The First: EVO Uprising

by Kipjo Ewers

  “I can come fix it tomorrow,” Sophia gestured.

  “It’s a wall and floor,” she waved her off, “a fun DIY project for me.”

  “Okay,” Sophia quickly nodded, “I should be…”

  “You’re not leaving here without your daughter,” Michelle sternly cut her off.

  “I… I don’t understand.” She tried to find her words.

  “The jig is up.” Michelle walked into the living room. “The rules have changed. It is time.”

  “She still has school,” Sophia stammered, “and…”

  “School ends in a month, and we both know she’s a straight A+ student on the Principle’s List.” She stopped her. “Right now, she doesn’t need school… she needs you.”

  “Right now’s not a good time.” She tried to be dismissive.

  “Sophia…” Michelle’s tone became stern.

  “I have a lot of things to do,” Sophia said with her own sternness. “I don’t have the time…”

  “Make the damn time, she needs her mother.”

  “I am her mother!” Sophia lashed out. “Every sacrifice I’ve made was for her! I’ve made sure she’s never wanted for anything since coming back! I even bought this damn…”

  Sophia quickly halted, cupping her mouth. She shamefully shook her head regretting what she was about to say and who she was about to say it to. Michelle, with a calm smile, walked up to her taking her hands from her mouth with her good hand gently holding them.

  “I… I didn’t mean.” Her eyes glowed as they became glassy again.

  “Shhhh, I know the talk of fear when I hear it,” Michelle calmed her. “There’s no need to apologize.”

  “I’m not ready.” She lowered her head. “Michelle… I’m not ready…”

  Michelle lifted the chin of the most powerful woman on the planet, looking her in her tear drenched eyes.

  “You’re ready,” she smiled, “you’ve always been ready. Every day when you’re about to leave here after your visits, I can see it in your eyes how badly you wanted to take her. How much it killed you every time you had to fly away without her. I love her the same as I love Annie and Penny, but if you were to ask me to give her to you on any of those days. I would have packed her up in a heartbeat and with a smile… because she belongs to you.”

  Her words brought her to sobbing fits. Michelle consoled her as if she was a child wiping her eyes.

  “You have suffered enough,” Michelle affirmed. “You have sacrificed enough. Your baby needs you, and you need her.”

  “I’m scared,” she whimpered, “I’m so scared…”

  “You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t scared,” she smiled, “and you’re not alone. You are never alone.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait,” Sophia meekly asked, “like… give her tonight, and I can pick her up tomorrow?”

  “You want her to possibly run after I tell her.” Michelle gave her a dull look. “And then have to go through the pain of hunting her down?”

  “I’ll call Benji,” Sophia nodded in defeat.

  “I’ll go back upstairs and break the news,” she sighed, “get ready to chase her if she bolts.”

  Michelle smiled, rubbing her arm, and then turned taking in another deep breath of air.

  Readying herself for more fireworks, she marched herself out of the living room and back upstairs.

  A timid Sophia slowly walked out of the living room as well, and sat down at the steps to listen. She listened as the child screamed not wanting to go, refusing to go while Michelle told her to calm down with motherly sternness. She threatened to runaway, as predicted, but Michelle warned her that her mother downstairs was stronger and faster than her with the ability to fly so there was nowhere to run. Bawling and pleas followed with incoherent words.

  “Please Michelle! Please!” she bitterly wept. “Please don’t make me go with her! I’ll be good! I promise! I’m sorry I hurt you! I didn’t mean to! It was an accident! I won’t do it again! I swear! Please don’t send me away! Please! Please!”

  “Honey, it’s not about that,” Michelle said softly. “You got to calm down and listen.”

  It was the crying that got to her. She was the reason for her tears. Sophia slowly covered her ears tucking her head between her legs on the steps fighting to drown it out. She wanted to run. She wanted to run someplace deep and dark so that she could die.

  CHAPTER 15

  Eight hours and thirty minutes later Sophia came into view of her island. Her usual flight time was between fifteen to twenty minutes. She kept cruising speed with the private jet carrying her precious cargo.

  She flew ahead touching down on the landing strip where a waiting Earl trotted onto the tarmac to greet her. His smile had a nervous twitch to it reacting to Sophia’s visage of borderline fear. An expression he had never seen on her before.

  “Welcome home… again.” He looked up the approaching plane. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing home new arrivals.”

  “One new arrival,” answered a hesitant Sophia, “my… daughter.”

  Earl wore a stunned, yet calm, mask as the plane came down for its final descent making a perfect landing.

  As the plane rolled to a halt parking in front of them, Earl appeared to be more anxious than Sophia, wondering if the child exiting the plane would be normal or a super powered miniature being similar to her mother.

  “How old is she?” Earl innocently asked.

  “Ten,” Sophia said bluntly.

  The door to the Embraer Legacy 500 opened as Benjamin the pilot came to the entrance with his carryon luggage in one hand and a red suitcase in his other hand. He waited as a tall young woman in her teens with Sophia’s complexion wearing long curly wild black hair timidly stepped into the entranceway gripping a pink My Little Pony teddy bear. A spider monkey sat perched on her shoulder looking out at what would be his new surroundings. The gray jumpsuit she wore belonging to Annie was one size too small, while the green flip-flops belonged to Michelle.

  “That’s a very big ten year old,” Earl muttered, running his hand across his skull.

  He quickly noticed that Sophia remained rooted in place. Her eyes fixated on the young woman who buried her face in her plush toy with fretting eyes.

  He took the initiative trotting over to grab the rolling steps docking it with the entrance of the plane. He stepped down hard on the braking mechanism locking it into place.

  “Hello young lady,” greeted a chirpy Earl, “welcome to Sanctuary! Come on, don’t be shy.”

  Benjamin gingerly gestured to Kimberly to go first. The child timorously advanced forward grabbed the railing as she slowly walked down the steps. Her eye glanced between the steps and her waiting mother, who fought to hide her trembling.

  “Hello there!” Earl beamed. “Can I ask your name?”

  She did not answer as her doe eyes locked with her mother’s eyes. It was the longest two minutes as the two just stared at one another. Earl looked at Sophia giving her a subtle gesture snapping her out of her trance.

  She straightened up walking bristly toward the trio, which made Kimberly look down at the tarmac as if she had done something wrong.

  “Thank you Benji.” Sophia forced a smile. “I really appreciate you doing this at short notice.”

  “Not a problem Soph,” smiled Benjamin. “This is the one place I enjoy flying to.”

  The awkwardness came back again for another minute. Earl never saw Sophia this rattled and lost. He made a fake cough to break the silence again.

  “So Benji, you up for some barbeque pork chops?” Earl innocently asked.

  “As long as it comes with a couple round of checkers,” said Benjamin, taking the subtle hint.”

  “Yes… I need to…” paused a nervous Sophia, “get her home.”

  Benjamin nodded, handing her daughter’s suitcase to her.

  “Well, we’ll leave you ladies to get settled in,” Earl nodded. “It’s nice to meet you…”

  “Kimberly,�
� Sophia tensely answered for her daughter, “her name is… Kimberly.”

  “Very nice to meet you, Kimberly.” Earl smiled waving to her.

  Sir George waved goodbye for her as she continued to look down at the ground.

  “Nice flying with you, Kimberly,” waved Benjamin.

  He nodded to Sophia before walking off to follow Earl for some rest and relaxation. She knew their topic of conversation once Benjamin got settled in would be about them.

  Sophia huffed. The two of them were finally alone, and she could feel the eyes once again on her.

  “Uh,” Sophia motioned while stumbling with her words, “so my house… is this way.”

  Butterflies abused her stomach as she slowly turned to walk. The sound of flapping flip-flops meant she did not have to turn around, but she could still feel those eyes locked on her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

  ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜

  A couple of minutes later, she slowly walked with a stranger who she had given birth to following behind her tightly clutching her stuffed animal. Sir George, the spider monkey, sat on her shoulders absorbing his new surroundings.

  The evening moonlight shined high above as they walked through a village. Some people were outside sitting or standing on the porches of their huts, others walked by heading home. Everyone acknowledged Sophia. She could also feel them staring silently at the person following her.

  Those who looked as if they wanted to start a conversation, she quickly waved to or said she would talk to them later, sometimes in their own language.

  She exhaled, glancing up at her house, which she had been away from for almost twenty-four hours.

  The honey-varnished cherry oak two-floor hut-styled house was the first constructed home on the island. Built by herself with her own two hands, it fit the climate while providing all of the amenities of the modern world down to satellite television. Unlike the other residential huts, she added a one-car garage and a paved driveway.

  “You have a car?” the child behind her asked innocently.

  In her daze she forgot the garage door was up.

  Sitting halfway out of it was a fully restored 1969 ZL1 Camaro with a metallic sea blue paint finish.

  It stopped Sophia in her tracks. She slowly turned to the classic relic sitting in her driveway.

  “Yes, I do,” she calmly responded.

  “Why?” the child asked.

  A justified question considering Sophia employed flight to move about.

  “It belonged to your father,” she blurted out.

  The silence was long and awkward. Sophia did not know why she quickly divulged that bit of information or if she should say something else. She did know that she was fearful to turn around and look into the face that had her late husband’s eyes. The hairs stood higher on the back on her neck feeling her daughter’s eyes on her. This was not how she imagined motherhood to be. It was clear that they were both afraid of each other.

  She took a breath and continued to walk, the sound of flip-flops following her meant she did not have to stop again. She walked up the steps to the porch and turned the unlocked door walking in first. Quickly flicking on the lights she held the door open while fighting to keep from trembling, as Kimberly slowly walked through the doorway looking around.

  The outside was exceptionally deceiving as she scanned around at the modern open floor plan. To her left she spied a large sunken living room with a full-size light tan sofa couch. In front of the couch, Sophia built a stone fireplace. Hanging over the fireplace was a sixty-four inch plasma screen television. Also within the living room was a Mason & Hamlin upright piano acting as a separator between it and the dining room.

  The dining room was simple with a large black table with seating for eight. Next to it was an open kitchen with a granite island, a chef style oven, and large stainless steel refrigerator freezer matching the other appliances around it. The cabinets which adorned the kitchen was a rich-cherry Oakwood with silver flower styled knobs.

  Steps lead up to the second floor with an open view of what appeared to be four other rooms. To her right where double frosted bay doors and what appeared to be an office.

  “Uh… welcome to… my… home,” Sophia stammered as she began her introduction. “As you can see, living room, dining room, kitchen, small half bathroom, and my office.”

  Kimberly, along with Sir George, gave the place another look around. The monkey appeared to be more excited to be there than she was.

  “Uh… upstairs are the bedrooms and bathrooms,” she continued. “Three bedrooms, and two full baths… one is an on-suite in my room, but the other bathroom is just as nice, and yours. Would you like to see your room?”

  “Yes please…” the child meekly said, still looking around.

  Sophia took another swallow of air into her lungs nodding before leading her daughter up the stairs to the second floor. They passed one room and a bathroom stopping at the second room. She fought to control her hand from shaking as she opened the door flicking on the light.

  Kimberly slowly walked into the room as if she was heading to the gallows. Once inside, her face changed to one of bewilderment.

  From the bed, to the desk to the walk in closet and dresser, everything was styled and updated for a young girl. Even the Mac computer sitting on the tan wood desk had a pink custom back attached to it. It was as if the room had been readied for years waiting for her to arrive.

  Sir George leaped off her shoulder running up to the desk where he climbed up making himself at home. Kimberly walked over and sat down on the bed. It felt comfortable but was meant size wise for the body of a normal ten-year-old.

  “I will have a new bed in here tomorrow morning,” Sophia promised.” If you want I can switch out the bed in the other room…”

  “No… this is fine,” Kimberly answered with her face still buried in her pony.

  “I will also get you some clothes that will fit you tomorrow,” she added. “I have some bed clothes you can wear tonight that should fit you.”

  “Can I just sleep in this, please?” she asked, referring to the sweatsuit she had on.

  “Sure,” she nodded. “It’s not a problem. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”

  “I’m tired,” the child responded. “I’d like to lay down, please.”

  “Sure.” She lowered her head. “It was a long flight. I’ll be outside if you need anything.”

  Kimberly said nothing more as she rolled onto the bed turning her back to her. She grasped her teddy bear tightly while wrapping her legs around it. Sir George leapt from the desk to the bed stroking her hair for comfort.

  Sophia backed out of the room leaving the light on. She closed the door leaving it slightly cracked so she would not feel as if she was imprisoned. It began anyway, though faint she could hear slight sniffling and whimpering coming from her.

  Instead of going to her room she walked down the stairs. Her body shook violently with each step as her heart and stomach became tightly wrenched with knots. It was too overwhelming. She walked out the front door to her porch as her tears started to fall, hurrying down the steps, she ran around the side of the hut where one could see her clutching her mouth. Collapsing in the sand, she wetted bitterly, praying no one heard her.

  A flood of emotions and memories bombarded her weakened state. Joy, sorrow, fear, and anxiety assaulted her at once. In her mind she begged for them to stop, but they continued to have their way with her.

  “I’m not ready for this… I’m not ready,” she sobbed. “What do I do? What do I do?”

  She knelt in the sand, leaned against her home clutching her chest to keep her heart from popping out of it, while muffling her cries as she endured the ordeal throughout the rest of the ending night into the early morning.

  CHAPTER 16

  The next morning, Kimberly woke to the scent of freshly cooked food. She sat up in a bed t
hat was not hers, looking around a room that was not hers still clutching her teddy bear. The digital clock on the desk read 11 AM. On the dresser she spied a stack of neatly folded clothing. Her ears picked up the traitorous Sir George downstairs chirping away, no doubt being fed by the woman who brought her to the strange island last night.

  Finally releasing her grip from the pink pony, she set it down on the bed and slowly rose to her feet. Taking a deep breath she crept over to the full body mirror to look at herself for the very first time since yesterday. What she thought was a bad dream, was a living nightmare for about a split second.

  The initial shock of going from four-foot-five inches to five-foot-eleven inches startled her at first, until she began to examine the benefits of being a full grown teenager.