ophie had been staring out of her bedroom window for hours now, watching the rain streak across the glass; each droplet racing the others to the bottom of the pane. It seemed as if the rain had been going on for hours, the heavy drumming of the drops beating away at the roof above her head. After Howl had moved the portals it seemed as if it had done nothing but rain, endless dark clouds mooched along the skyline, heaving themselves along the wind. The scene fitted Sophie's mood perfectly, echoing the lines that streaked along her forehead with each new frown. It could only be late afternoon but the room was bathed in black, only the light from the candle scratched small, jagged paths across the table and Sophie's face to penetrate the darkness.
A heavy thump from the room above startled Sophie out of her day dream, Howl had been back for hours now and hadn't ceased to make himself a nuisance to Calcifer, demanding a never ending stream of hot water and steam for his spells. The occasional burst of light and sparks could be seen across the land in front of her, issuing from the room above her own. It certainly was beautiful and a welcome change from her old, mundane existence. Star Lake was certainly awe inspiring, white mountains spread up into the sky line, scraping the dark clouds and contrasting their depressing demeanor. As the sparks flew from Howl's room the distant snow sparkled very slightly with refracted light like tiny diamonds spread throughout the horizon. The Lake glistened below her window, the reflection of the Castle just visible on its dark, rippling surface. It was everything she had ever hoped to life to become some day and yet she was still not as happy as she should have been, something was missing, something she craved with every particle of her soul.
Her wandering mind turned to thoughts of Howl and the life that he had shown her she could have. Spinning on her chair slightly she took in the splendor of new clothes he had given her tossed along her bed, the finery glittering in the half light of the candle. The flowers swayed gently in the breeze from the open window, ruffling their petals. Perhaps the horrors of her new life could be overruled by the splendour of it all.
Catching a glimpse of her wrinkled old face in the small mirror on her sideboard Sophie sighed inwardly. Touching her fingertips to her face she tried to smile, to preen at the mirror every angle seemed wrong, it wasn't her; this body wasn't hers. Caring for the Witch of the Waste seemed to be cheating her, no matter how hard she tried to forgive there was always her niggling resentment for the old lady. Perhaps if she had been her real age then Howl could ... might have ... Sophie shook herself to rid her mind of such thoughts. Howl would never look twice at her, even when she had been her true age. There was nothing about her that made up for her lack of natural beauty and what little she had had been taken from her by a spiteful, jealous old witch.
Clenching her fists Sophie lowered her head, the constant pings of the small explosions and the thumps of Howl's movements upstairs only seeming to mock her, drawing her thoughts back to the man that seemed to accommodate so much of her mind these days. A muffled cry of "Ah ha! I've done it!" seeped through the cracks in the ceiling and the loud footsteps pounded down the stairs as Howl charged off to try out his latest spell. Smiling to herself Sophie pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear and turned back to the small mirror, it was amazing how thinking of Howl could make a few of those lines disappear. If it was only more than unrequited love maybe she could become her old self again. She stood and rubbed her hands across her aging face before reaching for the door handle, one day maybe she would get the chance to win his heart to make it something more than unrequited love.