Chapter Text
Saying the world went on without you, is like saying the Moon offers the sky to the Sun at dawn. In fact, as long as Time itself existed, so have I in my frozen state. I’m sure I was once human; I have a distant memory of my life before this. Yet,as the decades pass me by like ashes in the wind; it all becomes hazy. As if any semblance of humanity I could have had, simply exists within a dream. Now I exist within a nightmare and I don’t have permission to wake up.
I can’t even begin to remember how I ended up like this. But if there’s anything for certain, it’s the sheer loneliness that envelops me. However the clouds gather or what little sunlight peeks through; I’m still standing in the same spot. I’ve had my share of visiting birds and the occasional jogger. Sometimes they’d stay with me for longer than 5 seconds and excitement fuels my cast stone veins. Then they’d leave, and as if Winter came early, my heart would shatter like ice.
To say I’m frustrated is an understatement, but what can I do? Nothing, literally nothing, I’m a miniature statue. I exist as an ornament stranded in the middle of nowhere; and I’ll remain that way even after the Sun dies out.
Until today.
The uproar of four men catches me off guard. The ground itself shakes and I just have to ponder: is it an earthquake? Not that that matters, I’ll still probably remain here as usual. These voices sound rather mature, as if they’re old souls facing the world. Yet, they also give off an element of youth; as if they just came back from Neverland. It’s weird, I know, to feel all these things from voices alone. But when something this strong comes at you, sometimes you just have to let the moment work itself out.
The first one comes as quick as lightning. The next one runs past me as if he’s made out of wind. The third boy slows down, but he picks up his pace. Then the last one appears, I catch only a glimpse of his ocean-blue eyes. Just as I’m about to take in the rest of him, he runs into me, I hear a crack.
Soon the crack becomes more, as the upper half of me falls off from the remaining statue; and the ocean eyed boy shouts a profanity.
“Colby? Dude, what’s wrong?” one of the boys rushes to his friend, he puts down a camera.
“Oh my god, dude,I think I ran into-oh my god, Jake, I broke something!” Physically, I’m far from having a human body. But as the boy presumably named Colby picks me, for the first time since becoming a statue, I can feel warmth. It’s a bit strange and tingly, so I focus back on him. A bird shaped tattoo, fingers decorated in unique rings, his face painted with concern.
“Dude, we have to get out of here,” Jake shakes Colby, which in turn has me fearing I’ll be dropped. Instead, Colby holds onto me firmly.
“I know, I know.Dude but-”
“What even is that?” Jake interrupts as he eyes the bottom half of my structure.
“Like I said, I ran into it...and I broke it,” for once, I hear a sliver of regret from a stranger, and it originates from the state of my ‘well-being’. Well, if you can call it that.
“It’s not ours. Colby, dude, look I bet Sam and Corey are looking for us.”
“Okay, okay, just give me..” with the speed of a hunted deer, Colby picks up the other part of me as Jake picks up the camera. I hear the shouting of presumably Sam and Corey, the boys quickly move on; with me joining them.
“What do you think it is?” Jake asks inbetween catching his breath.
“I mean, it’s like a garden gnome...but also not ‘cause it’s smaller-”
“And it’s not even a gnome,” Jake interrupts once more.
“Yeah dude! It’s, it’s,” Colby takes a further inspection, if I had heart it’d be beating louder and faster than before, “I broke this little lady statue, and I’m going to fix her up.”
(A day later)
“I mean, I can put her back together,” the shop owner gives me a thorough wipe before placing me on the countertop, “But that’s all I can do, son. I can’t tell who made her...when she was made, let alone say how much she’d cost in the market.”
“Yeah,” Colby forces a chuckle, “I figured that.” As the shop owner quickly attends to another matter, I find myself lucky. True to his word (and not that he actually made a promise to me), Colby brought me back. Poor boy was absolutely clueless on how to piece me back together. Thankfully it’s only my top and bottom half that have been snapped in half; literally only two pieces. This clearly isn’t his level of expertise, so he did the next rational thing.
The repair shop itself isn’t too bad either. Although it’s mostly rooted in clocks and small knick-knacks, there’s a place for a little ‘garden gnome’ like me. I can’t help but laugh at that pet name Colby has adopted. It’s endearing how it’s technically not what I am; but you can’t say I’m not it either. To be quite frank, I still struggle with that. Any and all memories of before becoming a statue are as scattered as a four-leafed clover; I’d be really lucky to find any. When I do, I’m holding onto that luck; but the one I have right now isn’t the worst thing either.
“Guess it’s going to be you and I for a bit longer, little lady,” Colby whispers under his breath, I’m mildly startled. That’s another name he calls me, ‘little lady’. Although he only says it when it’s just the two of us. I don’t mind, it’s like our ‘little thing’. Well, minus the fact I’m a statue and he doesn’t know I actually exist with cognitive thoughts and such.
“Speaking of which, son, where’d you even get,” the shop owner wags his finger at me in confusion, “That?”
“Oh, uh, my friends and I were out one night,” Colby hesitates with his answer, and I get it. It’s not easy explaining the ghost hunting and whole Youtube career either, I didn’t quite get it myself, “And, um, yeah...we found her out there...in the wild.”
Colby flashes one of his signature smiles, it has a boyish charm to it. I thought I was the only one swooned, but the shop owner soon lets out a hearty laugh, “You don’t have to hear this from me, but just be careful out there. Who knows where she came from, or hell, what even made her.”