By the Bonfire

|| Her story ||

11 A.M on a Sunday morning and Sofia is still in bed.

Pissed that she's already awake. She went to bed at 5 A.M because as she was cleaning her room (yes, at 4 A.M because she had nothing else to do), she found an old box filled with her high school memories and she went through all of it. Yearbook, faded pictures of her best friends whom she never heard of in a long time, failed test papers, ID’s with her chubby high school face and books. She sighed and went to bed, feeling a little upset. She regretted not staying in touch with her high school friends after graduating. They had some chats over Facebook, and once in a while they texted each other but it wasn’t enough. She missed hanging out with them and the crazy stuff they did back when everything was simple; high school.

She looked for her phone, with her eyes closed. Woke up to no texts at all. She’s nineteen. Didn’t go to college since her mom was sick and they needed the money for her medications. Her brother Ethan is sixteen and is in high school. He can be really rude and annoying sometimes, but she loves him like he’s the best brother to ever exist.(Although she tells him all the time that he’s the worst) They have this little grocery store, which she manages with her mom. Having broken up with his second boyfriend two months ago, she never got any morning texts and it makes her a little mad.

“Why can’t I have a cute guy who’s gonna stick with me for all time and sends me cute goddamn texts every morning?” she thought angrily but went back to reality and got up from bed. She needed to eat. She can hear her little pets in hear tummy screaming “feed us you lazy bitch”.

She went down the stairs with her hair still all messy, her mom watching TV, and his brother nowhere in sight.

“Morning mom, I’m sorry I went to bed a little late last night so…and my head hurts.” She said as she let her body fell on to the couch.

“A little late? You mean 5.A.M a little late?”

“Oops, well yeah. I found a stack of my old stuff. I had to do some trip down memory lane. But how’d you know I was up?”

“Well your music wasn’t too loud and your good singing wasn’t too loud either so it woke me up.” Her mom jokingly teased her.

“Wow I didn’t realize. I thought I was 30 and single and lived alone in my own big apartment with 20 cats.” Sarcastically she said.

“You wish you had your own apartment. Get up and go get something to eat, I made breakfast, bacon and eggs. Unless you want cocaine for breakfast?”

“Damn, we ran out of cocaine… AGAIN?!” she got her humor from her mom.

They both laughed as she was heading to the kitchen. Her mom is 45. Her boyfriend, the same age as her, works as a forest ranger in a little campground in Ottawa. They met online, a website Sofia introduced to her. They’re both divorced. Now her mom is happy and satisfied with her boyfriend for almost two years and they have a small growing business, she couldn’t ask for more.

As she was eating her bacon, still wishing she was snorting coke instead, her brother appeared at their front door. Not his best look, with unruly hair and his pale tired looking face.

“Where the hell have you been Ethan?!” shouting across the kitchen with food still in her mouth. “Or was it really hell  that you've been to, you look disturbing and it’s 12 P.M for crying out loud.” 

“Shut up. I went over to Michael’s to play his new game but we had an argument and I had to sleep in his basement. I was afraid to call mom and wake her up.” Ethan replied with a husky voice. Dropping his things on the floor.

Her mom shook her head and gave him the tightest hug. He’s her little “bunny bear” as what she always call him. Sofia always thought it was cringey but he really looks so cute even now he’s sixteen.

And that was her life. Her mom, the most caring woman she knows. Her brother, who can be a shithead sometimes. Bacon and eggs. Ordinary life. But that's her family. And she’d never trade them for anything else in the world.

But is that all that she'll ever be? A normal girl with no dreams, living a simple life... and single?