Sophie's Light by Matthew S. Cox

Author:Matthew S. Cox [Cox, Matthew S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: drama, fantasy
Publisher: Matthew S. Cox
Published: 2018-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

A Shadow of What Once Was

Sophie dreamed of her light returning, the warm presence squeezing her hand, and the ethereal lullaby swirling around her head. Eventually, the dream faded and she awoke in the tree-bed, one foot dangling.

The caterpillar had gone as well. Sophie yawned and gazed up through the branches at the ever-dark sky. Her legs no longer ached, so she figured she’d gotten plenty of rest.

After making her way back down to the forest floor, she stretched and yawned.

Every direction looked the same. She turned in place gazing up at the black leaves and branches, feeling simultaneously lost, heartbroken, hopeful, and terrified.

“Oh! Which way?” She stomped her foot in the soft ground.

“Sophie,” said her light, far off.

Upon catching a flicker in the distance, she bolted in that direction, running as fast as she could. Her hair trailed behind her like a cape. Soon after she ran out of steam and slowed to a jog, she approached the bank of another stream. Happy to have found water, she waded in up to her shins. Violet-winged faeries hovered in clouds over the surface a good distance to the left. Though the diminutive creatures had pretty features and delicate bodies, she didn’t trust anything in these woods. The cute little faeries would no doubt swarm and bite her like bugs, sucking all her blood―or do something equally vicious.

Holding back a squeal of alarm at the thought, she crept across the stream to avoid making a splash and rushed into the woods. Once she could no longer see glowing faerie wings amid the trees, she slowed again to a cautious walk. Sophie startled at every moving shadow or random snap, but nothing came out of the murk to chase her.

Traveling for quite some time without seeing any creatures allowed Sophie to let her guard down, and she meandered along, looking around at the trees, giant mushrooms, wisps of grass, and a few bizarre flowers. Her feet, previously clean from the stream, once again had a dense coating of black dirt.

A fleeting bit of glowing motion to the right startled her to a silent stop.

What she’d seen hadn’t been as bright as her light, but something glowed nonetheless. Curious, she turned toward it and stepped over the underbrush, making her way deeper into the woods. Once or twice, she almost called out with a hello, but bit her lip instead.

It’s stupid to trust anything here.

She slowed to a stop after a few minutes, fearful that she’d been tricked and led astray.

Right as she started to turn around, the glow returned, appearing behind a tree about twenty feet from her. Another girl her age, somehow familiar, peered out from behind the tree, only this child had a transparent body and dark skin. Wavy, puffy hair surrounded a face that bore a heartbroken expression and huge, soulful brown eyes.

Though the girl did not appear threatening, Sophie took a step back, refusing to trust anything this forest showed her.

The ghost girl disappeared and reappeared behind another tree on the left.

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