blue dress, white socks and cardigan and letting the Nurse put the shiny black shoes on her feet. Now she was clean and clothed in appropriate clothing the little girl was stunningly beautiful, her golden hair had been brushed until it shone and then braided into two thick braids that hung to her waist. When the Nurse led her into the room with the Police Officers, Doctors and Social Workers waiting for her she felt a pang of fear and clung to the woman's hand. One of the Social Workers, an older woman called Mary, detached herself from the others and crouched down in front of the scared little girl Melody hid behind the Nurse, 'Hi there my name is Mary can you tell me yours?' She watched the tiny child carefully unbeknown to Melody they knew all about her from the documents they had found in the hovel they had been living in but she needed to know how advanced she was Melody looked up at the kind Nurse who smiled reassuringly and pushed her forward, 'My name is Melody and I am five years old.' She whispered to Mary and then stuck her thumb in her mouth, 'It's very nice to meet you Melody and as I know it's your birthday today and I have a little gift for you.' Melody was wide-eyed with astonishment, 'How did these people know it was her birthday?' She blinked in confusion and then beamed with happiness when Mary produced the most beautiful pale golden teddy bear with a pink ribbon around its neck and handed it to her. Melody clutched it in her hands, awestruck by its soft silky fur stroking it reverently she looked back at Mary, 'Is this for me?' Chapter Two She had never been given a present before, birthdays and Christmas were barely acknowledged by her mother and her many lovers, all they meant was her mother got very drunk hooked up with the nearest guy and spent the night screwing him in front of her terrified daughter. Mary saw the uncertainty in the child's eyes she had lost count of the number of children she had seen brought to her in this condition. This dainty, pretty little girl had survived horrors that would crush most adults, starved, beaten ignored and left to fend for herself seeing things she should never have witnessed. The other Social Worker, a guy called Simon, knelt to address her and Melody backed away, men terrified her all they did was hit her and hurt her, none of the ones she had contact with had ever shown her anything but pain. 'Hello Melody, I am Simon and I have a gift for you too.' She started to tremble with fear she knew what the gifts men had for her meant, the back of a hand across her face, or the same hand gripping her hair and shaking her violently or the sick ones who put her across their knees and spanked her hard before throwing her away and hurting her Mama. Men were not to be trusted and she backed into the Nurse's legs her eyes wide and fearful, the man looked surprised and then hurt by her actions, 'Hey, hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you Melody I just wanted to give you this.' He held out a very pretty dolly to her but she made no move to take it, she knew this game too well, as soon as her little hand reached out to take it the dolly would be snatched away and the hand would grab her and shake her until her teeth rattled. Simon saw the fear in her eyes and stood up handing the doll to Mary without a word, they knew not to push a child so badly traumatised. Mary smiled at the little girl and handed her the doll, 'There you go, isn't that nice of Simon to remember your birthday like I did?' Melody said nothing clutching the teddy bear as the Social Worker watched her she carefully placed the doll on the floor and then fled back into the arms of the kind Nurse, 'Hey, now come on that's not a very nice thing to do, you have hurt Simon's feelings.' The Nurse was old fashioned not knowing the little girl had been taken from her dead mother's side and was severely traumatised she set Melody away from her and frowned disapprovingly, 'Did your Mama not teach you any manners, young lady? You go pick up that pretty dolly and apologise to Simon right now.' Melody was appalled, she had thought she was safe with these people, hadn't they cleaned her and fed her? Confused and scared she looked at the floor frozen where she stood the teddy bear dropping from her hand as she trembled violently. Mary rushed forward to sweep her into her arms and hold her close stroking her back and murmuring in her ear, 'It's okay baby girl, it's okay.' Glaring at the Nurse for her insensitivity she scooped up the teddy and walked out of the room to sit in a chair in the corridor rocking her gently. 'You okay baby girl?' Melody felt safe in this older woman's arms somehow she knew no one would hurt if Mary was there so she snuggled against her shoulder clutching the teddy to her chest. The adults continued talking over her head but she did not listen just stuck her thumb in her mouth and relaxed under the gentleness of Mary's touch. 'Do we have a foster home for her?' Simon asked looking at Mary and then their boss, Julian Fisher, he was the Head of the Social Services Team at the hospital and he had just arrived after reading the little girl's notes. 'She needs specialist care, as far as we can see she has not been sexually abused but physically abused, mentally abused, starvation and I would guess she had been subjected to some pretty horrific sights as well.' All the adults paused to look at the tiny pretty child sitting so quietly and still on the senior Social Worker's knee, it was an unnatural position, she appeared to be cuddled into Mary but if you looked closely she was holding herself so stiffly it had to be painful for her. 'We have only one family capable of giving her the care she needs but they are retiring soon. I'm not sure it would be beneficial for her to go to them and then have to be relocated just as she's settled.' Julian looked at the two Social Workers who both knew the service was overworked and understaffed, with a huge shortage of facilities for every sector. The couple Julian mentioned Anna and Henry, had been foster carers for more than twenty years, when their children had grown up and left to start their own lives, the couple had begun taking in unwanted and traumatised children. They had an amazing success story, almost all the children they cared for went on to lead 'normal' fruitful lives. If this tiny child was to have any chance at all she needed their care for however long they could give it so Mary sighed and stood up cradling Melody in her arms. 'We don't have a choice, the system would crush her, she's far too fragile for anyone else.' Anna and Henry welcomed the little girl using all their years of experience, they did not crowd her or make any fuss of her, instead, they spoke in soft voices, showing her to her room, telling her what was hers and what she needed to do. Children as traumatised as Melody needed structure and rules to follow as they tried to make sense of their new world. It took the couple a month to break down some of the walls the little girl had erected, slowly she told them of the abuse she had suffered, and the doll Simon had bought her remained untouched on a chair in her room.

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The Reluctant Golden Wolf

Citykim

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Kim Malpas

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