The Bridge To Nihon (BOOK ONE)

Chapter 14 - Going into Nihon

The bridge stretched in front of Sofia, doubling, then tripling in length. The sky darkened into the blackest black until she could not see anything. The wind turned so cold that the air from Sofia's mouth froze right in front of her. She pulled her coat close to her body, hugging herself for warmth. Every step felt like wading through an opposing current of water, getting stronger by the second.

She lowered her head against the unwelcoming elements and marched on. Even though the bridge was becoming longer, she kept making headway, though slowly. The wind increased as if trying to push her back, but then, as if it had suddenly become discouraged, it subsided as quickly as it had flared up. The icy temperature turned mild.

Sofia unfolded herself carefully, anxious as to what would be next, yet she was able to take a deep, pleasant breath. She had almost reached the end of the bridge. The sun was going up in the distance, greeting the day with soft orange and pink colors. The air was fresh and clean, and the river gurgled peacefully beneath the bridge.

Sofia turned around. She thought that she couldn't leave without looking back at least once. There it was, the village where she had spent all of her life, and the house that was the only home that she had ever known.

It stood grey and brown under a dark night sky. Not a single star was shining its light. The house looked distant, far away and unappealing as if she was staring through a smudged glass lens. Sofia couldn't imagine how people could bear to live there. That she herself had been able to.

The tower of her aunt and uncle's house looked small and shabby, the window too little to get a good view out. Sofia imagined her aunt's face behind it, peeking out behind a barred prison wall.

She thought that she could just quickly skip back into the village, wake up Aunt Sybil and bring her here. She could show her this view and make her understand that she did not need to live like that. And surely Uncle Tomas would never feel the need to have another drop of alcohol if he could spend his life here!

Sofia stood still. She looked back and forth. It was all so close, yet so far away, and she knew that she had to go on. If she went back, she would never return here.

And so, she turned back towards Nihon. She crossed the rest of the bridge and set her foot into the soft grass on the other side. She took another deep breath and, involuntarily, she smiled. There was a florid note in the air that enveloped her, and the lazy chirps of far-away birds announced a beautiful day.

Sofia walked on, feeling lighter with every step. For a few beautiful moments, she forgot that she had passed a threshold that was dangerous and forbidden, and which had been made almost impossible to cross by the angry elements which had opposed her. Easy and comfortably, she let her thoughts flow and go off in every direction they pleased. She felt giddy and lighthearted with an unexpected kind of renewal and an unfamiliar skip in her step.

Then she came to a fork in the road.

Sofia halted. She looked from one side to the other. The paths went diagonally in two directions, at first running almost next to each other, but still moving apart until they would be so far away from each other that the other one wouldn't be visible anymore.

Sofia had no idea where to turn. She had no plan. The only place she could name was Orì's school, but she had no idea where it was. She and Orì had never talked about logistics. Sofia cursed herself for having been so reserved. She should have questioned Orì about everything. But their worlds had always seemed so far apart that it had felt like there was little point in doing anything else but spending the mere moment together.

As Sofia stood there, hesitating, a bird appeared in front of her. It had brown feathers, sprinkled with bright blue dots, and its beak was as red as a tomato. Its eyes were yellow and sharp as if it was able to see for miles.