Kaelos and Lyla

It was a hot steamy day in Ancient Greece, a city known for its art and marble quarries. The heat is intense and the air smells of dust and olive oil. My name is Kaelos and I carve statues. Statues from gods, to normal people, to animals, bugs whatever you can think of I do. I left at 18 to pursue my passion, sometimes it gets lonely but I pour everything I have into my work and they pour back. Im commissioned by the wealthy cruel merchant to carve a statue of the “Perfect Maiden”. I hate working for him, but I need the money so I accept the job.

The next day I scavenge and find a massive, perfect block of marble that looks like it was built for this project. I bring it home and begin to work on it, after a few hours darkness creeps between the walls. I begin to chisel the face, as it happens. I realize that the stone seems to be guiding me. If I try to chisel a sad mouth it resists, if I chisel a happy smile the chisel slides through. There’s a consciousness stuck inside the marble and her name is Lyla, she tells me.

After weeks I stop carving and listen, she tells me how she was a princess from a rival kingdom who offended a sorcerer. He turned her into stone to preserve her beauty, but never released her. She has been conscious, trapped in darkness for over a hundred years, waiting for someone to save her. She tells me about all her travels and adventures she went on. She tells me about the oceans as blue as shattered sapphires, the sand as gold as a god’s crown, the grass as green as fresh olives on a branch. She tells me about the honey so sticky and sweet it sticks to the roof of your mouth, about the cheese as soft as morning clouds, the feasts that were filled to the skies of food. I fell in love with her voice and spirit way before I could ever see her true self.

The more I work, the more she reveals herself. Not just her face, but her thoughts, her fears, her longing to be free. She tells me she doesn’t want to be perfect. She wants to be real. She wants to feel the sun, the sea breeze, the world she has only heard through the vibrations of chisels and footsteps.

I’ve almost finished the statue, she is breathtakingly beautiful, but the merchant is coming tomorrow to collect the statue to be put as decoration. “Kaelos,” she whispers, “set me free.” I realize what I must do, but not how I must do it. I search everywhere for an answer and that's when I find it, an ancient text. It says: “To free the stone, the form must be broken. But stone without form is dust.” I finally realize now to save her I must destroy my greatest masterpiece. If I smash the statue she might live, but if I don't she remains a prisoner, beautiful but silent forever. “Lyla, I'm gonna free you, I'll destroy you tomorrow and set you free”. “Thank you Kaelos, ill take you everywhere together. We can be happy just me and you”. She says with the brightest smile I’ve ever seen in my life and my decision is made.

The next morning I wake up feeling the weight of my decision on my shoulders. I go down to my workshop and admire you for what feels like forever. Your perfectly shaped cheekbones and lips, my masterpiece soon to be turned real. I pick you up and take you down to town where the merchant is waiting. I place you down as the merchant congratulates me on such good work. I brush him off and wait till he’s not looking and then throw down my sledge hammer as hard as I can. You go crumbling into millions of pieces as your new form comes to life. First your legs to your hips, to your eyes and nose. Just like I created you. I only have time to put my arms out and hold you before my life goes silent. Frozen. Trapped just like you were a hundred years ago.

The end