Sophia had a face that radiated confidence and charm. Her bright, hazel eyes sparkled with excitement, always searching for the next thrill. Her hair, styled in flowing waves or sleek strands, sometimes dyed in trendy colors, framed her face perfectly. She carried an expression of playful arrogance, a mix of detachment and intrigue, as if the world was merely a stage for her amusement.
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She had always been a dreamer. She thought fantasy was much beautiful than reality. When faced with a bitter truth or a challenge. She would always fantasize it as a rather happy tale. And would happily deny the truth. She would often chuckle to herself when pondering!!! Isn’t it preferable to feel nothing? Isn’t it simpler? She believed in a philosophy that it was stupid to feel sad over people’s pain and show one’s emotions. Only stupid people feel other people’s pain and sorrow and show emotions. So, by suppressing her feelings, she became so hard in her heart. That she couldn’t feel any emotion. As if she had become a statue. A body without a soul.
Sophia had no concern for anyone, not even for her well-being. She had always been an imagination wanderer. She was a girl adrift in her thoughts. Always partying, laughing, and making fun of other people’s sadness.
One night, she stole some money from her brother. As she had to purchase a new expensive dress for her concert event. Then she went shopping. She bought everything she wanted. After shopping she returned to her home on foot. While she was walking on the road an old poor lady stopped her and asked to spare some money to her.
“Please help me…. Give me some money, as I have not eaten for many days.” An old lady cried.
“Get out of my way, old hag… I have no money for you… “Sophia, as usual, hard as stone, sneered at her.
“A thunderstorm will soon break the mountain,” an old lady muttered in a weary voice.
Sophia paid no attention to the words. As she thought that old lady had lost her mind in a state of hunger.
And she went home.
The next day, Sophia was sitting by the dim glow of her bedside lamp. Sophia held a book in her hands, flipping through its pages absentmindedly. Her eyes skimmed over the words, but her mind was elsewhere. She remembered the old woman's words. But then she ignored the words and went to bed to sleep. When she closed her eyes, she couldn’t sleep. The old lady’s face haunted Sophia.
Sophia couldn’t sleep the whole night. She felt heaviness over her chest—a burden she could not fathom. A moment later, a thunderstorm struck in the sky, and a heavy storm started. As thunder grew stronger, so did Sophia’s tears. There was thunder in her chest, and she started crying heavily. She couldn’t know why she was crying and she kept thinking of the old women she saw that night.
Something was wrong with her. She started to feel other people’s pain, and it was too much for her to bear. A girl who was always preoccupied in her life was suddenly forced to feel other people’s pain.
The whole night passed while crying. The next morning, Sophia went to the same street to search for the old woman, but she couldn’t find her. She inquired about the woman with anyone she could find, but nobody knew where she was. Like a ghost, She vanished in thin air.
Days turned into weeks, and Sophia’s sorrow deepened. The weight of her guilt became unbearable, gnawing at her from the inside. Every day, she wandered the streets aimlessly, hoping to find the old woman, perhaps to ask forgiveness, to do something—anything—to mend what she had broken. But the old woman never appeared again.
The old woman had disappeared, but her words remained, echoing in Sophia’s heart like an unbroken melody. That mysterious old woman changed Sophia’s life forever. Whenever she saw someone cold towards others. She would see her reflection in that person. And she would warn that person of not being insensitive to anyone. But they would mock her in a similar way she once mocked others.
Thus, the old woman's prediction came true.
The storm had broken the mountain, and from its ruins, something new was beginning to grow.
Author: Anonymous
Image taken by HajiraCreativity