thE Agony
Sophia squeezed her pillow tightly, and did not let go, as if to signify that letting go meant finally admitting all hope was lost. She couldn’t stop thinking of Forest Green: of how Jericho was doing behind bars, and that kiss, that kiss that Abanir bestowed on her before he disappeared among the tall trees by the lake.
She wanted to cry out, to release further the heavy burden burying her, but her eyes were already weary ever since they left Forest Green, that sundown.
Pressing her eyes hard, she wondered if her Grandma Lucy truly kept her promise: that she would free Jericho from jail once Sophia returned to Orlando with her parents.
She did it, and so she hoped her grandma would do the same. She loved Jericho so much that she wanted him to continue his life, even without her. And the only thing she was holding on to, right now was... could fate be kind enough to let them see each other again?
But, along those sentiments was the thought of Abanir. What did his kiss by the lake mean?
Oh, God… Sophia wiped her teardrops away, but the wild rivers inside of her had already widened into oceans. Before long, she fell asleep and sank into the sudden dream of Jericho… and Abanir.
When Elizabeth opened her eyes, everything felt so different. It was on the morning they arrived back at Orlando City. She let out a soft groan and struggled to ignore the rush of fresh memories from Forest Green. Though she worried too much about Sophia’s recent misbehavior, she was not too horrified to worry about her other kids as well: Alex and Nadine.
Slowly, she spun away from the bed, leaving Philippe snoring out of exhaustion, and went downstairs to the dining room. There, her parents were taking good care of Alex and Nadine after they had gone out, hunting for Sophia in Forest Green.
“Good morning!” Randy, her father, greeted, as his gray hair glimmered with the sun’s rays entering the windowpane. His smile was refreshing, though he had blackish lips, a sign of a heavy tobacco smoker.
“Oh, hi! Honey, come and join us with breakfast!” her mother, Emily broke in, even more welcoming, as she offered her a seat and a cup of freshly brewed black coffee.
Despite her drained condition, Elizabeth managed a cheerful face. She felt recharged when Nadine ran to hug her, hastily, as though now was the last time.
“I miss you, Mom. You were away for far too long.” Nadine’s pining voice directly stung Elizabeth’s heart as she clung firmly on her mother’s sagging shoulders. “And where’s Sophie?” She glanced around, eyes in all directions, just to spot her missing sister. “And daddy, too?”
Nadine’s series of questions added coal to Elizabeth’s burning chest. If only she could upload everything to her daughter’s young mind and make her understand, she would, without a shred of hesitation. But patting her daughter’s hair was all that she could do.
“Sweetie, Sophie and daddy are still in bed, all right?” Elizabeth tried to make up for Nadine’s enthusiasm and met her large blue eyes, which were clueless about what was happening to the family lately. If only Elizabeth could tell her more.
“At this hour?” Disappointment crossed Nadine’s face, and every eye in the room witnessed it.
Across the silence, the adults passed messages through their eyes. If it was that easy, they would let Nadine know. Let her know about her older sister’s act of running away—away with Jericho to Forest Green.
Elizabeth then heaved a heavy sigh, and temporarily avoided to mention the fact that Sophia went missing for two nights at the forest with Jericho—the guy that disgusted her and Grandma Lucy the most, and the guy they thought to be the greatest menace in Sophia’s life.
And this, Elizabeth found hard to accept, to believe that something else happened between the two. It was disturbing, but how Elizabeth wished she could ignore the fear flaring inside of her!
A second passed and Philippe joined them for breakfast, rubbing his eyes, as though he was still deprived of sleep. Clearing his vision, he greeted everyone, especially his in-laws. Then before he could find a seat, he noticed Sophia’s absence. “Where is Sophie?” he asked, perturbed.
“He’s still in bed, Dad,” answered Nadine as she rushed to give her father a warm embrace, too. “I miss you, Daddy!” She expressed grinning, trying to wash away her displeasure.
“I miss you too, sweetheart!” Philippe imparted kisses on her cheeks and tickled her. “How’s my little pumpkin while I was away, huh?”
Nadine chortled more loudly as Philippe examined her harder.
“And you’ve gained weight? I bet grandpa and grandma cooked a lot for you.” Philippe had some more fun and flexed some muscles to carry his daughter.
“Oh, yes. Especially chicken meals.” Emily joined in, grinning at Nadine.
“And soon she’ll have wings if she keeps on eating more chicken,” Randy supplemented and winked at Nadine gamely.
At once, a blast of laughs dispersed through the entire dining room, as Nadine lingered to be the center of everyone’s universe.
That nightfall, Sophia’s longing for Jericho heightened, but she was pulled back by her memories with Abanir. She knew Abanir had saved her life, and not just once… and his kiss placed her heart in a maze.
She reached out for her sketch pad and pencil and started outlining. Bit by bit, she came up with Abanir’s face—those eyes, so splendid, that she remembered them changing colors. And that voice of his, singing by the falling water, took away her cluttered thoughts, for a moment.
Her remembering cracked to pieces when her cell phone rang. It was Zarah, wishing to talk to her, after she had heard everything from Alex.
At arm’s length, Sophia held her cell phone, but a part of her was pulling her back. She was uncertain if she was with her sanity to talk to anybody.
Another ring—and she finally pressed answer.
“Ola!” Zarah’s piercing voice popped out. “Alex just called. He said you’re already home. So what’s up?” Zarah was obviously trying to make things light.
“Zarah...” Sophia’s voice was low and weak.
Feeling it, Zarah chose to act sensitive. She knew her best friend was in trouble, and she wondered why Sophia was silent about Jericho for so long. They were best friends, and Sophia could always talk to her about it—openly—that was why Zarah felt a bit of disappointment.
Yet, Sophia’s interests mattered more to Zarah, and she was very much willing to listen to whatever Sophia would tell her.
“You wanna talk about it?” Zarah attempted to unlock a fragile confession from Sophia.
“I don’t know… I can only wish to remember the good times and forget the things I refuse to remember. They are nothing but heartache.” Sophia’s reply was in an undertone. Then, a hushed howling echoed over the phone, and Zarah was at her finest to, at least, comfort her dearest friend. “I am really messed up right now, and I don’t know what to do.” Sophia couldn’t help but admit. She had to, or her heart would burst into flames and scatter like wildfire.
Zarah knew then that her friend was referring to the emotional misadventures that Sophia had been involved with, and at that moment, she could only think of one thing she’d always believed in. “It’s not love when you don’t feel some pain, Sophie,” she said and continued when nothing resounded at the end of the line. “Look, I wish I could go to your house today and cheer you up, but I’m out of town right now. I’m at my grandparents’,” she added cautiously. “It’s their golden wedding anniversary but I’ll…” she was saying when she heard the rasp of Sophia’s hushed weeping. “Don’t worry, I’ll drop by your house once I return to Orlando, okay?” Zarah was gallant in saying it, and Sophia could only thank her more but she eventually declined, realizing she would be too selfish if she’d ruin her best friend’s retreat, so she hindered herself from lamenting and dismissed the subject matter immediately. She’d done it to spare Zarah’s vacation.
“Hey, you know what? I heard Anne is throwing a party this Thursday night,” Zarah burst out. “Why don’t we go? I mean, you need to go out, Soph.”
The offer kicked Sophia in the head. Her best friend was right but she knew she was grounded, and without a doubt, her parents would be watching her every move. Now that her mess was still fresh, surely she would be jailed at home like a prisoner.
“You’re right. I need to go out but… Well, I’ll try.”
“No, don’t try. You must, and you’re coming with me whether you like it or not.” Zarah directed with a compelling quality, accompanied by a row of sarcastic laughs—her convincing style that worked most of the time.
It worked now, and they began their plot of excuse-and-escape.
Right after the call, Sophia sat down on her bed and reflected for a while. Then a hasty flashback of the night she was falling from the high cliff seemed to transport her back to the forest. The feeling was critical… but was soon wiped out when she remembered Abanir, how he had caught her and saved her. She remembered the flapping sounds of his gargantuan wings, too. They were heavenly. But the night they spent at the Harem Falls was even more heavenly. Magical.
As those memories came back, Sophia caught herself tracing her lips. Abanir was fast in kissing her by the lake, and it was a moment she couldn’t escape from. But then, there was a sudden, intense crumpling of her heart—the ache was different, this time.
Jericho.
Yes, Jericho, too, came into view. But his face was in torment. It made Sophia assume that he was, in fact, in real torment—in prison, perhaps. Heavens, if she could travel back to Forest Green and go straight to the precinct to see him and tell him that she loved him, she would, against of Nature’s forces. But then again, there was an agreement with her Grandma Lucy: to go back to Orlando and forget Jericho.
She lifted her face up to the ceiling, and realized she was probably wrong in leaving Forest Green without reassuring herself that Jericho was released from jail. And right now, what she could only do was… to cling firmly to the hope: that her Grandma Lucy kept her word.