Bitterly Sweetly (Completed)

Chapter Fifty-four : Clearing Clouds

*Do not plagiarize this story, no part of it may be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without my (Clara Ricks's) written permission. Plagiarizing my works will be taken as an offence and will be dealt with properly. If you find anyone copying my works, please do let me know.*

Sofia sat near the study table. Her feet were propped upon the chair she sat on and her chin rested on her knees. As the dawn drew closer and gusts of relieving cold air slid in through the open window, she snuggled her legs further closer to her body and then went back to staring at the oblivious guy sprawled on her bed.

Max's body imposingly was settled on her old, queen-size mattress as though he had claimed it as his own, even in his unconsciousness.

She moved her face as the flowing, shrill curtains at her right tickled her cheek as a stronger blast of wind hurtled inside. In deep thought, she looked out the window and noticed the white and blue spark of lightening in the distance. It lit the sky enough for her to locate the thick herd of clouds looming closer. The steady growth in the strength of wind predicted a storm, the first one of the season.

Another lightening slit the sky in half, this time closer than before, and so the grumble could be heard. An ice cold draught invaded the room without notice, it made her loose hair fly up and stay suspended above her shoulders for a few seconds. The next second, the thunder caused the room to fill with blinding light for a moment before her heart skipped a bit due to the cracking noise.

When, all of the sudden, the window flapped open to slam against the wall of her room with terrible force and the curtain almost reached the ceiling, instantly, Sofia sprang out the chair and reached the window in two big leaps. It was quite a task to close the window against the adamant wind and cold slaps of chilling rain water but she managed it with gritted teeth.

Moaning sounded behind her at the same time as she released a huff of breath.

Sofia spun around, but there was no way she could see in the now inky darkness. The posts around her old style bed rattled slightly and she guessed that Max had probably risen from his beauty sleep by the calls of thunders.

"What—" his croaking voice filled with expected confusion was cut in rudely by a set of quick thunders.

"Now, don't get scared, big boy. I'm here," Sofia announced loudly, so that her voice could be heard over the noise of the wrecking rain-storm outside.

Her bare feet padded ahead on the cold floor, slightly moist from the rain water that burst in earlier before she could close the window. With her hands raised before her, she moved towards the direction where she knew was the bed. She stopped by midway and felt for the light switch on the wall, only to sigh in disappointment when light didn't shine like it was supposed to. The dark still remained.

"Blasted power-cut. Blasted storm," Sofia cursed under her breath.

"Sof? Is it you?" Max's still confused voice laced with anxiousness asked. "Where am I? Where are you?"

It was not a nice time to lose important memories and ask for answers, when the only sensible person in the room was apparently recognizing the pain of blind people.

She began her journey towards the bed again, but stumbled over something solid on the floor. It was Max's shoe, she realized, while flying ahead and bumping hard against the bedpost. "Urp."

"What happened?" Max cried and the bed shook as he moved. "Why can't I see?"

"Because it is dark, no one can see in the dark, you wasted ox! And you're in my grampa's territory, in my freaking bed. Stop moving!" Sofia chastised him when the bed shook with more force, he was probably attempting to climb out of it and go for a blind adventure. Thankfully, the movements paused at her command.