Bright as the sky
Sophia looked through the bright sky from the balcony of the manor. It was a glorious sunrise. The sun could easily glisten on her vibrant skin. The mountains reminded her so much of the forest.
She looked down, and her family was almost done putting their suitcases into the trunk, all set for Orlando. Although the sun was out, she was wearing her white shawl—the one that Abanir gave her once, when she got lost in the wilderness. But, with everything that happened, she knew she was lost no more. The direction was clear to her now and it pointed toward Abanir.
At her palm was his fine feather. She could think of him, and only him. She could imagine him around her, breathing in the scent of her skin, their smiles merging in the harmony of their mutual adoration. But her daydreaming was suddenly broken the moment Bea went to check on her.
“They want me to ask you if you’re ready for Orlando.” Bea’s soft voice was cautious.
Sophia smiled, nodding, and glimpsed at the mountains once again, with a stare as though she was seeing Abanir there.
“I’m glad you’re wearing that shawl again,” Bea praised as she joined her musing over. “The last time I saw you wearing that was the night we were at the lake house, when we had a bonfire and played a charade.” Bea was beaming, and turned gloomy when she also remembered, “But… that was before… you had the amnesia, Sophia.”
Sophia was caught in a pause, and couldn’t believe that the shawl originally belonged to her. Then she remembered what she read in her diaries before. The bonfire was on the same night she saw the strange creature in the lake house.
Did I drop the shawl when I saw him? Sophia wondered to herself as her mysterious smile bewildered Bea. How did Abanir get it? Sophia asked herself again. Then she realized that since then, Abanir had always been at the lake house since they had their first unexpected encounter.
“Oh, Abanir! You always amaze me. I think I love you…” Sophia whispered to herself, and her love for him grew stronger thereafter. On and on, she would think of him.
The family already left Forest Green but Sophia lingered by her car window while staring beyond the mountains. She knew a bigger world waited for her in the city, but there would always be that special place, that place where her heart would always belong tothe Forest of Evergreen.