Gone

In the little corner room in the shop, no sunlight entered to wake the young Brunette up from her restless slumber. It has been years since nightmares have plagued her nights, but Eleanor found no way to rid herself of them. Even after peering through various medicine, dream philosophy, mind and psychology books; Eleanor failed. She did not tell her aunt about any of this for fear of worrying her, but Daphne already had a guess on the issue as she noticed the anomalies in Eleanor's sleeping pattern. In the initial stages, the poor, sleep deprived girl would feel so tired that she would fall asleep at any time of the day for few brief minutes, before waking up tired. Eleanor's health deteriorated, and she became prone to many illnesses. Her state of mind wasn't the most stable at that time either because of the sudden demise of her mother, Grace Abbott. More particularly, it was only after the night that her mother took her last breath, did Eleanor begin having the same recurring nightmare. It has been five years, yet Eleanor still cannot let go of the guilt seated deep within her conscience. According to her, she caused her Mother's death because she was helpless, not good enough, not fast enough. Maybe she could have saved her mother that night. At least maybe seen her for the last time. If only she had...

A loud ring disrupted the silence in the room, and Eleanor's tense form sat up straight in bed. Cold sweat lined on her forehead and she drew in deep breaths. Eleanor relaxed when she became conscious of her surroundings.

'Wait a minute...'

She roamed her gaze around the room but did not find the person she was searching for.

'Where is he? In the washroom?' There was a small bathroom attached to the room in the shop. Eleanor stood up and looked at the door of the bathroom.

'It's locked. And the keys are at their usual place. Then where is he? He couldn't have left, right?'

The renewed peals of her cell phone interrupted her and she turned to pick it up from on top of a desk. She checked the caller ID and her eyes widened at the name displayed on the screen.

"Hello? Aunt Daph-"

"Where are you, young lady?" Eleanor felt the hairs in the back of her neck rise at the grave tone of her aunt's voice.

"I am at the shop, aunty. Do not worry, I am absolutely fine. Just fell asleep here. I am so sorry I forgot to call and inform you. It completely slipped my mind." Eleanor finished her response in a jiffy and answered all possible questions in one go.

"You're not one to not inform of your whereabouts, Ella. I couldn't sleep the entire night in worry. You come straight home young lady and have your breakfast. You missed dinner, right?"

"Yes." Eleanor breathed out softly. She was ashamed of herself for forgetting something as critical as this. Her godmother was the closest kin she had left, and it's the same for Daphne. They have this unspoken agreement of always sharing important details of their actions and plans to not keep the other in complete darkness.

"I am coming straight home, auntie. Relax and get some sleep."

"You come home first!" And the phone disconnected.

Eleanor sighed.

'She is angry.' She mentally chastised herself for forgetting to inform her aunt. 'Why did I fall asleep at that unfortunate moment? Usually it takes so long for me to sleep.'

Her thoughts drifted to the masked enigma and her mood dampened further. Another one who left her in the same no prior notice manner. Is she cursed to only find temporary friends who all leave her with no information.

She hardened herself. 'Don't feel saddened by his departure,' she consoled herself, 'You didn't even know who he was, so just treat him as a passing memory.'

Taking one last look around the shop, she locked it and left.

____________________________________

Eleanor exited out the back door of her cottage and came out to the small meadow like garden which had soft lush green grass and a variety of flowers blooming under the sparkling sunlight. Also in this sea of rich flora were herbs that her mother had planted and tended to. Something which had become her responsibility since her demise.

All her knowledge and talent was her mother's gift, who had given her an upbringing on par with those of rich nobles.

Eleanor rubbed her tummy with an uncomfortable smile, ' Aunty should stick to baking pancakes. Ah! My poor stomach.' She groaned as her stomach ached with emptiness.

Her aunt who made the best pancakes wasn't very good at cooking anything else much. And today, as a punishment, she had made Eleanor eat one of her experiment dishes. An item that had professional level visuals but taste....saying it was terrible would be being kind. Eleanor wondered why her aunt, who had learned to make pancakes from the town's baker, did not visit him anymore to learn more delicacies. Her poor stomach would like that very much.

When her aunt wasn't looking, Eleanor threw away the trashy food. She felt sorry initially for wasting food, but was reminded of how the dish was not edible at all.

Now standing at their back garden which was right in front of one edge of the forest, Eleanor whistled loudly a melodic tune. Soon a loud, thunderous sound of hooves hitting the ground with power reached her ears, and she saw her one and only loyal friend approach her with the wind breezing through its mane and dust flying behind it.