by Tifani Clark
*****
Just as Sophia had expected, her mother kept her busy with chores while the Mist Seeker was at sea. She usually would have dreaded not having time to herself, but Sophia was actually a little grateful. She was afraid if she didn’t stay busy she would fall apart from the pain of missing Nick. Her birthday came and went and she found that being seventeen made her feel much older than she had only a few short months before.
Sophia and Elsa were invited to the nearby home of Charles and Elenora Mason to share in the relatively new tradition of Thanksgiving. They had a wonderful feast and Sophia found that she could actually smile and be happy. Without her father around, she and her mother were getting along better than usual, but it was nice to have someone other than Elsa to talk to and to break up the monotony of the increasingly colder days.
Unfortunately, after they dined with the Mason family her mother couldn’t stop talking about their son, Michael, and how he would be such a good match for Sophia.
“Michael is a strong man that knows how to work hard, Sophia. Besides, look at the land he already owns and how much he will own as soon as his parents die,” Elsa explained one December morning.
Michael had to be nearing forty years old and the idea of being paired with him sent shivers up Sophia’s spine. He was an unusually large man and something about him made her feel uncomfortable, as if evil poured out of him in some unseen way.
“Mother, he barely spoke five words the entire time we were visiting and that was to grunt something about wanting more food passed down the table. I can’t be with a man who doesn’t know how to carry on a conversation,” Sophia complained.
“But Sophia, dear, a girl in your situation is never going to find anyone better,” Elsa snapped, ending their chat as she stomped out of the room.