Sonder: a Miscellany

Frye Pyramid 1 - Frey

There once was a young girl the age of eleven. This girl never went outside, but not because she didn't want to. This girl loved life and light, but never saw much of either, and this girl went by Frey, though her real name was Elizabeth Grace. She figured, even though she didn't see many people, that they could at least know her as who she wanted to be, and not who her parents wanted her to be.

     Most days Frey spent in her room studying, because that's where her parents wanted her to be, but she longed to go outside, where the wind blowed and the flowers cast sweet scents through the air. She wanted only to be who she could be, who she didn't need to be, but merely wanted to be, simply because she could be it, but she couldn't, so she spent her days in her room as Elizabeth Grace.

     One day, as Frey was looking over one of her homework papers from her parents-because her parents thought she would be much better educated at home by them-she heard a knock on the window, which had the curtain drawn and was letting a small stream of light in where the curtain ends just barely touched, and she left her paper on her small desk to go see what it was that could have produced the sound. She pulled the curtain aside and was met instantly with bright rays of sunlight. She blinked several times, then looked down at the street below her. She lived in a pretty neighborhood where the houses had space between them enough for a football field to be placed there, so she scarcely saw neighbors-though she rarely had the chance to try-and didn't normally see anything other than the flower garden out front and the house across the wide street, but this time, she saw a boy there. Had he made the noise?

     The boy had scruffy brown hair and a curious look, and, as Frey looked closer, she saw he was holding a small stone. He must have thrown it at the window! She scolded him with a glare through the glass. That was a very bad thing to do. He could have broken the window!

     But some part of Frey wished he would do it again. She tried to push that thought out of herself for fear of her parents' disappointment, but she still couldn't help wondering what the boy would do, so she stayed at the windowsill, gazing down at the street where the scruffy-haired boy stood, and then he waved! Frey had never felt so intrigued. Was he waving at her? She couldn't quite be sure, so she would stay there and wait to find out.

     But she couldn't stay in place, either. She squirmed in her dark pink knee-length dress. She couldn't go, though, or who knows what her parents would think? Frey didn't, but since she obviously couldn't stay in one place for very much longer, she decided to go out and talk to the boy herself.

     What a naughty thought, sneaking out while her parents weren't home, but she couldn't help it! She simply needed to move, and so that's what she did. She opened the door to her room and wandered out into the hallway, went down the staircase and out into the large main room. She crossed the floor quickly, then put her old fashioned white stockings and brown shoes on and braved the white door in front of her. It swung open easily, and then there was light all around her! In her fair hair down to her pale legs, there was sunshine and breeze. Suddenly, she wished that she hadn't forgotten her hat. Her eyes stung in the sunlight.

     She looked around and in no time found the boy in the street, who was looking at her, surprised. She walked over to the street where he was standing and curtsied. This was, after all, how her parents taught her to greet people.

     The boy looked at her confusedly, and she suddenly doubted her greeting. Had she done something wrong?

     The boy then introduced himself a Todd, from the house across the street.

     "Hello, Todd, my name is..." she paused. An idea so absurd and naughty, but nonetheless brilliant popped into Frey's head. What if she really could be who she wanted to be, instead of who she was supposed to be? Her parents weren't around, and she didn't think this boy would mind if she loosened her laces a little. This was finally her chance! She decided she would let herself out, since she was met with the perfect opportunity.

     She took a deep breath, unbuttoned the top button around her neck that normally choked her, and exhaled. "I'm Frey." She was Elizabeth Grace no longer. Now she was who she wanted to be. "Can I ask why you threw a rock at my window?"

     "Yeah. I was wondering if anyone lived there." He rubbed the back if his neck. "I was curious."

     Frey felt released. This boy was like her. Elizabeth Grace would have scolded curiosity and stayed in her room, but not Frey. "Okay," she tried casual words. They rolled off the tongue nicely. "Now that I'm out here, I wouldn't mind staying a little longer, if you would like."

     "Sure!" He said, and motioned to the shade of a nearby tree.

     So they went and sat down in the shade and talked. They talked about each other, about themselves, about the weather, and the society. They talked and talked, and how Frey enjoyed herself! She had never had these experiences as Elizabeth Grace, and she enjoyed life as Frey much better, so she talked with Todd. He told stories of other people he'd played with, about the sun and the heat, about the life he lived when he went to school, and Frey listened. She liked hearing his stories. But then it hit her. What would happen when her parents returned?

     "Todd, do you know the time?"

     He paused in the middle of his sentence, then looked at his wrist, where he was wearing a small watch. "It's about five. Why?"

     She brought her hand to her mouth and stood up. Her parents would be home any minute! Had it really been so long? "I'm sorry, but I really must be going!" She crossed the street and reached the lawn, but stopped in her tracks as she saw her parents' car already parked in the driveway.

     Her mother ran up to her with Frey's pink ribbon in hand, and she knew her fate was sealed. She had dropped it on the way to the tree. "Elizabeth, you dropped this on the lawn."

     Frey hung her head and apologized, but her mother merely handed her her ribbon and asked if she was friends with Todd. Frey looked up at her mother, surprised, and nodded.

     "I see." She handed Frey her ribbon and crossed her arms. "Well, next time, make sure your work is done before you play with your friend."

     Her mother was allowing her to go outside? As Frey, and not as Elizabeth? She was so overjoyed she dropped her ribbon and hugged her mother. "Yes, mother."

     So many thing had happened that day, Frey was too happy to recall them all. She thought, as she went to bed that night, that there would never be another day where her homework went unfinished. Every day, she would go out and tell stories under the tree with Todd, and every day, they would exchange another tale.

     That day would surely be the first of many sunny days ahead, and that day was good.