I should have noticed the signs. More than that, paid attention to the others. So many of our numbers had gone missing. Or, if they returned to the world, had returned with dark stories of torment and disfigured bodies. They kept to themselves, never hoping to be chosen again.

We devoted our lives to her. Our goddess. To be chosen was the highest honour. The weather on the day of my choosing was beautiful. White fluffy clouds that gleamed in the sun, floated in the bright blue sky. I reined by her side for far longer than I could have ever imagined. She allowed me to sleep by her side and every morning she would choose me. I supported her through rain, wind and sunshine, and I held fast, clinging to her like we were magnetic.

I liked to think, looking back, that my time with her was important, that I helped, and she needed me. But now I see, she used me. Tossed me aside after a long hard day, my heart torn apart like an unwanted note.

She cast me into the underground, and I met a few who had been through my same ordeal. The underground, dirty and forgotten, unkempt, the air clung to your skin, thick with odours and oils. Meeting the others down there made it real. Together we gathered dust as if we were forgotten objects, flung behind the dresser. Depressed, I slept on the ground with the others, and together we survived, with no sunlight or warmth, no reason to care. Months disappeared.

Yesterday, everything changed. My world grew full of life. The dust removed and happiness boiled inside me as I saw her again. She greeted me as an old friend would and we had a laugh about our good times. She promised never to let me fall to the underground again. For a moment, it was the start of something, another chance.

Now I am right back where I started, back to society, with the others who follow her every word. Now I am the one who has the dark stories, stories some won’t believe. I do not cling to the shadows with the others returned, as there is still hope, hope to be with her again. Hope to be pinned back into her lovely soft hair and out of the bobby pin box once more.