Thank You.

She was alone, all alone. In her room, she sat. Looking up at the white wall with the star stickers she had stuck there when she was younger. The sky, she thought. She loved the sky.

A tear started to fall down her cheek, and then another. Tears started streaming down her face, yet she didn’t know why. She let her body fall, her face in her pillow, so her parents wouldn’t hear her cry.

She woke up the next morning. Like nothing had happened the night before. She got up and went to the bathroom. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. Her hair was up in a bun. Her shirt was white, and her pants black. She put on her jacket and left her home.

Sitting on the bus she listened to music. Something to calm her down. Something to let her dream. She dreamed all day. It was her escape, yet, it was also her prison.

She walked up the steps of her school, to her locker. There was a lump that formed in her throat. She tried to get rid of it, but it wouldn’t go. Not this again, she thought to herself.

“Sofia!” a girl shouted.

She turned around. Running towards her was Amalia. A beautiful smile was on her face. Sofia was unable to smile back. Amalia noticed.

“No, Sof, are you okay?” She asked

Sofia didn’t respond. She placed her head on Amalia’s chest and let the tears fall. Here she goes again. Her heart hurt. Her head pounded. Why? Why? Why?

“You have to get out of your head. Get out of your head.” Amalia whispered to her.

She did indeed have to get out of her head. What used to be her greatest escape became her strongest prison. She used to dream. She used to dream of all the good things to come, all the good things that had passed. She no longer dreamt of those dreams. She now dreamt of the bad that had passed and the bad that had yet to come. She couldn’t see the light anymore. Someone had stolen that from her a long time ago.

“I don’t want to be here anymore” Sofia was barely able to say the words. Her sobbing had taken away her breath.

“Don’t let that part of you take control.” Amalia replied.

Control. What was control? Sofia seemed to have lost it a long time ago. People took control over her and she lost control over herself. She wasn’t sure how she would find it again.

She finished the school day. It was like any other day. Nothing exciting nor anything special. She missed being excited about something.

She got on the bus to go back home. She as almost home, but she didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to go back there. So, she didn’t.

She got off the bus and went the other way. She tried not to think. Don’t think, she said to herself. If she started thinking she would never be happy. She had to stop thinking.

She wanted to go anywhere. She wanted to be excited about something. She needed something new. To be free. And so, she went to find that.

She left the city. She went as far as possible. She didn't stop moving, not until she found herself again.

And so, she wrote a letter.

Dear Amalia,

I have gone. Without any goodbyes, I have gone. My mind was filled with fear and terror. The love and imagination that once lived in me have gone. I needed to escape. I don’t know where I’m going, nor when I’ll be back. You have changed my life in so many ways. No matter what, you have been there for me. No matter how sad, no matter how angry, you have been there for me. I love you for that. Not many people are as pure as you. This type of kindness is hard to find in people. Don’t ever let anyone take that away from you. You are strong, you are beautiful.

Thank you.

Sofia.