Sokeefe AU: The Farmer's Daughter

Part Two

Sophie didn't sleep.

Well, actually, she did, but it was a small amount compared to most, and it was almost always accompanied by nightmares.

That was the worst part. Not her inconsistent sleep schedule, though that was enough to make her want to scream and rip out her hair in fistfuls. But the nightmares. The horrid, terrifying nightmares that haunted her whenever she closed her strange eyes. They reminded her of everything she kept trying to forget, as if her brain simply refused to let her.

She hated her own mind for it.

But it wasn't like she could change it. She hardly had control over what she dreamed. The things her mind thought up. No one did.

She sighed, the noise echoing around her quiet room. She had been laying in bed for countless hours, watching the shadows dance across her ceiling as the moon creeped as slowly as it could across the sky, delaying dawn.

Sophie blew out a breath of frustration and threw her cover of herself. She watched at it fell to the floor and didn't pick it up. Instead, she slid off her bed, tiptoeing across her room as quietly as possible. She didn't want to wake anyone.

When she came to her door, she stopped, listening for any sign that anyone else at Havenfield was up, despite the late hour. She didn't hear anything and blew a sigh of quiet relief.

She pushed the door open as quietly as she could manage, cringing when the hinges creaked, the small squeaks like shrieks in the silent house. She paused, her heart hammering in her chest, but she heard nothing.

She let out a quiet breath, starting down the stairs. She was glad for the socks on her feet, because they masked the sound of her footsteps.

She reached the bottom of the stairway and gently maneuvered to the front door of the house, slipping out into the dead of night.

It was cold, but not horribly so, and she loved the way the sky looked as she crossed the pastures. She paused to pull off her socks, because they were getting wet from the dew, and also because she enjoyed the feeling of the grass underneath her.

She glanced at the sky. The stars seemed brighter, somehow, and she found herself staring at them in wonder and an odd sense of pride, like they were shining extra bright just because she was had decided to come outside.

Sophie shook her head, trying to clear the thought, because of course it was foolish. Stars were stars, and they did not shine any brighter for her than they did for anyone else.

She found her way to a small, tilting tree at the edge of the property. It was her favorite place to sit and think, to breathe, to get away from all her worries and watch the world from far away as it passed by.

The tree itself was so simple, yet it was so stunning. It's light brown bark and pink--purple blossoms seemed to come straight out of a book, and the way it seemed to lift anyone's spirits was remarkable. Sophie loved it.

She lowered herself onto the grass, scowling when the dew starting seeping into her night clothes. But she tried not to care as she leaned her head back, shutting her eyes and breathing in the smell of the blossoms, as if the air were somehow fresher here than it had been in her room. She didn't doubt the thought. Even though her massive room was . . . well, massive, she still found it getting incredibly stuffy from time to time.

She opened her eyes and stared out at the water, watching as a bird flew so close to the surface of the ocean she thought it was sure to go under the waves, but, with amazing grace and freedom that Sophie could only wish for, it launched itself skyward again.

She gawked as she watched the small creature perform the stunt again. It was beautiful, stunning, even, and she was so mesmerized by it's uncanny grace that she didn't even feel herself slipping into sleep, underneath the stars and pushed up against a crooked tree.