Clouds River Valley

Chapter 5: Jen

They just kept walking like this, no one knew how long or how deep they had walked, Sofia started to feel tired, it seemed like the longest walk she ever had, she even felt she probably would never walk this far again. She looked at Leo beside her and thought, she probably would sleep in her warm bed right now if Leo was not holding her hand and walking with her now.

Albert was walking fast in front of her, Maggie stayed close to him with her tail wagging, they looked so determined that Sofia started to wonder if they knew where they were going, then she remembered Maggie found the hidden gate, did Albert want to take them somewhere? She had to stop thinking before her thought went too far. Maybe she could ask what Leo was thinking about it.

Sophia turned around and looked at Leo, abruptly, she cried out loudly and pulled her hand back.

It was not Leo who she thought she was holding hand with, it was Jen!

Jen looked at her with smile, she laughed when Sophia ran away from her and said, "Sophia, what are you afraid of, I am your teacher, Jen, come over." She waved at Sophia. She said it so softly that creeped Sophia out even more. She didn't know what to do, she screamed for help and then noticed Albert, Mia and Leo all stood there quietly, even Maggie stopped wagging her tail. A sense of fear suddenly hit Sophia and she couldn't help but cry out loud, she turned around and saw Jen still staring at her creepily, she was running away from her but she then noticed no matter how fast she ran, Jean always kept a certain distance away from her.

The road seemed like endless, Sophia kept running for so long that she could barely breath, she had to stop and rest or else she thought she was going to die. Now she must be very far from her friends, Jen was still standing not far from her and smiling at her, she didn't even breath hard after running so long.

"Come here, Sophia." She kept saying it softly.

"What do you want!" Sophia asked.

"Come here, I will tell you." Jen was still smiling.

"Go away," Sophia cried, "I hate you! I will tell Mr. Richard!"

Almost immediately, Jen's smile disappeared, her eyes looked so cold that gave Sophia chills. She took off the hair clip from her head, her long hair fell suddenly, Sophia didn't recall she had such long hair. What more surprising was the hair started to float behind Jen, her face turned to green with the reflection of the fluorite light, and then she started to walk slowly to Sophia, step by step, closer and closer. Sophia was exhausted and also scared, she couldn't move her legs at all. Jen reached out her hands with her extremely long and sharp nails to Sophia.

Sophia closed her eyes and started to think about her parents, she cried for mama and papa, the only two Spanish words she could remember.

"On my dear, you had a bad dream again."

Who is there talking? Sophia thought. That voice sounded so familiar; she opened her eyes hesitantly.

"Oh, my dear, my sweetheart, it was just a bad dream, mama is here."

"Mama?" Sophia thought, she then realized she was lying on a soft big bed, a lady with dark brown hair sitting on the bed in front of her, she looked so pretty, also so familiar.

"Is that you? Mama?" Sophia asked her softly.

"Of course, silly girl, of course it's me." The lady laughed.

"Mama, I finally find you!" Sophia cried, she jumped at the lady and hugged her tightly.

"It must be in your dream, I am always here sweetie, I will never leave you."

"Yes, I had a very long nightmare, the teacher in the orphanage was so scary, I don't want to see her again."

"Orphanage?" The lady laughed, "I promise you; your dad and I will never send you to an orphanage."