MidReal Story
Lost in Love: Sophia's Journey to Reunion
Scenario: A young girl in search of a better life leaves her native country for another. Arriving, lost and alone, she meets this man!
It's the beginning of an exciting story of love, passion, tears and reunion. Happy ending.
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As I sat in my empty bedroom, the suitcase next to me packed neatly, my thoughts drifted back and forth.
I had made a decision that would change my life forever.
Leaving the country of my birth, my family, and the only life I ever knew, was not something I had ever considered.
It was almost unthinkable for me to leave everything behind and start again in a foreign country.
But it was the only way.
It was the only way to ensure my future, to have a better life.
I had to do it for myself.
My parents were not rich.
They were not poor either, but they worked hard to provide for us.
For me and my younger sister.
A better life was what I craved and maybe it was selfish of me, but I wanted more than what my country could offer.
I wanted to leave poverty behind and make something of myself.
As I zipped up my bag, a tear slipped down my cheek.
I wiped it away quickly.
No more tears, I promised myself.
I had cried so many already.
In a few hours, I would be on a plane bound to my new home.
The place where I wanted to start over and build a future for myself.
It would take years before I could see my family again, but I couldn’t let this stop me.
I knew what I wanted to do and as much as it hurt, there was no other way.
My heart felt heavy as I carried my bag downstairs.
My family was waiting for me in the living room.
This was it: time to say goodbye.
My mother cried quietly and wrapped her arms around me as soon as she saw me.
She told me be careful, look after myself and not do anything stupid.
My father stood by her side, his face hard and unreadable, but his eyes filled with unshed tears too, as he gave me an encouraging smile.
He told me to be strong, believe in myself and never give up on my dreams.
He said he loved me and that he would always be proud of me no matter what happened.
My heart squeezed painfully and I struggled to keep my tears at bay, to be strong, so they wouldn’t worry about me even more.
My younger sister was sitting on the couch, playing with her favorite doll, her big eyes wide with confusion and innocence as she watched us silently.
She was too young to understand what was going on and that was a good thing, because she wouldn’t have to bear the sorrow of missing me.
“Write to us every day and call us whenever you can,” my mother muttered as she hugged me tighter and cried into my ear.
“I will, mama.”
The love of my family was the only thing keeping my heart from breaking into a million pieces, but when it was time to go, I had to tear myself away from their loving embrace, no matter how much it hurt.
As we all stood by the open door, my mother cried even harder and my father was silent and strong as he held us together.
Feeling lost among a whirlwind of emotions, I managed to drag myself away from them and get into the taxi waiting outside the house to take me to the airport.
I had never been to an airport before and as I stood by the entrance, looking up at the big building in front of me, I felt lost.
I didn’t know where to go or what to do next.
There were so many people heading into different directions and all of them looked like they knew exactly where they were going.
But I didn’t.
This was all new to me and as I slipped my fingers into my pockets to check for my passport and ticket, my hands shook with fear, while I tried to calm myself down.
Taking a deep breath, I walked inside.
Once I was past security check, I wandered through the terminal looking for the gate for my flight.
I asked a young man who was passing by for directions, but he muttered something under his breath that I didn’t understand and walked away without glancing back at me.
Feeling frustrated, I tried asking someone else for help, but they were too busy to pay attention to me.
They didn’t even look at me as they walked past me.
I’m sorry, I don’t speak English very well.
Can you help me please?”
The man stopped in his tracks and gave me a quick look over his shoulder, but when he saw me frowning at him, he turned around with a cold expression on his face.
He looked like he was in a hurry to go somewhere else.
I only have fifteen minutes before boarding time,” he snapped.
My heart sank at his tone.
I know what I’m asking is rude, but can you please help me find my gate?I don’t know where it is.” I asked again in a small voice, trying to keep my tears at bay as I looked up at him pleadingly.
Can’t you see I’m busy?I don’t have time for this!”
I’m sorry,” I muttered as I took a step back from him.
He huffed impatiently and walked away without another word.
Feeling dejected and on the verge of tears, I walked around the airport terminal like a lost puppy searching for its owner.
Finally, after asking three more kind people for help who understood my poor English and were willing to show me where to go, I found a woman who worked at the airport that walked me to my gate.
She told me that this was where I needed to wait until they called me to board the plane.
She was very nice and offered me a comforting smile that made me feel better for a moment as she left me alone by the entrance of the boarding area.
I sat down on one of the empty chairs at the back of the room and looked around at all the people waiting with me to board the plane too.
They were all staring at their phones or talking to each other in groups, but no one was paying any attention to me.
It was like I was invisible to them.
This is for the best,” I told myself quietly as I wiped the tears away.
The flight information board above the entrance showed there were still twenty minutes left until boarding would start.
Feeling restless and anxious as I waited for them to call my name over the loudspeaker, I stood up from my seat and walked around the room.
A few minutes later, after taking another walk around the room, I bumped into someone who had just walked out of the bathroom.
I’m so sorry,” he said as we collided with each other.
It’s my fault.I should have been watching where I was going,” I replied.
He turned around to face me and gave me an apologetic smile.
He was tall with dark hair and eyes that looked straight into my soul.
There was something mysterious about the way he looked at me that made my heart beat faster.
“It’s okay,” he said as he looked at my ticket.
“Are you waiting for the same flight?”
Yes,” I replied with a quick nod.
“Me too,” he said as he gave me another smile.
“Do you mind if I sit next to you?”
he asked as he pointed at the empty chair next to me.
“Of course not,” I replied.
A few minutes later, we were sitting side by side as we waited for them to call our names over the loudspeaker.
He asked me where I was going, why I was traveling alone, and if I was nervous about moving so far away from my home.
I told him everything about how I was going to live with my cousin Alejandro in the United States, how it was my first time on a plane, and how I was going to start college soon.
He listened intently as I talked, looking at me with his dark eyes like he was trying to read my thoughts.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” he said after I was finished talking.
“I’m sure your cousin will take good care of you when you get there.”
“How do you know?”
I asked, giving him a puzzled look.
“I don’t know,” he replied with a shrug.
Something about the way he looked at me made me feel comfortable, like he was my friend.
He smiled again before turning to look out the window at the plane that was being loaded with luggage.
I’m Isabella Lopez,” I said as I held out my hand to him.
Sophia Rodriguez,” I replied.
It’s nice to meet you, Sophia.”
The woman who was working at the airport walked into the room and called my name over the loudspeaker.
I’ll see you on the plane,” Isabella said with another smile as he stood up from his chair.
The flight attendant who was waiting by the entrance of the boarding area took my ticket, checked it, and let me through to board the plane with everyone else.
When I found my seat on the plane minutes later, Isabella was already sitting in his own chair with his seat belt fastened.
I smiled at him as I sat down next to him in my own seat.
He smiled back before turning around to face forward in his own seat.
The flight attendant went over all of the safety guidelines again and showed us how to use our seat belts before the plane took off.
I closed my eyes tightly and held onto my armrests as we waited for the plane to take off.
My heart pounded in my chest as the sound of the engines grew louder and louder until they were so loud that I thought they would burst my eardrums.
I opened my eyes just as we started moving across the runway.
My body was pushed back into my chair as the plane began to pick up speed.
We reached our maximum speed, and then the front wheels of the plane lifted off of the ground.
The rear wheels did not lift off of the ground for a few more seconds, but when they did, my body was pushed back into my seat one last time before we were in the air.
I opened my eyes just as we left the ground behind us, flying up into the sky like a bird.
The airport looked so small down below, but it was still busy with so many people coming and going.
Just then, I heard someone cry out in pain behind me.
When I turned around to see what had happened, I saw a family of four hugging each other tightly near one of the windows.
There was an older woman who was crying as she hugged her husband who had short white hair.
The man was patting his wife on her back as they hugged each other.
“Don’t cry,” he said as he wiped away his wife’s tears with his hand.
I felt like crying too when I saw them hugging each other like that.
I missed my family already, even though it had only been a few minutes since I had seen them last.
I turned back around in my seat and wiped away a few tears that were threatening to fall.
I didn’t want to cry in front of Isabella, so I did my best to be strong.
When I was sure that I wouldn’t cry any more tears, I turned back around in my seat to look out of the window.
The plane was climbing higher and higher into the sky, so high that you could barely see the ground below us.
I was really leaving everything behind.
The plane flew for hours before we reached our cruising altitude.
Once we reached a stable altitude, we were allowed to take off our seatbelts and move around the cabin freely.
Isabella turned to look at me.
“Are you hungry?”
he asked as he pulled out a few small bags of snacks from his bag.
“I have some cookies and chips if you want some.”
“My mom packed me some food too,” I replied with a smile.
