Smithereens. Chapter 03.

Weekends were supposed to be full of fun and laughter, especially if it was about the life of a child because children were also always supposed to be happy about everything. However, there were several exceptions and for Sofia, it was no longer that way. The weekends were no longer joyous at all.

Alone! You will always be alone! Did you hear me?

―Mom, there's something I have to tell you.

You look horrible today. Even more, than you usually are. Disgusting, seriously.

―Mom, I have a problem.

Look, but what happened to you? We love it when you cry, but this time you look gross, please stop. You're going to blind us!

―Mom, I feel really bad. I-

―Could you stop bothering me, Sofia? I am working.

It was what she supposed. It was exactly how she imagined it. No one was going to help her. No one could save her. No one was going to give her a hand now when she felt that every part of her soul was corrupted by those voices during the dark night. She even had lost the count of how many tears she had shed when she pretended to sleep. Yes, because her mother thought her daughter was sleeping. No, she did not sleep. She suffered. And she showed no pinch of interest in it.

Would that be her lifestyle from now on? Because she did not think she would be able to control it any longer. They would destroy her and her sanity. Perhaps they would make her commit dangerous acts, but she would succumb to her claims and she would do as they ordered. It was the end of her. It was her destiny. It was her curse.

Is there a cure for it? Maybe not, the little girl thought. That is to say, How normal was it for someone to feel attacked by beings that almost did not exist? Almost, because she couldn't see them but she could hear them. On most occasions, she compared herself to her other friends. They had never told her that they heard voices in their rooms or in their houses.

She felt weird and different. She felt like a strange bug. She hated it. She hated seeing herself in the mirror because she was looking at a different person from the rest of the children who played in her schoolyard. She would never go back to normal. She would never have a normal life. She would never be loved and she could never sleep in peace. It was the worst life anyone could wish for.

The night was approaching and the little girl ―who was now watching television― could only think of one thing: she would have to prepare to enter hell one more time.