Sofia's Wish
It was Saturday afternoon. The royal family were in the dining room, eating. That is, most of them were; Sofia was just picking at her food.
"Sofia, aren't you going to eat?" Miranda asked.
"No, thank you." Sofia sighed. "I'm not that hungry. May I be excused?"
"Of course, Sofia." Roland nodded.
Sofia got up and left the room.
"I wonder what's the matter?" Roland mused.
"I think I might know." Miranda said shrewdly.
Sofia went up to her room, where Clover was waiting for her.
"What's up, princess?" Clover asked. "Why you looking so down?"
"Today's the anniversary of the day my older brother Mario died." Sofia declared. "I've been about how things might have been different if he were alive today. Maybe dad wouldn't have left, and we'd still be in the village."
"Maybe." Clover shrugged. "But what are you gonna do?"
"I think I'll get some sleep." Sofia declared, laying on top of her bed. "I wish I could have known Mario..."
Yawning, Sofia fell asleep. not knowing that her wish was about to come true.
Downstairs, Roland was talking to Miranda privately.
"Miranda, is everything okay?" He asked.
"Not exactly." Miranda sighed. "You see, today is the anniversary of the death of Mario, Sofia's big brother."
"Ah, yes." Roland nodded. "I remember you mentioned that a while back."
"It was right after I learned I was going to have another baby." Miranda remembered. "I had Alex take Mario outside while I helped the last customers of the day. That was when we heard the sound of a carriage. We rushed outside and saw Mario in front of the oncoming carriage. We didn't even think, we just ran to get our boy out of the way. But neither of us got there in time. It was too late; Mario was gone."
"That must have been terrible for you." Roland declared.
"It was." Miranda sighed. "I have to go and see how Alex is doing. I'll be back soon."
"I'll keep an eye on Sofia." Roland nodded.
"Thanks, Rollie." Miranda smiled.
"Miranda left the castle and travelled to Alex's shop.
"Miranda, what are you doing here?" Alex asked.
"Don't pretend, Alex." Miranda said sullenly.
"Okay." Alex sighed.
"It wasn't your fault, you know." Miranda told him.
"Miranda, if Mario was still alive, we would have been so happy together, and he would have gotten to know his little sister." Alex mused.
"I know." Miranda agreed. "But that#s not what happened, and we have to live with it."
Meanwhile, Sofia suddenly jolted up from her sleep. To her surprise, she found herself in her old room atop Miranda's old shop.
"What's going on?" She asked. "How did I get here?"
"Sofia, time for breakfast!" Miranda's voice called.
"Breakfast?" Sofia asked. "But it's the afternoon... isn't it?"
Sofia went downstairs. To her surprise, she saw Alex with Miranda, sitting beside a boy she had never seen before.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"Seriously, Sof?" The boy snorted. "You don't recognise your own big brother?"
"Mario?" Sofia asked. "Is it really you?"
"Of course it's me." Mario retorted. "You act like we've never met before."
'My wish must have come true.' Sofia thought. 'But how? Was it the Amulet? I didn't notice it glowing...'
"So, do you two have any plans for today?" Alex asked.
"Oh, I thought I'd go see Jade and Ruby." Sofia shrugged.
"And I'll have a talk with Timmy about messing with my sister." Mario added.
"What?" Sofia asked.
"Come on, you remember." Mario told her. "If he hadn't let you go on that broken swing, you wouldn't have hurt your head. Maybe that's why you didn't remember me just now."
"That can't be true, can it?" Sofia thought. 'Timmy's my friend, or he was...'
"Either way, I'll make sure he doesn't even think of doing it again!" Mario declared.
"You don't have to do that." Sofia declared.
"Of course I do." Mario retorted. "I'm your big brother, and big brothers look out for their little sisters."
"Well put, Mario." Alex nodded.
"No violence, though." Miranda added. "I don't care how mean this Timmy is, hurting him isn't going to help."
"Right, mom." Mario sighed.
"But, but..." Sofia mumbled as Mario left. "This isn't working out the way I thought it would..."
"What was that, Sofia?" Alex asked.
"Oh, nothing, dad." Sofia said hastily. "Just thinking aloud. Now I'm off to see Ruby and Jade."
"Okay then." Miranda smiled. "Just be back in time for lunch."
"I will, mom." Sofia nodded.
As Sofia stepped outside, she noticed that the village was the same as it ever was. A thought suddenly occured to her.
'I wonder what happened to Amber and the others?' She mused. 'And is this wish permanant, or is it going to be like this forever?'
Sofia kept those questions in her head all the way to Ruby' house.
As Sofia arrived at Ruby's house, she saw Ruby and Jade outside. Jade was wearing a very royal-looking dress.
"Hi, Sofia" They waved.
"Hi, Ruby." Sofia waved. "Hi, Jade. ...Jade, why are you dressed like a princess?"
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked. "You know Jade's mom is married to King Roland."
"And look what my new dad gave me." Jade held up the Amulet of Avalor.
"What?" Sofia gasped, realising her neck was bare.
"Cool Amulet!" Ruby smiled.
'How did Jude get my Amulet?' Sofia thought. 'I never take it off.'
"How nice, Jade." She said aloud.
"I know, right." Jade smiled.
"Wanna come in and have some tea, Sofia?" Ruby asked.
"Okay." Sofia nodded. "Thanks, Ruby."
"Would you two like to come to the castle later?" Jade asked.
"We'd love to." Ruby smiled. "Right, Sofia?"
"...Oh, right." Sofia nodded.
As they drank their tea, Ruby kept glancing at Sofia. She could tell that there was something off about her.
Meanwhile, at Timmy's house, Mario was confronting Timmy.
"Timmy, why did you hurt my little sister for?" He demanded to know.
"That's what she gets for showing me up in spelling and art class." Timmy sneered. "And for making me look like a wimp in gym class yesterday. Boy, she can hit that volleyball hard."
"Well, you'd better not do it again." Mario threatened. "Or else."
"Or else what?" Timmy demanded.
"You don't wanna know." Mario snarled.
Over at the shoe store, Miranda and Alex were making shoes together.
"Here you are, sir." Alex gave a pair to a customer.
"Thank you." The man smiled. "You really are the best shoemakers in the land."
"We try our best." Miranda chuckled. "And with two of us, the work goes much faster."
"I'm sure it does." The man nodded.
Meanwhile, Jade had brought Sofia and Ruby to the castle. It was a strange experience for Sofia, being there as a visitor.
"Hey, Jade." James waved as he passed. "I see you've brought your friends again."
"Hi, James." Ruby sighed.
"Hi." Sofia waved awkwardly.
"Nice to see you again." Amber nodded curtly.
Sofia was unsure of how to act. James and Amber were her family, but here, they saw her only as an acquaintance
"Oh, nice to see you again." Sofia said awkwardly.
"Okay, let's go to my new bedroom." Jade smiled.
As they walked, they came across Baileywick.
"Ah, princess Jade, you're back." He smiled. "Sofia, Ruby, a pleasure to see you again."
"Hi, Baileywick." Jade nodded. "We're going up to my room for a while, okay."
"Very well then." Baileywick answered.
The girls went up to Jade's bedroom. As they went inside, Sofia saw that her former room was different from how she remembered it.
'Maybe that wish wasn't such a good idea.' She thought. 'And what's worse, I have no idea how to undo it!'
Sofia kept her fears to herself as she played with her friends.
Later, she returned to her home in the village.
"Hey mom, hey dad, hey Mario." She greeted her family.
"Sofia, where were you today?" Miranda asked.
"Oh, Jade took me and Ruby to our - I mean, her castle to play for a while, that's all." Sofia explained.
"Sofia, is there something wrong?" Alex asked. "You don't seem like yourself today."
"Oh, everything's fine." Sofia smiled unconvincingly. "I'm just having an off day, that's all."
"Well, anyway, you'll be happy to know I got Timmy to back off." Mario smiled. "You won't have any trouble with him from now on."
"Uh, thanks?" Sofia shrugged.
"No problem." Mario smiled. "That's what big brothers are for."
Sofia smiled back.
That night, the family went to bed. Alex and Miranda shared a bed on one side of the bedroom, while Sofia and Mario shared one on the other side.
"Night, sis." Mario whispered.
"Night." Sofia replied.
Sofia tried to get to sleep, but it wasn't easy. She had grown accustomed to her plush, soft bed at the castle. In comparison, her old bed was hard and unyielding, and sharing it with Mario meant there wasn't much room for Sofia to move.
As nice as it was to have Mario with her, Sofia knew this wasn't right. For better or for worse, the life she had before was the one she was meant to have. as, the former princess had no idea how she could even begin to reverse what had happened, or if it was even possible.
The next morning, she glumly joined her family for breakfast.
"Is everything okay, Sofia?" Alex asked. "You seem a little... mopey today."
"I'm fine, really." Sofia told him.
"If you say so." Alex frowned. "But you know you can talk to us about anything, right?"
"Right." Sofia nodded.
After breakfast, Mario went to meet his friends, while Alex and Miranda cleaned up.
"Mom, dad, why can't me and Mario have our own beds?" Sofia asked.
"I'm afraid we don't have that enough money for another bed." Miranda declared
"Okay." Sofia sighed. "I have to go and meet Ruby at her house, then we're going to the castle to play dress up eith Jade."
"Okay, Sofia." Miranda smiled.
After Sofia left, Alex turned to his wife.
"Miranda, I'm getting worry about Sofia." He declared. "All this moping and acting odd... this just isn't like her."
"I know." Miranda sighed. "But I'm sure Sofia will tell us what it is soon."
As Sofia approached Ruby's house, she kept thinking about somehow finding a way to undo what had happened and get her old life back.
"Hey, Sofia." Ruby smiled. "Ready to go?"
"Of course." Sofia nodded.
As the girls went off to the castle, Mario was talking with his friend Hank a short distance away.
"I just don't get what's up with Sofia, Hank." He sighed. "He's been acting weird lately."
"I can find out what's going on with her tomorrow at school." Hank offered.
"Thanks, buddy." Mario smiled. "Now let's go play volleyball."
Over at the castle, Jade was waiting to greet her friends.
"Hi, girls." She smiled. "Me and Amber were about to have a tea party. Care to join us?"
"Sure!" Ruby smiled.
"Sounds like fun." Sofia nodded.
As they joined Jade and Amber for tea, Sofia realised how much she missed being Amber's sister. That feeling made her more determined then ever to find a way out of the change.
The next day was Monday, which meant it was time for school. As Sofia entered the schoolhouse, Timmy gave her a fierce glare. Sofia was taken aback. It had been a while since he had looked at her like that. Unbeknownst to her, Hank was hovering close by, keeping an eye on her.
"Okay, settle down, now." Ms. Dominique declared. "Today, we'll be doing a little artwork. I'll be handing out paint and paper."
As the students got their supplies, they went to work on their painting.
"Hey, Sofia, your older Brother came to my house yesterday." Timmy whispered. "Tried to scare me into backing off. As if. He shouldn't tried harder, if you know what I mean."
"Mom told him not to fight." Sofia retorted. "And he didn't. That's what makes him a better person."
"Oh, yeah?" Timmy smirked. "She say anything about paint fights?"
Timmy threw some red paint onto Sofia's dress. Sofia gasped. It had been so long since Timmy had bullied her, but all those memories came flooding back in a wave of anger. Growling, she threw a pot of green paint all over him.
"Um, Sofia?" Ruby mumbled. "You shouldn't have done that."
"Why not?" Sofia shrugged. "This is Art class, and it's about time that someone teaches Timmy a lesson."
"Here, have some Yellow!" Timmy yelled, throwing a splodge of paint that got onto Sofia's hands.
"Timmy, Sofia, stop!" Ms. Dominique yelled.
"Oh no." Sofia gulped.
"A paint fight." Ms. Dominique gasped. "I expect better from my students. Especially you Sofia."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Dominique." Sofia bowed her head.
"Timmy started it!" Mario jumped. "He threw the paint first!"
"I don't care who started it." Ms. Dominique growled. "I'm finishing it! Timmy and Sofia, you will both stay inside during recess and clean up this mess!"
"Yes, Ms. Dominique." The two sighed.
"You'll pay for this." Timmy whispered to Sofia. "Soon as there's no teachers or your brother around, you'll pay."
"I'm not afraid of you, Timmy." Sofia declared.
"You oughta be." Timmy growled.
At recess, Sofia and Timmy cleaned up their mess.
"Now then." Ms. Dominique declared. "I will give each of you a note to take home to your parents regarding today's little altercation."
"A note?!" Timmy gasped. "But Ms. Dominique..."
"But nothing, Timmy." Ms. Dominique glared.
Timmy stared daggers at Sofia for the rest of the day. As school ended, Mario followed after Sofia.
"Okay sis, what's going on with you?" He asked. "You've been acting weird for the last couple of days now, and I wanna know why?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Sofia sighed.
"Try me." Mario declared.
Sofia looked at Mario. She decided to tell him.
"A few days ago, I was a princess." She declared.
"What?!" Mario gasped. "How?"
"Because mom was married to king Roland." Sofia continued.
"What about dad?" Mario asked.
"He broke up with mom years ago, after..." Sofia hesitated. "You died."
"You can't be serious..." Mario said dumbstruck.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me." Sofia sighed.
"Hold on." Mario looked his little sister in the eyes. "You're not lying, are you?"
"No, it's all true." Sofia declared. "...You really believe me?"
"Of course." Mario smiled. "You're no liar, and you're definitely not crazy."
"Thanks?" Sofia smiled.
"But it's not like you know how to fix things, is it?" Mario asked.
"No." Sofia sighed.
"Then you'll just have to stick with things." Mario smiled. "And I'll help you."
"Thanks, Mario." Sofia smiled. "I'm glad you're here."
"Me too." Mario nodded.
Back home, Alex and Miranda weren't pleased at the note Sofia brought home.
"We are very disappointed with you, Sofia." Alex declared. "You know you're not supposed to be fighting."
"But Timmy started it!" Sofia protested.
"But you didn't have to continue it." Miranda told her. "You could have just ignored him, or better, told Ms. Dominique."
"I'm afraid we're going to have to ground you for this." Alex sighed. "For the rest of the week, you're only allowed to leave the house for school.
"But-" Sofia gasped.
"No buts." Alex said firmly. "Now go upstairs and do your homework, young lady."
"Yes, dad." Sofia sighed.
Sofia trudged upstairs and pulled her school books out of her bag. As she got to work, mario entered the room.
"Tough break, sis." He said apologetically.
"I know." Sofia sighed.
"I tried to talk mom and dad, but they wouldn't budge." Mario added.
"Thanks, anyway." Sofia said gratefully.
"Hopefully, Timmy's been grounded too." Mario snarled. "The next time I see him, he'll be sorry..."
"Please don't." Sofia begged. "You'll just make things worse."
"But he needs to pay!" Mario declared.
"The best thing to do is tell a teacher." Sofia insisted.
"Fine." Mario huffed. "But My original plan is still ready to go if you need it."
Downstairs, Alex and Miranda were talking.
"It isn't like Sofia to be fighting." Alex sighed.
"I know, Alex." Miranda nodded. "I'm going to go up there and talk to her."
Miranda went upstairs to the bedroom.
"Mario, could I speak with Sofia alone, please?" She asked.
"Okay, mom." Mario nodded, leaving the room.
"Sofia, what's going on with you, lately?" Miranda asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Sofia declared.
"Try me, sweetheart." Miranda insisted.
"Okay." Sofia nodded.
Sofia told Miranda everything. Like Mario, Miranda could tell Sofia was telling the truth.
"Why didn't you say anything before?" She asked.
"I didn't think anyone would believe me." Sofia admitted. "And it's not like any of us can do anything to change things back to the way they were, is it?"
"I don't think so." Miranda agreed. "But is this really so bad? You have a family who loves you. We're all together and happy."
"I know." Sofia nodded. "But I just can't help thinking about my old life."
"It's okay." Miranda hugged her. "It's okay.
Meanwhile, Timmy's parents were none too pleased with the note.
"You are grounded for the rest of the week, mister." Jack said angrily."
"But I was going to meet my friends later!" Timmy protested.
"Tough." Jack growled.
"Sofia's gonna pay for this." Timmy seethed.
The next day, at school, Timmy cornered Sofia.
"Thanks a lot." He snarled. "Because of you, my parents grounded me."
"You started it." Sofia retorted.
"And I'm gonna finish it!" Timmy said menacingly.
"Why are you so mean to me?" Sofia asked. "What did I ever do to you?"
"Everyone thinks you're so great." Timmy snarled. "'Sofia's so smart', 'Sofia's so creative', 'Sofia's so talented'. I'm just sick of it!"
"You're jealous of me?" Sofia asked.
"No!" Timmy answered. "Everybody's thinks you're great, and I'm not!"
"I don't think that." Sofia declared,remembering how the Timmy she remembered felt. "I never meant to make you feel bad."
"Well, you did!" Timmy pouted.
"Do you want to be friends?" Sofia asked.
"What?" Timmy snorted. "Why?"
"Because I can tell you're not as bad as you act." Sofia smiled. "Deep down, there's someone really nice, just waiting to get out."
"You really think so?" Timmy asked.
"I know so." Sofia smiled. "So, wanna be friends?"
"Well, uh, okay." Timmy shrugged. "I guess."
"Great." Sofia beamed.
Just then, Mario came by.
Is this guy giving you any trouble, Sofia?" he asked.
"No, everything's fine, Mario." Sofia smiled. "We've settled things without fighting. Right, Timmy?"
"Right." Timmy smiled.
"Uh, good." Mario said, confused.
After school, Sofia and Mario returned home.
"How was school?" Miranda asked.
"Pretty good." Sofia smiled. "I made friends with Timmy today."
"Oh, that's nice." Miranda said confusedly.
After dinner, Sofia went upstairs. Dropping her schoolbag on the floor, she lay down on her bed.
"I think I'll have a little nap before I start my homework." She yawned.
Sofia fell asleep in a matter of moments. She woke to hear Roland's voice.
"Sofia?" He whispered. "It's time for dinner."
"What?" Sofia rubbed her eyes. She was back in her room at the castle. "What happened?"
"You've been asleep all afternoon." Roland smiled.
"I have?" Sofia gasped. "So it was all a dream..."
"Excuse me?" Roland asked.
"Oh, nothing." Sofia shrugged. "I'll be down in a moment."
"Okay then." Roland nodded.
After Roland left the room, Sofia reflected on what had just happened. She didn't know if it was just a dream, or some kind of magic caused by her amulet, but because of it, she had gotten to know the big brother she had lost so long ago. And for that, she was grateful. But she was also grateful to be back with her family, the one she had gained since then.
"I'll never forget you, Mario." Sofia smiled. "Thanks for everything."
And with that, Sofia walked downstairs for dinner.
The End.