Who do I belong to
I was sleeping peacefully when my dad walked in my room and said, “Sofia, time to get up. You’re going to be late to school. Come on pumpkin.“ As he flips the lights on in my room, I groan and cover my head with my blanket.
After my dad left my room, I began to get ready. I brushed my hair, but something was off. Big bundles of my hair were falling out of my head. I yelled to my dad, “ DAD!!“ As I grabbed my hair off my hairbrush my beautiful blonde hair was falling out.
Soon my dad walks back in my room and says "What did you need to raise your voice for, Sofia?”
I look over at my dad and say, “Dad, my hair is falling out, what do I do?” I ask carefully
My dad looked at me like I was trying to spin a lie to get out of school “Sofia I don’t believe you! Lying just so you could get out of school.”
I turned around and faced my dad to show him that my hair was literally falling out. I was so angry, why wouldn't my own dad not believe me? I snap my fingers and out of nowhere my dad freezes almost like a glitch. I re-snap my fingers and my dad somehow unfreezes. His breathing was very uneven and like someone tried to choke him out. I looked surprised. Wait, was it my fault somehow? How could that have been me?
“ I… I didn’t do that. Did I do that , what the heck?“
As I was sitting in class, unfocused and thinking about what happened this morning, Mrs. Fisher said, " Sofia what is the definition of a verb?¨ I was so zoned out I didn't even hear her.
Mrs Fisher began to snap her fingers at me to try and get my attention and I got mad and snapped my fingers on impulse and she froze just like how my dad did this morning. I re-snap my fingers and Mrs. Fisher unfreezes and her breathing was unsteady like she had something keeping her from breathing.
¨ W… what did I do? What is wrong with me?”
I thought to myself as tears welled up in my eyes and I ran out of the classroom.
I ran into the bathroom. I didn't know what was wrong with me and I was scared. I splash some cold water on my face to try and get my thoughts in place. I walked out of the bathroom after I took a few deep breaths.
I walked to the main office so I could call my dad. I wanted to go home, more like I needed to, but still I walked into the main office and said ¨Mr. Morgan, can you call my dad, please? I would like to go home. I don't feel good.¨ I say softly. I was still scared from what I just did to Mrs. Fisher.
Mr. Morgan nods and says, ¨Yeah, I can do that for you. Just go sit down and rest while I call your dad, okay?¨ I nod slightly and go sit down as Mr.Morgan calls my dad. I didn't want to get in trouble for coming home early. I curl my legs up against my chest as I wait for my dad to come get me.
The next morning was the same, just bigger clumps of my hair were falling out and my skin was all itchy and my skin hurt as I put my cloak on. As I walk out of my room to go eat breakfast, I wince in pain as my cloak rubs on my skin. It hurts so bad. ¨Good morning dad,¨ I said tiredly. My dad turns and sees that I'm in pain and says, ¨ Hey pumpkin! You okay, sweetheart? You look like you're hurt,¨ my dad asks. I nod slightly and say, “Yeah, I’m okay. I think I would tell you if I wasn’t, you know that.” I say as I take a bite of my pancakes.
As the day went on during school my head and skin were so painful I couldn’t focus very well. I dug in my bag and found the book I had found on Greek mythology to distract me. I was reading about the Greek gods and goddesses. I looked through the book and noticed my symptoms sounded familiar. My symptoms were almost perfect to Medusa’s with the intense hair loss and intense dry and itchy skin.
The book gave the location of where Medusa’s lair would be. I typed the location into my Chromebook to see how far the journey would be and it was about a 2 day walk. I deserved to meet Medusa though. What if she's my mom?
When I arrived home, I said, “ Hey, um dad, can I go on a school trip? It’s a few days long, but is that okay?” I lied a little bit but it was my only way to go. I wait for dad to say something. He finally says, “Yeah, you can go if it’s for school, but you better be on your best behavior, got it.” I nod slightly and say, “ Can I please go pack? I’ll be back in a few days.” I spoke softly, being calm. My dad just nods and I run to my room to pack a few pairs of clothes. I look at myself in the mirror. I gasp, my hands trembling in fear as I look at my reflection. My hair wasn’t the hair it was 10 hours ago. Snakes were sprouting from my head and my skin had horrible rashes which in some places looked like scales. My hands were shaking as tears threatened to fall. “Was I really a child of Medusa, an evil monster. Why me? Why me out of everyone?” I thought to myself. As I packed, I was scared my dad would see and the fear in my body was overwhelming. I was only 12 years old.
I started my journey to what looked like an upside down castle in the middle of the sky. I had the hood of my cloak covering my baby snake hair because I’m pretty sure it would freak out a lot of the city if people saw the snakes.
My long 2 day journey was like a long gym class that made me want to go home, but it was a little too late to walk back home and not know the truth. I stared at the big stairs that lead to the upside down castle. I had a lot of questions on how the construction people did the whole defying gravity thing but it was really cool. I walked up the stairs to get to the old wooden front doors and gently pushed them open. They made an eerie creaking sound. I slowly stepped inside and it didn’t look like anyone was there until I heard her voice, “ Well, well. Hello, Sofia. I’m your mother.”
Hi! I'm Hannah. I'm an 11th grader at Saint Peter High School. I wanted to bring the concept of Greek mythology into my short story because I wanted to make a spin on Medusa and have her have her own child. I hope you love the journey Sofia took to find herself .