"Now, tell about your mother."
The little girl sat in the large chair, silent and staring at the ground. The bearded man across from her held a clipboard. "Did you love her?" There was a pause, and without looking up, the girl nodded. "Very good." The man scribbled some notes. "Do you remember her fondly?" She nodded again. More notes. "Now Sofia," the man began, "I realize you are in no condition to talk right now. You are only six, after all. So this is what I'll do." He scooted his chair closer to hers. "I will not visit you if you wish. You need not speak if you wish. However, I would like you to keep a private journal. Record your feelings and thoughts." Sofia once again nodded, straight brown hair spilling down the sides of her head. "I will never take the journal away from you. However, if you ever feel that you would like to share your thoughts with me, I would not mind." The girl didn't move. She did not speak. The doctor sighed. "I'll go talk to your father now. Please, take care of yourself. Find a friend." He patted her head and exited the small, quiet room.
That was ten years ago. The summer when Sofia Rose Clark became mute. Her father did his best to care for her, and he desperately missed the sound of her voice, her laughter. However, the family of two, not including their cat, have been moving on. Sofia had just turned sixteen. She and her father, Brad, had searched for a suitable high school for her to attend. They lived in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. Now they found Plainview, New York. It was quiet, green, and peaceful. The plane ride there was uneventful, and the two stayed in a hotel overnight. When the day came to get settled into the new house, Brad was excited. However, his daughter wasn't, or at least she wasn't showing it. The U-Haul truck pulled up in front of the house after the pair arrived, and movers began transferring big boxes into the abode. Two beds were brought inside, along with a couch and a small T.V for the living room. It was a rather large house, two-story, and practically in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by grass and trees. The front yard was bigger than most, along with the backyard. "Just look at this, honey! You'll have your own space and everything!" yelled her father, but Sofia was looking at rooms, and finally found one. It was the smallest in the house, with just enough room for her bed and a small desk. The irony.
When the movers were done and had driven away, Sofia plunked herself on the couch and began reading a book, Watership Down. She loved the book to death, mainly because it used to belong her to mother. "Maybe you want to go outside? I can drop you off at that big mall we saw coming in. You could make new friends." Her father persisted, leaning on the couch. Sofia glanced at her father, then back down at the page. It wasn't a horribly bad idea, but the only thing she would do there would either continue reading or look at certain objects, wishing she had the money to buy it. "I'll give you thirty," bribed her father. No response. "Forty?" Still nothing. Brad rolled his eyes. "Okay, fifty, but that's as far as I'll go." Sofia smiled.
She ended up with sixty dollars and a long ride to the big mall near a high school. Her dad dropped her off and wished her luck, and Sofia cautiously entered, immediately being overwhelmed with noise and chatter. The mixed smell of Chinese food and burgers wafted from the food court, and immediately she went to go find a seat. Her book was tucked under her arm, and her wallet sat nicely in her back pocket. She wore a maroon short sleeved blouse with jean shorts. Her short cropped hair was parted off to the side, brown hair sweeping gently off to the side. She sported thick glasses and an opal ring on her right middle finger, a gift from her mother. Sofia travelled further into the mall, passing jewelry shops, when she passed mall security. There were two mall cops, between them three teen boys who were hunched over, almost ashamed looking. The tallest was tan, with dark brown eyes and shaggy hair, sporting a Slipknot t-shirt. Another had spiky hair that was a light brown, almost blonde in color. He was pale, and had ripped up boot cut jeans. The third was rather large, with a bit of acne, large glasses and wore a beanie. He had big gauges, and for some odd reason ha painted his nails black.
Sofia couldn't help but stare at the odd, metal looking trio. They were stereotypical male teenagers. They probably felt her eyes on them, because the tall one turned and caught her eye for just a moment. He didn't show any change in emotion, only blinked and looked away again. The mall cops were apparently asking for a parent or guardian's phone number, and they refused to give it. They denied, denied, and denied. Sofia lightly rolled her eyes and continued walking.
As she settled down on a bench near a Vans store, she couldn't help but think about that boy. She had an immense curiosity to find out what he could have possibly done to get in trouble with the mall's security. As she opened her book, her mind continued to wander, and she found herself re-reading half of the pages.
Hello~ Not a very long chapter, but I hope you like it all the same. Please review.
-S