Sophie

Sophie

By: Emma Ladner

Chapter One

No word had come from the war commander about Brennan, my older brother. Brennan had been gone for as long as I can remember. The only thing I remember was the night before he left and the day he left.

We were all helping him pack. I was five at the time so Brennan acted as if I was a Princess. While I helped him Dad was giving him tips about war. Mom, well we could all tell she was trying hard not to cry. That night we had pizza, muffins, and some cake to make Brennan not cry when he left. Then Mama tucked me in and Brennan came in with a picture. “This is for you.” He said, handing me the picture. I still have the picture; Brennan and I were by the beach smiling at the camera. I was wearing a pink bikini and Brennan was wearing a green swim suit. I giggled and hugged him and he kissed me good-night. The next morning I had been dressed in a dress of green and we were off to the train station; Comedy Boston Station. When Brennan had his bag on the train by my friend’s brother he turned and hugged us. I cried when he hugged me and Mama cried most. Then Dad and Brennan hugged and Dad said, “You be back soon alright son?” Brennan smiled and the conductor yelled, “All Aboard!” Brennan all hugged us one more time and when he came to me he bent down and said, “You be good okay Princess?” I looked at my blanket and then at him and nodded. “Now don’t cry.” Said Brennan, wiping one of my tears. “I’ll be back soon.” I hugged hi m for a very long time. Then Mama pulled me back and Samson, my friend’s brother, yelled, “Come on Brennan!” The train started to move and Brennan ran, grabbed Samson’s hand and got pulled on. He looked out at us and waved. At that point I couldn’t help it. “Brennan! Brennan come back!” I yelled. I started to run beside Brennan’s cart. “Brennan! Brennan come back!” The train went faster and Brennan yelled, “I’ll be back Sophie! I promise!” Then the train went away in the woods.

But that eight years ago now I’m twelve and Brennan hasn’t come back. I get letters from him every month. Then one month I was sitting on my bed in my bedroom. I was wearing green and blue shorts with a white t-shirt. My lips were dry because I hadn’t licked them. I was staring at Brennan’s latest letter;

Dear Sophie,

I promise to be back very, very, very soon! I only have a few months left. You’ll be going into eighth grade by then. Your last year of Junior High! I promise I’ll come back. I love you,

Brennan

Xoxo

But ‘promise’ wasn’t enough. You could break a promise. But if you ‘swear’ you can’t break it. Mama says it’s not lady like to ‘swear’ and plus it is against god. So pretty much to Mama it’s a cuss word. I never do swear but Dad whenever he gets home from a bad day he swears. Mama and him fight for a while and that means I’m stuck in my bedroom. I didn’t know what to write back to Brennan. I wasn’t allow to use the word ‘swear’. Or else Mama will get the paddle on me. The paddle, is our row boat paddle. She uses it on Maria, and Peter when we are bad. And using the word ‘swear’ is bad. Of course Mama doesn’t do it to Dad! I mean why would she? She’s married to him! Finally I sighed grabbed a piece of paper and wrote;

Dear Brennan,

Promising isn’t enough.

I breathed in air. Here I go.

You have to swear to be back soon. I know I’m not allowed to cuss and all but, please swear you’ll be so then I’ll feel better. Are you hurt or something? I’m looking forward to seeing you again…

Love,

Sophie

Xoxo

I closed the letter and placed it on my dresser then leaned back and stared at the ceiling. On my ceiling were sunflowers painted by my aunt. I looked at my bookshelf. On my bookshelf were the ‘Anne of Green Gable’ series. There were also ‘Little Women’ and ‘Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm’. There was ‘Sensible Kate’. I couldn’t believe what I had just written. What if Mama or Dad found out? Then the paddle would be on me and there would be Peter and Maria watching. I sighed and sat up and walked over to my window seat to look outside. Outside was Maple Avenue, my neighborhood. I used to live behind my friends; Sara, Beth, and Katie but then we moved because of Maria being born. Brennan has never met Maria or Peter. Peter is eight and Mama had Peter three months after Brennan left. Maria is three and of course Brennan didn’t even know about her until Mama wrote to him about her. Now Brennan has to write four letters and he gets four letters in return. Sometimes we have to wait months for him to write back because he’s in war.

I stood up and opened my door. Out in the hall stood Maria with her blue blanket that she called, “Sa”. Peter grabbed Sa and Maria started screaming and jumping up and down. I walked over and snatched the blanket from Peter. “Oh my gosh Peter! You’re acting childish! Stop being some a little brat!” I yelled at him. I bent down and handed it to Maria. “Gosh Sophie! You’re such a moron and a baby!” yelled Peter. He stomped on my bare feet with his new knickers and I fell to the floor and screamed. Mama and Dad came up. Dad took hold of Peter and brought him outside with the paddle. Mama helped me up and looked at my feet. “They’re alright, they’ll have some bruises.” She said, looking at them and then letting go. I sat up and put on my knickers and walked downstairs. “Sophie make sure to be back by six. Tonight’s a school night!” said Mama. I rolled my eyes and walked outside. I looked around and snuck into the woods. I pushed by trees until I came to the railroad tracks Brennan had gone over with the train. I snuck over the tracks and ran into the woods on the other side till I came to a secret tree house. It was in the tallest oak tree and was covered by branches. It had a great view of Maple Avenue. I cawed like a hawk and I looked up at the tree house. I saw Sara look out and then go inside the tree house again. The door of the tree house open and down came the rope ladder and when I was on I pulled it up and closed the door. “Where were you?” asked Katie. She was sitting on the floor with cards. She was passing them out. Sara and Beth sat near her, holding five cards. When Katie, Sara, and Beth had six cards she gave me six and then gave us each one more card. I looked at my cards. I had a double of six and placed them down followed by Beth putting a set of twos, Katie placing a set of kings, and Sara putting down a set of queens. I started out I looked at Sara and then looked at my cards; I had an ace, queen, king, seven, eight, and a five. “Sara do you have a queen?” I asked. Sara handed me a queen and I set my set of queens down. Beth looked at me and said, “Sophie do you have a four?” she asked. “Go Fish.” I said. Beth growled and took a card from the stack in the middle. Katie looked at Beth. “Beth, do you have a ten?” she asked. Beth sighed and handed Katie a ten. I giggled and Sara looked at Katie. “Katie do you have a ten?” she asked. Katie handed Sara a ten. This is how it went on for two hours until put the cards up. We placed them in a chest that we have in the corner of the tree house. Brennan, Samson, Ian, and Stuart had helped us make the tree house when we were younger. Ian is Katie’s brother. And Stuart is Beth’s brother. We took the windows and closed and looked them then we closed the door on the porch and locked it and then we tossed the rope in the front of the tree house over a branch, locked the door that let the rope ladder down and then we pulled the rope up a little. On the end of the robe was a tire swing. Sara hopped on and lowered herself down with the robe and was stopped with a giant knot at the end. Then Katie pulled the rope up grabbed on and got on and then lowered herself down. Then Beth pulled the robe up, got on and then lowered herself down. Then I pulled it up, got on and lowered myself down. We hid the robe and the tire by leaves that made it look like a giant stone wall was behind it and then we walked over the tracks. “Brennan said only a few more months and he’ll be home.” I said. “Same.” My friends answered. When we got to our houses we looked at each other and grabbed the person beside us ankle and said, “Good friends.” Then we let go and clapped our hands then put them to each other. Then a stunt [I did a back hand sprang] and then we went in our houses. Inside Dad was sitting on the couch with the newspaper. Maria was sitting on the floor coloring a unicorn from a coloring book and Peter was outside tossing a football to our dog, Drake. Drake we had gotten two Christmases after Brennan had left. Mama was in the kitchen making some steak and it was sizzling. I went upstairs to my bedroom and took a can that had a cord tied to it and said, “Hello?” Nobody answered for two seconds then Katie said, “Hey.”

All of us soon started to talk and then we hung up. When I hung up I went downstairs to eat steak, mashed potatoes, peas, and carrots. I also had tea. When I was finished I went upstairs and dressed in pajamas and then brushed my teeth and took off my shoes. I laid out a green dress with white shoes out and then I took my books, placed them on top and then I climbed in bed and went to sleep.

Chapter Two

The next morning I dressed in the green dress and put on the shoes. Then I combed my hair and walked downstairs and had scrambled eggs. When I finished I brushed my teeth, grabbed my books [Chemistry, English, Math, Science, and Social Studies] and ran outside the door. After this day two more days and then we were out of school! I waited at the stop sign and Beth, Sara, and Katie came up. “Hey.” They said. My bike was chained between Sara’s bike and Beth’s bike. Katie was in front of them. They got off and unchained it. I grabbed my bike and dumped my books into the basket and climbed on. And then we started to pedal. Up ahead in front of the school stood three boys. The head boy had a crush on me. That boy was Sam Travolta. The son of Peter Travolta. The meanest man in Maple Avenue. Beth’s father had arrested Mr. Travolta far too many times. So now everybody in Maple Avenue was scared of the Travoltas. But not Sara. Sara and Sam had been enemies before they even learned each other’s names. In 1^st grade Sam came up to Sara and yawned out a fistful of her blond hair. She had screamed and punched him and they both found each other in the principal’s office. We stopped and parked our bikes and then grabbed our books. “Whoa, whoa, whoa…” said Sam. Pushing me back. His friends; Dug, and Bowl pushed the rest back. But they didn’t dare try to touch Sara. “Where’s your homework at?” he asked me. “I did my homework Thursday and I’m bringing it back today.” I said. “Oh…” said Sam. He pushed my books out of my hands and my homework fluttered in the air and my books laid open. “Ha, stupid.” Said Sam. He and his friends walked inside. I grabbed all my books and papers and walked inside without another word. When I got to homeroom I got ready for class. My teacher, Mrs. Bring, [I know weird last night] came into the classroom. She sat in the front of the room. She had a lock ruler for spanking and she had a bin for finished things. She also had an plastic apple [to make people think she’s nice] on her desk. Brennan had, had Mrs. Bring for seventh grade also. He had said she was the meanest teacher in the world and I would get her because he got her. When I was younger I used to say, “No way! All teachers are nice!” Because before Brennan had Mrs. Bring he had said, “All teachers are nice mom!” Even Mama and dad had said they were nice. Now that I got Mrs. Bring I knew I had been wrong. Today was the second week of seventh grade. The first week we had filled things out like questionares, autobiographies, and pictures. I sat down and put up all my things in my desk then sat straight and looked straight at the board. Mrs. Bring, today was wearing a grey dress tied tightly around her waist to make her look like a French maid. Her hair was in the tightest bun in the world that none of the boys ever thought she was cute. She had very tiny glasses set on her nose and she held a book and some pens in her hand. She sat her stuff down and then began writing on the board. On the board was the words; Chemistry. I sighed and looked in the back of the room towards Beth. Beth was sitting by Zack, the cutest boy in class. Beside me sat Mandy Travolta, Sam Travolta’s sister, and Peter Travolta’s daughter. Mandy Travolta was the meanest girl in school! Sam was the meanest boy. Mrs. Bring wrote Chemistry problems on the board for us to come up and answer and then the principal came in with the newest cutest boy in school. He had blond shaggy hair with green eyes and he wore jeans and knickers and a red shirt with the words ‘Death’ in black letters. I turned and saw Zack grumble when all the girls looked at the new boy instead of him. I giggled and Mrs. Bring looked at the boy. “Mrs. Bring, this is Cody Lyrics. He is new and should be in this classroom.” She said. Mrs. Bring pointed beside me and at first I thought I would faint because she said, “Beside Sophie Baker. Sophie, raise your hand.” I slowly raised my hand and Cody walked over and sat by me. He looked at me and grinned. His teeth were so white I thought snow wasn’t even white. He teeth were straight and he had just smiled at me! I looked at him for two seconds, then smiled, and looked at Mrs. Bring. I heard Sam shuffle his feet and Mandy grumble the words, “Stupid Head.” I looked at the principal who left the room. As soon as she left Mrs. Bring looked at Cody. “Cody stand up!” she snapped. Cody, apparently surprised how mean she was, stood up. “Tell us where you are from, and how old you are.” She said. “I’m from Chicago,” said Cody. I gasped. Chicago!? The Chicago?! He had to be joking! “I’m thirteen.” He said. I felt myself fainting. But I had to stay awake. “And I like tree houses.” He said. I fainted.

When I woke up I was in the nurse’s office. Cody was perched over me. The light was bright and I saw myself staring into his green eyes. “Hey, you alright?” he asked. I nodded and sat up. “How did I get here?” I asked. “My friend and I carried you.” Said Cody. He looked at a boy who smiled. “What time is it?” I asked. “School’s about to be over for the day.” He said. He took my books and new homework and handed it to me. “Here.” He said. The nurse came in and gave me a note and Cody and I walked outside the school. “Hey thanks for bringing me to the nurse’s office.” I said. “My pleasure, hey what is your name?” he asked. “Sophie Baker… I’m twelve.” I said, looking down at the ground. “Nice name.” he said. I blushed. “Um you better get home. A girl like you… well your parents worrying.” He said. I thought I would drop dead just in his arms. “Um… thanks.”I said. He waved and walked away with his books. Sara, Beth, and Katie ran over. “He likes you!” I nodded and stared off in his direction. “He’s so cute.” I mumbled. “And all the girls are so jealous! Look even Mandy is!” said Sara. We looked over to see Mandy standing by Sam and her boyfriend, James. She was growling. I waved and we laughed. “That was awesome Sophie!” said Katie. We put our books in our baskets on our bikes. And then we climbed on. I kicked my kick stand up. “Well, he actually likes me…” I said. “What did he say?” asked Beth. I blushed. “He said ‘Um you better get home. A girl like you… well your parents worrying.’” I said. “Oh my Gosh! Sophie you guys should totally go on a date.” Said Sara. “No, I don’t think so…” I said. “What?” they asked. “KIDDING!” I said. We rode through the woods, over the tracks, and to the tree house. We took our stuff, laid our bikes under the shed and I went up first. When I had pulled myself up I pulled the robe tied it to the porch and went inside and open the door and let the ladder down. Then I sat down and began doing my homework. Sara, Beth, and Katie soon joined me. And by the time Katie had come up I was doing my last page of Math. When I finished Math I wrote down answers to Science, and then I studied. At a quarter to there was a tug on the ladder. We looked down and coming up the ladder was Sam.

We looked at Katie. “KATIE!” we screamed. “Sorry!” sobbed Katie. Sam climbed in. “Ha! Look at this junk!” said Sam, looking at our tree house. “Go away Sam!” said Sara. “No stupid.” He said. Sara turned as red as a bull and pushed him down out of the tree house. Sam grabbed onto the ladder and looked up at Sara. “YOU STUPID BULL! WAIT TILL YOUR FATHER HEARS ABOUT THIS!” yelled Sam. “YOU’LL RUEL THIS DAY SARA JOHNSON! YOU WILL RUEL IT FOREVER!” Sara didn’t look a bit sorry for him. “Go away Sam Travolta.” She said. Sam jumped off and we pulled the ladder up. Sara then looked scared and said, “What could he do?”

The next day at school we walked in and everybody looked at Sara. Sara froze. “Sara…what’s this?” asked Mandy, walking up and throwing the school newspaper at her. Sara unfolded it on the front cover was this paragraph;

Sara Johnson, a twelve year old in Mrs. Bring’s class was caught in a tree house. She had been kissing an picture of Sam Travolta! We were very surprise and soon found out she was drunk! She said that she had always had a crush on Sam Travolta and he was cuter then any boy ever! She also said everybody in school was stupid and dumb!

“YOU DUMB BULL!” said Sara and pushed Mandy to the floor. She saw Sam laying against a wall and Sara ran over to him and pinned him to the wall. “WHY?!” she yelled. We ran over and stopped in the crowd. Sam pushed her to the floor and they started to fight. The Principal came and grabbed them and yanked them apart. “MY OFFICE! BOTH OF YOU! NOW!” she yelled. Sam and Sara walked to the Principal’s office and turned to us. “Class everybody.” She said. Beth, Katie, and I walked to Mrs. Bring’s classroom. “Sit!” yelled Mrs. Bring as soon as she walked in. We all sat and Cody whispered, “She’s a bad hat.” I giggled. “Mr. Lyrics, do you have something to say?” snapped Mrs. Bring. “No.” said Cody. “No?” she asked. She looked at me. “Miss Baker what did he say?” asked Mrs. Bring. I looked at Cody and then at Mrs. Bring. Should I lie? Should I really lie to the one woman who would bite off my head in three seconds? I looked at her and said, “He said he got a pet turtle and he named him,” I looked around the room. I saw a window and a desk. I looked at Mrs. Bring. “He named he Window Desk.” Mrs. Bring walked away. Cody looked at me, passed me a note, and then looked at the black board. I looked down under my desk and read the note;

Meet me outside the school beside the gym. I have a surprise for you.

I looked at him and then wrote down;

Ok.Then I handed it to him. He read it and then all through class he kept looking at me.

After school I went beside the gym and Cody soon appeared. He walked up to me. “Thanks Sophie.” He said. “What’s my surprise? You saying ‘Thanks’?” I asked. We laughed. “No… this.” He then kissed my cheek. I felt frozen like I pressed a pause button. “Thanks…” I blushed then kissed his cheek. Then I left him and grabbed my stuff, shoved it into my basket, and rode away to my house and did my homework there and then I said, “He was so cute.” Peter walked in. “What? You talking about me?” he asked. I stood up and pushed him out. “Out!” I said and slammed the door.

Chapter Three

The next day I woke up. I could smell eggs and bacon downstairs and I could tell Mama was in a good mood. I got out of bed and walked out of my room. In Maria’s bedroom, Maria lay in her crib sleeping and sucking on her thumb. In Peter’s room Peter was laying on the couch snoring in his boxers. I walked downstairs into the kitchen. Mama was there and she was smiling. I looked out front. Dad’s station wagon was gone. I walked over to Mom. “Why are you so happy?” I asked. “Your father… he’s…he’s….he’s getting some of our friends, including you and Peter and Maria’s, to come have a back yard grill.” I grinned. Now that was something to be happy about. “Sophie, go get dressed it’s a school day.” I walked upstairs past Peter who was now dressing in jeans and past Maria who was still sleeping. I walked into my bedroom and pulled on a white dress and white shoes and combed my hair. Then I walked downstairs, ate breakfast, came upstairs, brushed my teeth and grabbed my books, and went outside, grabbed my bike, dumped my books and homework in, climbed on, and rode to the corner where Sara, Beth, and Katie were. “What did the Principal say Sara?” I asked. Sara looked at me and said, “Yeah, Good Morning to you too.” Then she rode away. “She’s in a bad mood.” Said Beth. “Oh…” I said. We rode to the school and there was Cody sitting on the bench like Anne Ziegler had just kissed him. He looked so calm and whenever I rode up he sat up like Anne Ziegler had kissed him five times. I stopped and put my bike up and then grabbed my home work and books. When I turned Cody grabbed me and kissed me. I was so surprised I didn’t move. When he let go I pushed past and walked into the school. Everybody was staring at me. I walked into Mrs. Bring’s classroom and sat down. I was the first person in there so I put my books up and stood up and walked around. On Sam’s desk was a picture of me [I wasn’t surprised] on Cody’s desk a heart with my name and his name in the center. I was also not surprised. I sat down when everybody started coming in. Mrs. Bring came in and we started with checking homework.

After school I did my homework and then I dressed in a bikini. It was pink and green polka dots. I then went downstairs. Mama had just gotten home from the grocey and Dad filed in with Peter. He threw Peter aside and ran inside his bedroom, already untying his tie. When Mama and Dad came down. I went up to change Maria. And Peter went to go change. When we all came down we went out back and started to set up. We took the radio and turned it on. [Dad turned it to rock music.] And then he took some champagne and placed it on the table. Then I went and took a towel and laid it out on the ground and then I waited on the towel. The Johnsons arrived first and Sara joined me. Then the Rainers and Beth joined us. Then the Crickets and Katie joined us. We were all talking when some people I didn’t know walked in. And know who was beside them? Cody and five of his friends. They started to load their water guns and then went over and squirted us. We stood up and pushed them in the pool, stole their water guns, and while they were gasping and looking at each other we hid the guns in the bushes. When they climbed out we slowly went in and stayed there until they went away. We giggled and then came up for air. We peeked and they were looking in trees for their water guns. We giggled and went on a swing. During this time more people were arriving and we were all playing. Then we went, dived in the pool swam and then drank some Coca Cola and had some hamburgers. After that if turned dark and we played ‘Capture the Flag in the Dark’. And then we ran around grabbing the flags. At 10:00 PM everybody left including Sara, Beth, and Katie and I went took a shower and went to bed.

The next day when I woke up Mama was making some bacon and eggs and I got dressed and went to school.

Chapter Five

A few months later we got a letter from Brennan;

Dear Mom, Dad, Sophie, Peter, and Marie,

I am coming home in two days by the time you get this! The war is over, and all soliders are coming home.

Love,

Brennan

“He didn’t swear it.” Said Peter. Dad took him outside with the paddle.

The day before Brennan’s arrival was busy. Mama and I worked on Brennan’s bedroom. We made a medal case for his medals. We cleaned out his closet and bought new ones. We changed his sheets from white to brown. And his covers grey to black. Then we fluffed his pillows took his clothes and put them in the orphanage pile. We took the trash out of his room and threw it away and then we dusted his bedroom. We washed his windows, swept the rug and fixed the lighting and air conditioning [well dad did that part] but when his room was done we all had to make our beds. I took my books and put them up. I cleaned out all this stuff from out under my bed; a sassy doll, an old book, some food, some gun packets, some coke cans, old small underwear, some shoes, and then my old stupid rag doll. I put some in the orphanage bin and some in the trash bin. Then I cleaned my windows, swept the floor and cleaned my desk. I took the picture Brennan had given me and wiped it then placed it on my desk. Then I went downstairs to help Mama and Dad while they were cleaning their bedroom. I washed the dishes and dried them and put them away. Then I cleaned the table and washed it. Then I dusted the cabinets, washed out the sink and washed the windows. Then I took out the trash and put a new trash liner in and then I dusted the window sills. When Mama came down she allowed me to go ahead and go outside. When I went outside I sat on the porch step and imagined me walking up the stairs to the house and Brennan giving me piggy back rides to the tree house. I sighed and looked up at the clouds. But what if Brennan was paralyzed? What if he had lost a leg? An arm?  I didn’t know but I didn’t want to find out.

The next day we rode to the train station. It was crowded and suddenly there the train was. It was shiny and clean and was coming straight down the track. It stopped in the station and tons of men hopped out. Dad put Peter on his shoulders and Peter put Marie on his shoulders and Marie held up a sign that read; Brennan Baker. Suddenly there was a shout. “MOM! DAD!” We looked south and there was Brennan shoving past people to get to us. I ran over to Brennan and he hugged me. “Wow, Sophie you’re way older!” said Brennan, rubbing my head. I laughed. “I missed you so much Brennan.” I said. We hugged and then Mama ran over crying of joy and hugged Brennan. “Mama, I’m fine.” Said Brennan. “Oh my baby boy has come home!” cried Mama. “Thank you lord!” she kissed Brennan and stroked his hair. Dad came over and Brennan and him hugged. Peter and Marie walked over. “Whoa, you took care of the girls didn’t ya Peter?” asked Brennan, giving Peter a knuckle. Marie walked over to Brennan. “And you’re the second princess?” asked Brennan. Marie nodded. “Whoa, you’re beautiful.” He said. He hugged Marie and Marie threw her arms around him and said, “Ben.” We laughed and walked home.

Dad threw another party and all the soliders and their families that we knew came over to party. We all threw a toast to the soilders and the soliders told about who they met and drew closer with, who they bounded with, and who they lost and all that stuff. Then we began partying again.

Chapter Sic

School was let out do to our family members coming home. Finally we had passed seventh grade [and the stupid Mrs. Bring] and were going into eighth grade with Mrs. Clark. Brennan said Mrs. Clark was awesome. So that should be good. Brennan and I one day were hanging outside when Sam came over. Brennan stood up. “Yo, you’ve grown taller short stuff.” He said, pushing Sam. Sam pushed him back and said, “The same…” He looked at me. “Well Sophie you’ve gotten Cody so you can date him an all but I’ll keep a crush on you… don’t you worry, I’ll still tease you and your friends.” He said. I laughed. “Whatever Travolta.” I said. He laughed and ran over to his dad who was screaming for him to come over to him. I looked at Brennan and saw a smile. “Sophie you’ve grown tons since I’ve last seen you. I missed you a lot. I can’t believe it’s been 2,885 days since I last saw you.” He said. I giggled. “Brennan you’re still a math wizard and don’t worry I may be older but I’m the same old Sophie.” He rubbed my head and we hugged.

The End