Saved a boy

Sophia fell to the floor and would have hit her temple against the floor if she hadn't quickly used her both palms to support herself. She closed her eyes and sighed in pain.

     She adjusted herself and sat properly trying to reach out to her hurting ankle. Merely touching it hurt her and she pulled her hand back to herself.

     Five years after that ugly incident, they couldn't put it behind them. She'd become the family nuisance and the bad egg in the Shawn family. No one believes her, not even her parents.

     The hatred in them still burns. She didn't want to come but her grandfather had insisted that she come, otherwise whatever celebration her family were having, was never going to be her business henceforth.

     But grandfather had pleaded with her to attend Sophia and Kabir’s wedding. The two people who stole love from her, are getting engaged and to please grandfather,she was there to celebrate with them.

     Had she known, she would have feigned tiredness and stayed back. But how can she lie to the one person who loves her dearly? Her grandfather loves her and he is the one that insisted that she be brought back home from the countryside, otherwise, her parents didn't want her anymore.

     Suddenly she thought she heard someone sniffle. She glanced around quickly, an unexplainable fright gripping her body. Then a soft sob followed.

    “Is anyone here?” Sophia asked, trying to get up quickly but her sore ankle dragged her behind and she fell backwards.

     Then she decided to be calm. She looked around intently, her pupils wide open to grasp her surroundings when she sighted a little boy a distance away from her.

    He seemed to have seen her long before she did or perhaps when she was thrown into the room. What does a boy of that age doing there?

     Had he stepped into the room playfully or carelessly and couldn't find his way back? She saw the boy vaguely and decided to crawl towards him.

     “Hello, you missed your way?” Sophia asked but the boy didn't respond. He hugged himself, holding his knees tightly as if afraid of being whisked away. 

     Sophia wanted to touch him but he avoided her touch and made a louder sob. She knew at that moment that he was scared. 

      “I won't hurt you dear. I just want to know if you missed your way or…” she trailed off. Or what? What was she going to say, that he was hidden there or what? Who is going to hide a little boy of this age in a dark, dirty room like this place?

     As she stared at the boy,not seeing his face properly but could guess his age. He should be around 4 years but he appears thin and yet cute. If her baby was alive, he would be the same age as him.

     But still the boy didn't respond to her. Why is he quiet? She felt concerned for the little boy. If he was her son, wouldn't she try to help him?

      “Do you want to get away?” Sophia asked and the boy gave a hummed sound.  She looked around, had someone kidnapped and hidden him there?

    She glanced around again. She isn't going to let anything happen to the boy. She can remain there forever and perhaps die of starvation,but she would never let anything happen to him.

     She reached out her hand and held the boy, this time he didn't avoid her. She hugged him in the dark and said “I'll find a way and get you out of here. I won't let you remain here longer” Sophia promised.

    She tried to get up, but her ankle hurts again. It's swollen now and she decided to hop on one foot, going to the door. She tried to pull it open,but it was locked.

    “Fuck!” She grunted. The ceiling seemed high. She called out for help but no one was coming for her or perhaps no one could hear her scream, the room was located away from the others.

     She hoped back to the boy and tried to console him when she felt he was having a fever. His temperature was high and he had started shivering. 

     Sophia became uneasy. This boy must find a way to get away from there. She was thinking fast. On the floor were abandoned cleaning materials, a half broken ladder, some unused alcohol bottles and other things littering the floor.

     This place must definitely have been an old store, used in keeping unused items. How does she get away from there? Especially the little boy?

     That way, Sophia got the ladder and placed it against the floor. She knew it was risky but they needed to escape. The little boy was not feeling well and she didn't want him to remain there any longer.

    She found a rope tossed at a corner besides the unused bottles. She took it, tied it against the window burglary and got back to the boy. 

    “Now, we're going to escape somehow. You'll go out first and I'll come after…” she instructed but the boy shook his head “No, I don't want to go first” he pleaded, he sprang up and hugged Sophia.

     Now, Sophia was suspecting. He was afraid of someone or a group of people. That means, he was left in that room on purpose. 

     “Ok, buddy, we'll do it this way. You'll climb on my back and we'll escape, right?” She explained and the boy nodded. As he hugged Sophia, she couldnt explained a feeling of attachment to the boy that she got emotional, how helpless the boy had been before she got in there.

    She placed both of her hands on the wall and bent low. The little climbed onto her back and she said “Hold me firmly buddy, we're escaping” she assured him.

      She could still feel the burning fever on his body as she climbed out of the window and held the rope going downwards. She didn't expect that the rope was old and already weak. 

    Midway through, the rope couldn't carry their weight and suddenly, it gave way and the last thing Sophia did was stretch a hand to her back holding the boy firmly and use the other to cover her temple.

     Then, She dived!