~Boredom~
Sophie spent a lot of time in the castle; mostly just herself and Calcifer. They would engage in the odd conversation where Sophie would ramble on eventually realising his original faint spark of interest had faded.
She occupied herself mainly with cleaning, but as time passed she realised that beyond the daily chores, there was no more to be done.
Occasionally she would find herself flicking jadedly through an old spell book she'd stumbled across; however it was all gibberish to her. She simply enjoyed reading the little notes Howl had added in written in his beautiful script. She let her fingers run over the letters, a smile tweaking the corners of her mouth.
She missed him when he was gone. If only she could go with him.
~::~