She had chains wrapped around her ankles and irons hanging from her wrists. These weights held her down, kept her anchored to the solid ground. They were immovable. As long as each one did its job correctly, she was tied to her cell. Oh how she despised it! She had tried every trick of the trade to break the spirits of these shackles, but they still pinched her skin and bit into her blood. In one word, she was trapped. Bound tight to one wall until the end of her days! She almost gave up too. She almost stopped hoping.

In some city in some country, a man stood. With his cellphone pressed to his ear and his eyes glued to his watch, he half-sprinted, half-walked towards his place of employment. The air was brisk around him, and whispered melodies into his soul. Pumping his arms rapidly, he pushed past the wind and its song. How he would pay for that.

Bile boiled over the pot. “Words escape me,” the wizard growled. “How could anyone be such an arrogant buffoon, as to leave the pot on HIGH?” His voice bit. A shaking apprentice approached him. “Sir… There’s a message in the window!” he squeaked. “A message… there hasn’t been a message in thousands of years!” the wizard attested. All the apprentice could do was tremble and point towards the foggy glass. “I’m sure of it, Sir,” he cried. “It’s from Marcie!”

At this, the wizard jumped from his stool and knocked over the brew. In his state of excitement, he completely disregarded the hazard. “Marcie, my darling! My darling love,” he sprinted “What news do you hold for me?” His robes flapped around his ankles.

Reaching the window, the wizard gave a crooked grin and wiped off the fog. “Marcie!” he cackled. When he tore his sleeve away, Marcie chubby face did not meet his eyes. In her place stood a man, bald on the top, with a beard that rivaled the wizards. “Marcie…” the wizard whispered. The man, as tall as he was wide, which was large on either end. “We have a knight in shining armor and a damsel in distress,” The man barked. “You must make them meet.”

“…Me?” whispered the quavering sorcerer. “Me?”