Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay
PART ONE (Poetry)
This part is not the story, and you don't have to read it if you so desire.
Her words..
They begin my tale..
One that for all the world, I would rather not tell.
It was at Loctar..
That was where it began..
That burning out of town warehouse, where Sheila was found.
I found her..
Oh yes it was me..
A sad but pretty sight, she had crawled out on her knees.
And my heart had melted,
For this child in need..
Then she had spoken in a soft voice, just like in the books which I read...
And her words were...
"I have a dragon,
I also had it yesterday,
I wish, I wish, all their doubts would go away..."
PART TWO (Prose)
This part is the story itself (275 words total).
She had a tiny bracelet on her wrist when I had found her. The bracelet told me her name was Sheila. She had said only a few words when she had crawled out of the rubbles... like a lost jewel.
It seemed impossible that she had survived, that anyone had survived. It was a miracle, if there ever was one. And the whole crew had stared unbelieving at me when I emerged with Sheila in my arms.
We had needed to stop work then, at least for a little while. We didn't know how long Sheila had been in that burnt warehouse, and it was way, way out of town. So we all got into the truck, Sheila and I at the front, the rest of the crew in back, and we had headed back into the town to find the nearest child services officers.
At the time I had paid no mind to the only words the little girl had uttered up till then. One which she had also repeated multiple times on our way into town. And soon after we had dropped her off, I had probably forgotten the words, with the thought I would never hear them or see Sheila again.
But I was gravely mistaken. For now I know I can't forget those words, or little Sheila either...
Because she has just crawled out again, from the now burning child services building. And in that soft tender voice of hers which I now know would forever haunt my dreams, she keeps saying...
"I have a dragon,
I also had it yesterday,
I wish, I wish, all your doubts would go away..."
THE END
#SladenSpeaks
Submitted for @writingnreview's Write Your Fiction Short Story Contest
Cc: @fendit @belenguerra
Sheila's words are inspired by the poem Antigonish/I met a man who wasn't there by Hughes Mearns
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Beautiful poem.
The need for help and support.
I felt emotional while reading
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