Tainted Innocence [GxG]

Chapter 1

I think I'm lost.

I truly didn't mean to wander around without keeping track of my location, yet here we are.

Spinning around in circles, I look everywhere for a sign to show me where I am, something familiar so I know which direction to head in. The only things I see are trees. No special tree that I remember from the walk here. No glowing path leading my way back home. Nothing.

Finding nothing but the endless mass of trees in all directions, I feel tears prick my eyes. I don't usually have any reason to cry, my life is the embodiment of the word perfect. I have loving parents who spend as much time as they can with me, showering me with love and anything I could want.

There is one thing they can't provide, one thing that makes me think that maybe my life isn't so perfect.

A friend.

Sure, my parents are my friends, but I'm longing for something more. Something that brings me pure joy or makes me laugh until my stomach hurts. Something that excites me. Something new.

That's the entire reason I went on this walk today. I was looking for something new. I snuck out of the house like a secret ninja and went into the woods that surround our house.

We live in the middle of the woods, so I have no neighbors to make friends with. I guess you can say I'm lonely.

I went on this walk hoping to find a friend. Maybe there are others that live near my house, I've just never seen them before. That hope slowly dwindled as I got lost in the woods after walking for thirty minutes.

Now I'm standing in the woods, all alone, crying, feeling more alone than I've ever felt in my life.

Sinking to the forest floor, I sob lightly in my hands, feeling an ache in my chest that isn't there often. The only way I could describe it is as loneliness. My parents can usually take my mind off it, but it always lingers.

My parents aren't here. No one is here.

Just as reality hits me right in the face, I hear a twig snap along with the crunch of a leaf. Taking my hands off my face quickly, I stand back up ready to see who is here. Maybe they can help me.

Expecting to see a person from the direction the sound was, I see a humongous dog. The first thing I notice about it are the bright gray eyes staring straight at me. I freeze, feeling an odd sensation overriding the ache in my chest. There are no words to describe how those eyes make me feel. They stare right into my soul, leaving me stripped bare in front of this large dog.

Shifting my eyes away to look at the rest of the dog, I notice black fur with gray tints hidden below the top layer. I just want to run my fingers through the soft looking fur. Silently, I pad over to the dog, not wanting to scare it away. I've never met a dog before; I've only seen pictures of them in the children's books my mom used to read to me.

Once I get close enough, I slowly reach my hand out and pet the top of the dog's head as softly as possible. A whisper of a touch is all it takes for my hand to light up with sparks. Tingles run up from the tips of my fingers to my wrist, eventually dying down as they reach my arm. I look at the dog in wonder. Is this what petting a dog feels like?

Looking at the dog's face again, I see sharp teeth that are awfully close to my arm. I'm glad this dog is friendly or else a bite from that mouth would have hurt!

No words have been spoken by me; I just stare at the dog with excitement. This is certainly new, but I don't want to rush it. What if the dog doesn't want to be my friend?

Deciding to speak, I say the first thing that comes to my mind, "Hi! I'm Sophia! Will you be my friend?"