Yesteryear Fiction

The Eight Thousand And Third Day
By Madeline Dyer


I'm waiting here for you. As usual. Waiting for the day you'll come back.

You promised that you would. Don't you remember? You said you'd never leave me. You told me you'd be back tomorrow, or the next day. And if you couldn't manage either of those you'd come the day after.

How long have I been here? Trapped. Waiting for my knight in shining armour to rescue me.

I'm always here, you know where to find me. I'm not going anywhere. You're the one who's off, wondering about, completely free. Not me.

It's been a long time since I last saw you. I've been counting the days. I wonder if you'll still look the same; I love your cheeky grin, your lopsided mop of dirty blond hair, your hazel eyes.

Maybe you will come today? Or tomorrow? What difference would an extra day make? I'm still part of the rock.

It's horrible this feeling, being so dependent on someone who's probably forgotten me. At night I'd cry and scream and throw tantrums about how unfair life is, if I could. I can't do anything other than think - and what use is that?

I can't move. If I could I wouldn't be in this nightmare.

I can't speak. I can't call for help. No one would ever hear me. No one knows I'm even here. Only you can save me now.

I can only think. And what use is that? I think of you, do you ever think of me? You must remember surely? It's your fault I'm here!

Do you feel guilty? You said you'd sort it, the mess you got us in. You haven't yet. Will you ever?

I should never have been so stupid as to believe you when you said we could fight those evil monsters on our own! Of course one of us would get hurt.

I remember you begging for me to come back. For me not to leave you. I remember how the old warlock materialized and told you he could save me, but only if you saved him.

Warlocks are sly people, we should have realised it. Maybe you did finish the job he gave you to do in order to get me back. Maybe he didn't keep his part of the deal. Maybe he couldn't remember how to bring me back to life after you found him that rare stone. What was it called? The mist stone? That sounds right.

Sometimes I think that you've just left me. That you're not coming back. Maybe you don't think I'm worth it. Not anymore, not after all these years. Maybe you found someone else. It's not often I think that, it's just with you having been gone for so long... Most of the time I don't know what to think.

But I still believe you'll come, you won't let me down. You'll find another warlock who can help, won't you?

I sigh, a long deep sigh, as I begin my eight thousand and third day of waiting for you. Oh, doesn't time go slowly.


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Hello, I'm Madeline and I have a strong love for writing, mythology and folklore. Ever since I was little I've dreamed of being an author, and am currently working on a young adult fantasy novel. I live on a farm in the southwest of England where I have a beautiful black rabbit, a herd of guinea pigs and a couple of Shetland ponies.