SOL (ENG)

Chapter 2 - Turbulence

Sol woke up, yawning. She changed into her jeans, put on her boots, put on a snug sweater over her pajama shirt, but couldn't find her father's old jacket. She looked all over her room but couldn't find it. She decided to keep looking for it later. She went down the stairs, saying a 'good morning' to her mother. She put some water in a vase with two small lightflowers. While brushing her teeth, looking in the mirror, she noticed a bandage on her forehead.

In a moment, she had slept in a secret underground base in the most comfortable room she had ever seen in her life. Now, she woke up confused, in her house, with no explanation of how and when this happened. She stopped brushing her teeth to splash water on her face, trying to reassure herself that she wasn't dreaming, that it was all real.

She hurried over to look at the clock, the toothbrush still in her mouth.

-"Eighth hourth in the morning...buth whath!?" Sol said in surprise.

-"Are you okay, sweetie...?" Her mother said, worried.

-"I'm alrighth, mum! I wath checking the time!"

Laughing, Sol's mother pointed to the bathroom.

-"Ok, dear, go brush your teeth first!"

Sol was confused. She needed to talk to Martha as soon as possible, to make sure everything that had happened was real and not a dream. She was afraid to ask her mother if she'd heard of anything happening overnight, but she finished brushing her teeth and plucked up the courage to do so.

-"Mom, did you hear about something that happened recently? Looks like someone-"

-"Oh, did you read that too? Mister Molini has gone crazy, it seems! Looks like he burned down his house trying to make a flying machine! Hah! The old man thought he was like the great Graxa!"

What Sol's mother was saying sounded surreal to her. She had no idea what was going on.

-"Who did you hear that from, mom?"

-"Oh, i didn't hear anything about it, yet, it's all here in the newspaper. Take it, I'm done with the crosswords."

Sol picked up the paper, keeping her puzzled expression as she tried to decipher what had happened. The newspaper article defined Mr. Molini as the villain of the story, a crazy old man who tried to create his own flying machine, but it ended up exploding, putting all his neighbors at risk. But Sol knew this was not true. She still felt the guilt of being responsible for making old Mr. Molini fall into that terrible trap.

-"Mom, I'll be right back!" She said as she ran out the door towards the grocery store to talk to Martha.

Halfway through, Sol was stopped by a man wearing a long, torn, old cloak covered with a hood. No part of his body was visible, even his hands were covered in wraps, as if they had been burned. He seemed to be a beggar. He held out his hand, asking gently:

-"Would you have some coins for a poor old man?" He said, with difficulty, the voice of an elderly person.

Sol, even in a hurry, promptly took a coin from the pocket of her pants, which she had received as change when buying the products at the store. She offered the coin to the man.

-"Of course, sir, here it is-" The man then placed his hand over Sol's, and raised his hand quickly. Sol, confused, saw her same coin still there, but now she had one more object in her hand.

-"The heiress conquers the throne with her sword...!" Said the man, in a hurry, getting away from Sol.

Sol tried to call for the man to question him, but, curious, decided to analyze the object first to see what it really was. It was a small retractable switchblade. It had a symbol printed on the hilt: It appeared to be the tip of a spear, with a small orb in the center. The symbol looked familiar, but Sol couldn't remember what it was. She tried to look for the man who had given her the knife, but distracted by watching the object, she realized that he had disappeared into the crowd. She continued on her way, guarding the object in her pocket.