Once again, the princess had been unable to get to sleep. It was like this for several a night for them, usually spending multiple hours restless and feeling like it was impossible to get settled. On most nights they would choose to occupy themselves with another activity, setting up a board game to play against only them, or perhaps choosing to endless trawl through the various books in their room.
On one night, they decided to change out of their nightwear and instead go for a walk into the nearby forest. Their outside outfit was beautiful, but practical, comprised of sturdy riding boots, well fitted leather trousers, and an ornate cold weather jacket, trimmed with fur around the cuffs.
Leaving the castle grounds through the kitchen, they began their amble. The forest was maintained by the royal gardeners, so whilst the dense woodland gave a foreboding impression; it was anything but. Wildlife teemed throughout the trees, ranging from the smallest woodlouse scurrying underneath a log when the princess approached, to the largest racoons who also ran away, but instead chose to duck behind trees.
Eventually, the princess reached a clearing, and took a seat on a large, ancient tree stump. They sighed, realising that their predicament was unsustainable, and that eventually a consultation with the court physician would be needed. Time passed, and still the princess felt no tiredness or no desire to go back to their room.
The clearing was quiet, and all the creatures of the forest had displaced around the princess, leaving them alone with their thoughts.
Until they noticed something on a small log to their right. On top of this log, was a slug. It was unremarkable in size being only a few inches long, with light brown spots along the top of its darker brown body. Unbothered by the princess’s presence, it slowly slid along the surface of the log, unaware of the world around it.
“So, I guess you’re my company for the night” the princess said, talking as if the slug would be able to respond. “It’s not fun having insomnia, especially with all the different pressures I know I’ll face during the day. I guess you don’t have to worry about any of that, do you?”
There was no response from the slug.
“Though I suppose you’ve got your own set of worries, presumably involving birds and other such denizens of this forest, looking to make you their meal.”
Again, there was no response.
“I guess I don’t have it so bad, I just need to be able to talk to the right people to find out how to get the help I need. Thanks, slug, you’ve been a great listener!”
As the princess stood up, they gave a slight curtsy in the direction of the slug, who, once again, had no response to their monologue.
The princess returned to their room, changed back into their nightwear, and got back into bed. Whilst the sleep that followed was short and marred slightly be unpleasant dreams; it was still what they needed and gave them the ability to face the next day with a bit more confidence.
Visits to the forest clearing continued in the coming weeks, with the princess returning to that point every two to three nights, and each time, the slug had returned to that log. Forest nights continued the trend of the princess talking aloud to themselves, treating the slug as a personal counsellor, articulating the problems and concerns they were facing at court and with their duties.
Up until, one night, when the princess was happily skipping to the clearing, ready to talk to their gastropod friend…
…and there was no slug on the log waiting for them.
The princess felt a slight dip in their heart, worrying that the fate they had described in their first meeting had finally come true. They sat on the stump for a while, hoping the slug would arrive, but hours passed, and nothing happened.
They returned to their room, and went to bed, upset at the situation. A cycle of returning to the clearing each night repeated for several days, and each time they returned, there was no slug to be found. The princess was rapidly losing hope at the idea of being able to see their slug friend again.
On the night they intended to be their last in the clearing before attempting to seek out a remedy to their insomnia; the princess took their seat on the stump again, sighing sadly at the situation that had unfolded. And then they turned to the log where the slug normally sat with them.
And to their pleasant surprise, the slug had returned.
An overwhelming feeling of relief and excitement washed over the princess, as they began talking about all the different issues they had encountered since their last meeting, whilst expressing thanks that the slug had came back to them. All throughout this the slug continued to give no response, but was sat perfectly still on the log, almost as if intently listening to the princess.
The one-sided conversation continued long into the night, until the princess realised that they needed to get back to their room for some measure of sleep before they would be woken up to begin their day.
“Thank you, my slimy friend” they said, curtsying and using their index finger to gently pet the slug goodbye. The princess would often return to the clearing on late nights in the hope of clearing their head, sometimes the slug would be waiting for them, and sometimes the night would go by without the slug appearing at all.
All that mattered to the princess was that when the slug was there, the conversation continued from wherever it last left off.
Inspiration
So, aside from a short story told across multiple tweets I wrote about 2 or 3 weeks ago, this is my first foray back into creative writing for a while, so apologies for any roughness in the prose or punctuation.
It’s a bit of a weird story as well, the inspiration came from the fact that I myself do suffer from insomnia a fair few nights (partially my own fault for how much caffeine I drink some days). And when I go to the bathroom at night, a slug has usually slid in from a hole in the wall, and even though they can’t respond to me, I’ll usually make light conversation with them as a way of passing some time.
The bit about the slug disappearing also came from my late night experiences, because for a while I didn’t see the slug until they returned about a week or so later, though, that’s not the real moral behind that plot point.
Even though we live in a world where remote communication is more accessible than ever, and in the current times, the only way some people are able to chat to their friends, sometimes time will pass where you won’t get to talk or see the people close to you for a while. What’s important with people like this, is that you’re just able to pick right up where you left off with each other, even if it’s several months after your last conversation.
Rosalia Rambles 
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