Author note: the Sophia Close wasn't even planned, I looked up street names in Islington, clicked on the S to see if there was a Sophia one just for a laugh but there actually was, so I just had to use it.
On the streets in Camden, Sophia supposed she should be feeling scared. But she was excited. She'd gotten away from her mum and her husband who obviously didn't like her anymore if they were having more children, and she could do whatever she wanted to do.
Lost in thought, she suddenly bumped into two people. "Sorry," she said, and then looked up at them. "Oh, hi Blake." She said. Blake was surprised to see Sophia out by herself. "Hi Sophia," he said. His wife Sarah looked at him. "How do you know her?" She asked. "She's Amy's daughter." He said.
"Not any more I'm not!" Sophia said, and ran away.
When she thought she was far away enough from Blake that he couldn't find her, Sophia stopped running and started walking. She decided she'd have to change the way she looked so no one would recognise her. But she didn't really know how. And then she saw a hairdresser's not far ahead of her. She walked through the door, and a woman with very blonde hair came over to her immediately. "Hi sweetheart! What can I do for you?" She smiled down at her. "I want to change my hair, please." Sophia said. "You look a little young, but I don't see why we can't do that. Jump up in this chair then."
Sophia climbed up in the chair and eyed her reflection, trying to remember what she looked like with dark hair before she said "I want it short and blonde." The lady tied a blanket around her neck so the hair wouldn't go on her clothes, and started cutting her hair.
Later, after her hair had been cut and the dye dried, Sophia was taken to see her reflection in the mirror. A small girl with blonde hair that stopped just above her shoulders looked back at her. Sophia smiled. "I like it."
Walking down the street again, Sophia felt like a new person. "New people need to be in new places." She said to herself. So, she got on the next bus she saw, which took her to Islington.
Blake left Sarah at their house and went round to Amy's house and knocked on the door. Amy answered it, her eyes red because she'd been crying all the time, and she hadn't slept. "Blake? What are you doing here?" She asked in a tired voice. "I just thought I'd tell you, I just saw Sophia." He said. "She was just down the road, by herself and I thought I'd ask if you knew about that." Amy gripped Blake's wrist tightly. "I didn't know that! You saw her? Just down the road?"
Blake stared at her. "You didn't know she was out?" Amy shook her head. "I knew she was out but I didn't know where! She ran away from us last night, I thought she'd just gone up to her room but she wasn't there."
Blake pressed his hand to his forehead. "If I'd known that I would've brought her back here."
Amy shook her head sadly. "You wouldn't have got her to. A bird won't go back in its cage once it gets free."
Sophia knew after seeing Blake she couldn't have stayed in Camden. Too risky. Islington was better. She was only twenty or so minutes away, not that far but just far enough. She didn't want to just wander around with nothing to do though. "Excuse me?" She tugged the sleeve of a man walking past. He looked down at her. "Hello, what can I do for you today?" She giggled. "I was just wondering what there is to do here?" The man didn't seem surprised that she was out by herself. Maybe he assumed she was part of a school group, or maybe he saw kids by themselves all the time. "Well, there's the Camden Passage antique market, although that might be boring for a little girl like you. There's the Islington Museum, if that's more your kind of thing. It's just over there." He pointed. Sophia's face brightened when he said museum. "Yes! I love museums! Thank you sir!" She waved to him and ran away.
