There’s a little glass jar on my desk, and inside it is some kind of fairy. She’s been there for a couple of days now, her mouth constantly working as she taps on the glass and spins around. I had to trap her in the jar because she was driving me nuts. She can’t stop talking, only pausing for about ten-to-twenty seconds to breathe between each writing prompt. They’re fun and interesting, but she’s drowning me in them and I can’t keep up … and so she’s now in a jar.

The jar isn’t soundproof, and so I just hear muffled words, sometimes something interesting slipping through that I might use. She surprisingly doesn’t mind being trapped in the jar. She doesn’t need anything to live, and so she’s just a firecracker all of the time. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I can hear faint tapping on the glass as she laughs and keeps on talking. My desk is neater now she’s in the jar. She’s not walking around picking up my memos and pulling out my notes. She would clamber up onto my shoulder sometimes and try and braid my short hair while whispering into my ear; it’s the only time she lowers her voice.

After a week, I notice that she’s softly slapping her hands against the jar and her words are slower. I didn’t think she’d need air, but I open the lid anyway.

She doesn’t seem to be getting better, and so I slide her out of the jar. She plonks down on the desk, sitting there with her eyes drooping as she continues to give me writing prompts, now mumbling. I start listening, and I realise that what she’s saying doesn’t actually make any sense. Well, they’re grammatically correct, but just sound like she’s talking nonsense.

She’s not even talking anymore, she’s just curled up on the desk listlessly staring at things. I’ve poked and prodded her a little and even popped her up on my shoulder, but she doesn’t seem to be getting her energy back. I’ve even tried talking to her, but she just mumbles a few things before going quiet again. I can’t tell if it’s the temperature of the room or the quality of the air. I’ve put a plant next to her but she just occasionally bumps it’s dangling leaves with her wings or foot. I’m worried about her.

Her eyes are closed and her wings aren’t moving. In fact, I can’t even tell if she’s breathing. She hasn’t said anything for a while now. It feels like I haven’t heard her voice in weeks, but it’s probably only been a few days. I’ve moved her in front of the keyboard so that she’s sitting in between my arms as I type. I’ve put little bits of food by her and have tried to give her water, but she just won’t move.

‘Hey,’ I say to her. I press my face really close to her and try to watch for her breathing. But I can’t tell if I can’t see it or if her chest is just not moving. ‘Hey, if you wake up, I promise I won’t put you back in the jar.’ My face is crinkling as I put my chin on the desk. ‘Please?’

I don’t know who to ask about it, I don’t really have many people close to me. There isn’t a lot about them online because of how unique they are to the person they flock to.

‘Does this mean that I’m dying?’ I don’t feel any different, just that normal hollow feeling inside when I can’t write, but I’ve been feeling like that since before I put her in the jar. I’ve even taken her outside and held her out in front of flowers and things but she just stays curled up.

What am I going to do? What if we both die? What do I do if it turns out I’ve just been carrying her corpse everywhere?