“Chink, chink, scrape, chink, chink,….THUNK! CHUNK! Chink, chink.”

A hunk of stone was cracked away from his mass, and it rocked him into consciousness. The sounds and the thumps that were echoing around him, jostled him this way and that way. Yet he was immovable. He stood trapped, hemmed in by the dark and weighty bulk that encased him.

“CRASH!”

The noise was jarring, and the ground shook, but somehow he felt lighter, and a bit fresher, even though pieces of him were ripped from his being. He longed to scream, to run, to stop the violence that was tearing him apart. He needed to save himself but he couldn’t make a sound, he couldn’t move a muscle. He was being attacked and he was powerless to defend himself.

“Scrape, scrape, splatter, splatter, crumble, crumble.”

“POUND, POUND, POUND,……THUMP!”

He felt as if he was about to topple over, his entire backside had been hacked away. The pain and the fear was excruciating. He was being taken apart bit by bit, chunk by chunk. He wanted to fight back, he needed to escape, he had to ….. AHHHH, OHHHH, his back felt so cool and soft. He felt something light and tender rubbing his shoulder, caressing the muscles of his torso. Something was wrong, and yet, this all felt so right. What was happening to him?

“Ka-chink, ka-chink, brush, brush, tap, tap, tap.”

The clanks and jolts were now up around his head. Would that be the next to go? Was he about to lose his head? He strained to let out a yell! He was pleading for his life but no sound emitted. He was silent as stone.

“Tink, tink, tink tink tink, scrub, scrub, scrape, scrape, scrape.”

He saw a brightness approaching him with every “tap.” His head was becoming cool and once again he felt a gentle touch gliding across his forehead. A few more very gentle “taps” and suddenly the darkness that he had always known, exploded into light and he was blinded. It was terrifying and he strained, with all of his might, to retreat back into his marble fortress, but he was still frozen in place,

“Schwup, schwup, rub, rub, brush, brush.”

“Well, hello there David, my friend. I’ve been searching for you.”

His eyes were revealed and he adjusted to the light. Sunshine angled down from a high window, highlighting the dusty cloud hanging in the air of the studio. A kind soul with tears running down his dust caked face, lovingly stared into his eye. David wanted to reach out to the man with the chisels and the rasps but he was stilled by the stone.

Days and weeks passed as more and more of his hard exterior flecked away from him. He embraced his excavation and instead of straining away from the hammers and the chisels, he leaned into them thrusting with all of his might to break free of the stony skin that once hid him from sight. His muscle and flesh emerged, his hands and feet took shape, and his countenance gleamed until finally, he was completely extracted from the boulder and proudly stood tall, proud, and bathed in the clean light of day.