Next One Is a Babe

On the other end, John heard every single word. He then sighed. “Where will you be staying at night? And what will you be eating?”

Sophia thought for a moment. “The store here has everything. We’re almost done cleaning the house, so there’s no problem on my side. You don’t need to worry.”

John was silent for a long while before he grunted in assent. “Alright, then. I got it. Call me if you need anything.”

Only when he’d hung up did Sophia breathe a sigh of relief.

After bustling around for half the day, the sky outside had gone dark. Very much hospitable, Mrs. Hensley offered to have dinner at her place. “Why don’t you come over to my place for dinner? You’ve got nothing here in your house.”

Sophia turned it over in her mind. I’m rather tired, so I don’t feel like cooking for myself. “Sure. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Mrs. Hensley laughed. “Why did you become so courteous in your speech after leaving for a year, girl?”

After having dinner next door, Sophia then returned to the house. Flipping on the lights, she sat down on the bed she’d previously slept in. The wattage of the lights was relatively low, so the house appeared very dim. Although my life has improved a lot now that I've come this far in life, every time I reminisce about everything in the past, I just find myself regretting many things.

As she looked around the empty house, tears once again streamed down her face. Back when Grandpa passed away, the elders said that everything that once belonged to him had to be burned so that he could use it in the afterlife. We hadn’t had much in the first place, so when everything was burned, the house truly turned empty.

Getting to her feet, she went over and opened the door. Then, she gazed out. As it was late, every house had its door closed since rural families would go to bed early considering the lack of entertainment at night. At present, the only sounds outside were the occasional dog barking and whooshing wind from some unidentified place. She stood there for a long time. Pulling her clothes tighter around her, she then turned and went back into the house, turning off the lights before going to bed.

Her sleep was fitful and plagued by dreams, perhaps because she was in an unfamiliar place. The dreams were so vivid that she couldn’t quite discern between fantasy and reality. At one time, she dreamt of her grandfather before it switched to John’s grandfather, then her wedding with John, followed by them getting their divorce certificate. Finally, she dreamt of a child standing in front of her, asking her why she was crying in a childish voice. She had no idea whether she was crying, only aware that her heart twisted in agony upon hearing the child’s voice. The child’s face was blurry, but he or she was probably very good-looking.

When Sophia awakened groggily, she glanced out, noticing that the sky had just begun to lighten. However, since rural families went to bed early, they also got out of bed early. At this time, other people’s chimneys were already smoking. Having nothing at home, she could only straighten up the place briefly before going to the store in the village to buy some things.

The store owner was up in years and woke up early in the morning to feed his chickens and ducks. Shock assailed him at the sight of Sophia. “You’re Sophia, no? When did you come back?”