Sophia ✔

Chapter 1 - Life

Edited ✔

Chapter 1 - Life

July Second, 2001.

The sound of joyful cries and a baby's scream fills the crowded hospital room.

Sophia.

July Second, 2002.

She is older, laughs more, calls for her mother in a familiar babble.

Messy and childish, and so ready to learn and grow.

January Twenty-fifth, 2006.

The young girl leans herself against the banister languidly, catching her breath from the past hour of playing on her own. A red popsicle, gifted from her mother, drips onto her fingers as she clenches the sweet treat tightly in her palm.

With the incandescent heat of the sun glowering down on her cheekbones and shoulders, she leans closer into the shade of her porch as she rests her eyes, taking in the warm summer breeze.

The sound of rusty wheels on a scooter rattling against the sidewalk is what awakes her from her mid-day doze. Looking up, cocoa brown eyes meet soft teal.

A young blonde stares back at the brunette with curious eyes and a reddened face littered with freckles. A beat passes before the confident child drops her scooter and makes her way towards the startled girl who appears to be the same age as her.

"Wanna play?"

The blunt way the girl asks intrigues Sophia, nonetheless she shyly nods before finishing her popsicle and taking off with a simple shout to her mother who sat at the window, carefully knitting a red scarf.

The day was spent with gleeful cries and childish play.

"My name's Sophia, what's yours?"

"Ema."

February Twelfth, 2007.

Sophia is confused as she stares across the open field.

Boxes upon boxes are stacked into giant vans in the driveway. Sophia continues to stare as more and more items leave the small green house, her hand absentmindedly stroking the coarse hair of the red-coated horse beside her. The elderly couple who own the farmland on which the young girl stands gaze upon their field one last time, before hugging the child goodbye and leading her back home.

The next day they were gone.

March Nineteenth, 2008.

The boxes are back, but this time they are entering the house rather than leaving.

Peering through her open window with a curious gaze, Sophia catches the different coloured eyes of two little boys who look almost identical. They wave their free hands excitedly, an open invitation Sophia takes to head down and speak to the strangers.

As her parents greet their new neighbors, Sophia plays with her newly made friends, Connor and Eithen Awrey.

April Seventeenth, 2008.

Sophia now excitedly tells people that she is 6 and a half. She's grown into a bright and beautiful young girl. Her presence brings light into any room she enters and soft giggles always follow.

She's so, so happy.

*  *  *

Jumping down the spiral staircase with as much grace as she can muster and a wide grin spread across her face, Sophia makes her way towards the open kitchen of her childhood home.

The young girl is practically vibrating in excitement, the energy from her recent playdate with her best friends, Connor and Eithen, still not leaving her small body.

The twins and Sophia play together almost every single day, and today their older sister, Bella, gave Sophia one of her old dresses. She was only a year older than her, so she knew she would grow into it soon, but for now, she had the fabric loosely draped over her shoulders, the skirt bunched up in her hands so as not to trip over it.

The end trails behind Sophia as she marches into the kitchen, smile growing once she spots her papa sitting at the kitchen table.

"Papa, guess what-"

The words die on her lips and her smile slips from her face as his bloodshot eyes meet hers.

Sophia stands there, confused.

He's crying.

She didn't know, why was he, how-

He tenses, hands stopping from running through his messed up locks before reaching for his daughter.

"Sophie, I-"

"Papa, what-"

It's silent until she's pulled into a tight embrace.

The sound of his uneasy breathing is the only thing that fills the air as Sophia's heartbeat rings in her ears. Another beat passes before his grip loosens and she meets his sorrowful gaze with cautious curiosity.

"Sophia." He whispers, her name seeming to get stuck in his throat halfway out, more tears shining in his eyes as he takes her much smaller hands into his own. "M' sorry you had to see me like that. Everything's okay, papa is just trying to figure something out. What was it you wanted to tell me?"

His voice sounds happy, but there's still the thick undertone of sadness seeping its way through.

The words are caught in her throat. Sophia can't even seem to remember why she was so happy in the first place.

It isn't until she pulls the babydoll dress off her body and slips into bed that she notices her mama was nowhere to be seen.  

E.C.