Sophie's Effect

Sophia Matthews was supposed to be a successful writer. She was. Once. Seven years ago she had struck gold and it had seemed she would never stop. Now the wells of her creativity had dried up and she was constantly finding herself staring at her laptop, her screen blank, the cursor looking back at her, her fingers not moving over the keyboard.

Presently, she groaned loudly and rubbed the back of her neck. When would it stop? This writer's block? People said it was an illusion and some writers did recognize it as an issue but the entire town of Hadiraf blamed Sophia for her decline. Her phone began to ring and Sophia immediately knew it was her agent. Her heart began to pound erratically as she answered the phone.

"Hello..."

"Hello? Hello? Goddammit Sophia! You were supposed to write a new book not to edit Angels of Tarirah, that was your first book", her agent boomed.

"I know, I know, can you please just give me some time?"

"Gosh Sophia, you've had seven years, you really need to see a shrink..."

"I'm not crazy", Sophia said curtly.

"But you're depressed, it's been seven years, you need to get over Indiana and pull yourself together."

Having had enough, she hung up and sat staring into space. Everyday, she was reminded of that day in Hadiraf when she had killed her writing career. She could still picture the both of them, standing by the river, their favorite spot in the world, just the two of them. They were shouting that day; Indiana had wanted to go to college but she had insisted he stay by her side. They had all the money in the world, what did he need a college degree for?

She began to sob, slowly at first until her crying was the only sound in the large house.

* * *

Farway in New York City, Indiana Williams was sitting in a cafeteria with his best friend and roommate Chopra eating breakfast. His mind was faraway while Chopra rambled on about something, a book?

"Are you even listening to anything I'm saying at all?" Chopra demanded.

"Of course", Indiana said and sighed. "Can we just talk about something other than...books?"

Chopra rolled his eyes. "Sophia Matthews is my favorite author..."

Indiana snickered, "well she sucks...duh!"

"C'mon Indiana you don't have to be this way, I know you both have history but Sophia is a great writer. You should try and patch things with her".

"Me? She's the selfish one! She's the one who wouldn't support me after all the support I gave her, my dad funded her first book for crying out loud! I made her dreams come true".

"Now, now, you're getting too loud, all I'm saying is, you're going to be in Hadiraf for some days, why not use some time to patch things up, just go see her, how can that hurt?"

And so it was that later that day, Indiana pulled up in his parents driveway and stepped out the car, he put on his sunshades, he'd forgotten how hot the sun was in Hadiraf. His parents' bungalow was pretty much the same except that his mother's garden had died off. He stood outside, wistful, taking in the fresh air and listening to the wind as it seemed to call out a name to him, he could still hear the sound of her laughter, forgotten sounds from seven years ago. The whole town seemed to carry within it echoes of their love.

With a start, he grabbed his bag and walked into the house. Sighting him, his mother pulled him into a long hug.

"I missed you Indie dear", she said.

"I missed you too Mom".

Much later when he was helping out in the kitchen, his dad came in, pulled a chair and sat down. Indiana instinctively knew he was going to mention Sophia and he did just that.

"Spoke to Sophia lately?" He began casually.

Indiana shook his head in the negative, "nope".

"Uhm...you should. She's having problems, you know that right? She, ehm, she can't seem to write since you left..."

"I don't think I care dad", he sighed, "she pushed me away". And with those words, he left the kitchen.

* * *

The next morning however, against his better judgement, Indiana trudged slowly towards the Matthews' residence. Everything seemed to have been corroded by time. The town still felt faintly familiar but there were new houses here and there and the Matthews' residence was now a big white sprawling mansion.

And it was then he saw her: petite with skin as white as milk, her long hair dark as coal, falling over her beautiful oval skin like satin. He became lost in the sight of her, standing just a few feet away from her, watching her yet not really grasping the situation.

She was standing beside a pickup truck and her dad seemed to be...saying goodbye?

"Are you sure about this Sophia?" Her dad was asking.

"I am sure, dad, I need to be away for a while, get my groove back, find my muse. Don't worry I'm gonna be fine".

He heard their voice like a throbbing headache but he could not move. He desperately wanted to alert her of his presence but he just kept standing there, his feet unwilling to obey his heart. Then she turned and saw him and for some precious minutes, time stood still, tears welled up in her eyes but she did not cry. Then she whispered softly, "Indiana". The wind carried the sound to him, a gentle yet urgent command and it was then his legs began to work. Quickly, he was by her side.

"Sophia, Sophia", he called.

She was however trying to stop herself from crying while she searched frantically for her keys in her bag then realising she had it in her hands, she jammed it into the lock, opening the car door. Thankfully, her dad was not outside to witness the scene.

He tried to hold her. "Can you just listen to me?"

"Don't you dare, Indiana," she snapped. "Get your hands off of me, don't you bloody dare", she began to hit him on the chest, crying hysterically.

He grabbed her hands, trying to calm her down. "Listen to me Sophia..." She wriggled free from his grasp.

"I...I can't do this", she was panting, "I just can't...I...I...I need space. My life as I know it, is falling apart and I have to stop it". With those words, she entered the car, started it and drove off, leaving him standing there feeling like the dumbest dude in the world.