"Timeless" - Narnian Autumn Writing Challenge - Oneshot Collection

"As Long As We're Together"

Prompt: Cinnamon buns

Word count: 2682

Chiming loudly, the grandfather clock's large hour hand hit exactly twelve 'o'clock, ringing throughout the empty house, echoing off the yellow-painted walls and down the dark hallways.

A fork squeaked against ceramic with a nauseating slide and Lucy sighed, dropping the silverware and burrowing further into her blanket as she sat at the dining room table.

Alone.

Susan had come downstairs to check on her at eleven, concerned and telling her to just go to bed, Edmund hadn't shown himself; probably fast asleep in his bed. As usual.

She'd been up since ten waiting, telling herself stories to pass the time, writing in her diary about needless things and carelessly moving around the pan full of cinnamon rolls on the table, her memories even wandering back to her adventures in Narnia.

Was this all pointless? At first, staying up to surprise Peter with his favorite breakfast food for dinner seemed like a good idea.

The air was sweet with the sugar glaze she'd generously topped the cakey spirals with and her stomach grumbled. She had been waiting to eat dinner until Peter arrived, but now... now she wasn't so sure she should be waiting up anymore.

Maybe she should just eat dinner and then head to bed. It seemed like the best idea. But then she would not be able to sleep, because she'd be up waiting and worrying until Pete got home.

What if he had gotten hurt? Or he couldn't make it home for some reason?

Now her head hurt with concern.

Outside the wind howled and pushed at the house, sending shivers down her spine. She bit her lip, thousands of worst-case scenarios running through her head in a mad tumble. Rain pelted the glass pane and drenched the roof in water.

There was no way to contact Peter, they had no phone in her cousin's house and she wasn't sure where he worked they would even have a phone.

She got up from the table, unwrapped herself from the fuzzy blanket surrounding her body in warmth, and headed to the door.

Listening hard, she couldn't tell if it truly was raining or not. Maybe the noise was just the roof panels rattling against each other in the draft.

To be sure, she moved to the door, the floorboards creaking under her weight and she put a hand on the copper knob.

Then she sucked in a breath, her courage doused.

What if there was a thief outside, waiting with a pocket knife to slit her throat or threaten their way inside? She knew that was highly improbable, but still, it scared her.

But, trying to be valiant, her shaky hand jiggled on the doorknob for a moment before she turned it and flinched at the cold air rushing in.

Rain was drizzling down and coating everything outside in a layer of moisture, the water droplets settling into the breaks between the cobblestone streets.

It was too dark to see almost anything, everything was clouded in shadows, murky to her eyes.

Over by the side of their house, a shadow of something sat.

She squinted and put her chin up, was that a figure slumped over? Her lip quivered and she swallowed hard. Should she call out and ask if someone was there? What if it was someone she knew? But what if it was a scary person?