Hora of Moldova (Volume 1)

Chapter 13

Sofia ran her fingers over the rows of dresses, the soft fabrics brushing against her hands, as her voice filled the boutique with excitement. 

"...And then, after all that, we were standing in the cave, face-to-face with this... this creature, I still don’t know what to call it, and instead of being scared, we ended up befriending it!"

Laura, who was arranging some accessories on the display counter, paused mid-action and looked up, one eyebrow raised. 

"You befriended it?"

Sofia grinned, leaning against one of the clothing racks. 

"I know it sounds crazy, but it wasn’t aggressive at all. We had this weird connection with it. I don’t even know how to explain it. Like it was just... there, waiting for someone to understand it."

Laura shook her head with a chuckle, clearly amused by her daughter’s story. 

"And this happened on your class trip to Old Orhei?"

"Yep!" Sofia nodded eagerly. "The whole time, while everyone else was busy taking in the scenery, we were literally having an underground adventure. And no one even noticed we were gone!"

Laura’s amusement faded slightly, replaced by a hint of concern. 

"Wait… what do you mean no one noticed? Wasn’t your teacher keeping track of everyone?"

Sofia hesitated for a second, her fingers toying with the edge of a bright scarf.

 "Well... that’s the thing. The others had been walking ahead of us the whole time. The tremors we felt in the cave weren’t that strong, so they didn’t realize anything was wrong. And by the time we got out, they were pretty far ahead."

Laura straightened up, a flicker of worry crossing her face. 

"So you could’ve been stuck in that cave without anyone knowing?"

Sofia winced. 

"Kind of? But we weren’t! We got out, and honestly, it wasn’t that bad. We were only a little behind." She gave a reassuring smile. "It wasn’t like we were in danger or anything."

Laura gave her a long, searching look before she sighed, shaking her head. 

"I swear, Sofia, you’ll give me a heart attack one day."

Sofia laughed, stepping closer to the counter. 

"But it gets better! When we realized we were about to miss the bus, we had to come up with an excuse for why we were so late." She paused, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Guess what we said?"

Laura raised an eyebrow, folding her arms. 

"What did you say?"

"We told them we were taking photos of the scenery and lost track of time."

Laura burst out laughing. 

"That’s it? And they believed you?"

Sofia shrugged, grinning. 

"I mean, who could argue with that? It’s Old Orhei, it’s gorgeous. Plus, the teachers were just glad we made it back on time."

Still laughing, Laura shook her head in disbelief. 

"I can’t believe you managed to pull that off. You and your friends must be very convincing."

"We’ve had practice," Sofia said with a wink. “I mean, it’s not entirely a lie. We did take a few photos once we got out of the cave.”