This is the second songfic I've written today. I'm amazed.
Anyways, this song, as you may have guessed. if based on the song "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride, which I do not own. I do not own Riley either. However, I do own Sophie, her mother, and any other characters you don't recognize.
I must warn you that this story does deal with child abuse, as that is the theme of the song. I just wanted you to have fair warning.
I hope this is to your liking.
--
Sophie Andrews shivered a bit as she walked down the street. Her thin dress was no match for the chilly October winds. She pulled her worn coat closer to her body, clutching her paper bag with the lunch she'd made herself firmly in her hands. She stumbled, slipping on the slick orange leaves that littered the sidewalks. She winced as forearms hit the sidewalk, as they were already bruised. She quickly pulled herself to her feet, walking even faster down the sidewalk towards the brick school building.
Sophie slides into her seat in the back of the room just as the bell rings. The teacher, Miss Turner entered the class room with a big smile on her face, and Sophie can hardly keep herself from smiling back. She had loved school since last year, when she started. As long as she could be away from home….
Home. The word, comforting to most, sent a chill down Sophie's spine. Her arms and legs suddenly ache as she thinks of it. She knew that behind the lacey dress that barely went past her knees, there were many black and purple bruises.
Mama, no! Please don't!
Sophie pushed the thoughts from her mind and focused on the boy hiding behind Miss Turner.
"Good morning class." The teacher said, her voice full of enthusiasm.
"Good morning, Miss Turner." The class chorused.
The tall woman smiled. "Class, this is Riley. He'll be joining us for the rest of the year." Miss Turner stepped aside to reveal a pale boy with large glasses, freckles, and a mop of dark hair. Color rose into the boy's cheeks as the class greeted him the same way they'd greeted the teacher. Miss Turner knelt beside Riley.
"Why don't you sit next to Sophie?" She asked gently, pointing at Sophie. The boy nodded wordlessly and walked slowly to the back of the room. He slid in next to Sophie who smiled at him. He slowly smiled back.
--
"A, P, P, L, E. Apple."
Even as she read to her students, Eliza Turner was distracted. She focused on one student in the back of the room. Sophie Andrews. There was something in that downcast face broke Eliza's heart. She could tell that Sophie, though she was one of the smartest 6-year-olds she knew, was hiding something behind the calm mask. It hurt to watch her as those innocent blue eyes flew across the pages of any book given to her.
"B, O, A, T. Boat." Mrs. Turner instructed.
Sophie didn't have many friends either. That bothered Eliza as well. Surely a girl that smart would be able to find one friend. But Sophie spent her recesses and lunch alone, hardly glancing at the other children.
--
"B, O, A, T. Boat."
Sophie listened to the class and spoke with them, but her mind was not on the spelling book in front of her. It was on the bruises she had carefully concealed with the same dress she'd worn the day before. It wasn't fair that she was treated this way, Sophie knew that. As much as she wanted to tell someone about what was happening…
A harsh smack made Sophie whimper.
"You will tell no one what happened. No one, do you understand?"
Sophie couldn't speak through the tears. A second smack on the cheek.
"Do you understand, Sophia?"
"Yes mama! I understand, mama!"
Sophie looked down, fighting the tears threatening to flow. She wanted to do something, but she couldn't. The thought kept circling through her head, again and again.
I wish I'd never been born.
It's not like anyone would care if she hadn't. Her mother hated her; she knew this for a fact. In her mother's eyes, she was a mistake. Something she wanted to forget.
And she had no friends. So nobody would care if she just disappeared off the face of the Earth. Maybe her mother would be happy then. Sophie simply wanted to disappear.
Sophie brushed the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and looked up at Miss Turner.
"C, A, T. Cat."
--
Sophie sat on her usual bench and opened her lunch bag. A peanut butter sandwich, some apple slices, and a bottle filled with milk. The same as always. With a small sigh, Sophie brushed away a stand of her red hair and picked up the sandwich.
"E-Excuse me?" A timid voice asked. Sophie looked up and saw the new boy in her class looking up at her. "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."
"Sure." Sophie patted the bench. She was happy to have some company, even if she hardly knew the boy. He sat down next to her with a small smile.
"I'm Riley."
"I'm Sophie." Sophie paused, not sure what to say next. "Where's your lunch?"
"I didn't bring one." Riley's face turned red.
Sophie looked down at her lunch and then smiled at Riley. "Do you want some of my sandwich? I don't have much, but I'll share anyways. It's peanut butter." She held out the other half of it. Riley thanked her and took it from her hand.
"That's a pretty dress you're wearing." The young boy commented.
"Thank you." Sophie smiled. "Are you new in Baltimore?"
Riley nodded, swallowing. "I just moved to Delavan Street."
"I live on Delavan Street!" Sophie exclaimed.
"That's so cool!" Riley seemed to brighten. The two children talked all through lunch, and Sophie felt a bit ashamed of what she'd been thinking earlier. She had finally made a new friend.
--
Eliza found a drawing on her desk later that afternoon. She immediately recognized the handwriting and drawing style. "Sophie." She said to herself with a smile. The drawing was beautiful, and very well done for a 6-year-old.
A girl who looked very much like Sophie with angel wings sat on a cloud, her face turned up. Sophie had big dreams and a big imagination for such a tiny young girl.
There was a hidden intention behind the drawing that only Sophie knew about, though. This was her new dream. She wished to have wings, and be able to fly away. She didn't know where she would fly, but she was sure it would be a place where she could feel cared about, and most importantly, loved.
--
She walks to school with the lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday
She hides the bruises with linen and lace
The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes she was never born
Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angel
--
What do you think? Do you have a review for me?