A Room Chosen by Sophie
Chapter 16 - A Room Chosen by Sophie
Laura eventually moved from the apartment where Sophie had lived before the abduction.
Too many reporters knew the address, and every room carried memories of the child she had been. The new house was smaller, with a fenced yard and a maple tree outside the upstairs window.
Laura allowed Sophie to choose her bedroom color.
At the hardware store, Sophie stood before hundreds of paint samples for nearly an hour. Choice still frightened her. Claire had taught her that wrong answers carried consequences.
Finally, she selected pale yellow.
“Are you sure?” the clerk asked casually.
Sophie immediately looked at Laura in panic.
Laura crouched. “You can be sure, unsure, or change your mind tomorrow.”
Sophie chose yellow again.
Daniel helped paint. He and Laura had not reconciled romantically, but they learned to parent together without turning Sophie’s recovery into a contest. He attended therapy, accepted when she did not want physical affection, and never demanded that she call him Dad before she was ready.
Lucy visited on weekends with her grandmother. The girls built blanket forts and created rules: no locked doors, no secrets that cause stomachaches, and any nightmare could wake the whole house.
Mara arrived with a new star projector.
Sophie stared at it.
The pink room in Claire’s house had been covered with projected stars.
Mara started to apologize.
Sophie took the box.
“These can be mine,” she said.
That night, yellow walls filled with moons and stars. Sophie left the bedroom door open and Captain Blue beside her pillow.
Laura sat in the hallway, as she had many nights before.
After ten minutes, Sophie called out, “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“You can go to your room.”
Laura pressed one hand to her mouth.
“Okay.”
“And leave your door open.”
“I will.”
May you like
It was a small request.
It felt like freedom.
