Sophia's Story

The last time I saw my friend Joy, before she died, I promised to read her the story I had written about Sophia, the next time I was to visit. I never got to read it to her, because she died a few days later.

I was telling Joy that I was in the process of collaborating with my Japanese friend, to translate the story and that I had found a bi-lingual company which I felt the story might have a chance being published with, since it specialised in cross-cultural stories. I will send it off to the publishing company tomorrow, so publishing it here, is an attempt to put it out there into the consciousness of the world, first. Hope you like it Joy. Wish me luck!

Sophia's Story

When Sophia’s mother held her for the very first time, she loved how warm, wet and slippery she felt. When she gazed at Sophia lying beside her, she noticed her dark skin and black hair and she knew there was something special about her new baby.

When Sophia was two weeks old, her papa got a job in Arizona. It was hard work packing up their things, with a small baby to look after, but her mama and papa were excited about living in the countryside, away from busy streets and big city noise.

When the last of their belongings was loaded onto the removal van, Sophia and her mama hopped on the plane leaving for Tucson while her papa drove their car to their new house, far, far away. It was her first plane ride, but Sophia didn’t see very much, because she slept all the way.

Arizona was a hot dry place, where the horizon stretched on forever. Along the flats, heat shimmered in waves and the spiny Ocotillo cactus bloomed its tiny red flowers. Sophia lived with her parents in a little town way up high in the mountains, where the air was crisply cool. She was still a tiny baby when she first saw snow and her mama had her so tightly bundled in blankets that she hardly saw a thing.

Sophia’s grandparents lived in New Mexico, four hours drive from Arizona. They lived in a big adobe style house with long strands of chillis hanging on the walls. Sophia and her parents often made the long journey to see her Mama Judy and her Papa Roy. They spent long weekends together taking walks into the Mexican village of Old Mesilla, past the fields of chilli plants growing in the hot sun. On Sundays there was often a wedding party in the town square with a Mariachi band playing Mexican wedding songs.

Not long after they arrived in Arizona, her parents took her to Oklahoma to meet the rest of her relatives there. Mimi, her great grandmother, had white hair and soft wrinkly skin. Her brown eyes sparkled and her face and arms were the colour of dark honey. She was descended from Cherokee people, the original people of the south-eastern part of America.

When Sophia was almost two, her mama started feeling homesick. She missed the ocean and the long winding rivers, the colours of the wattle and the Jacaranda tree blossoms and the call of the Kookaburra and Magpie. It was time to move back to Australia to live for a while, so they said goodbye to their little house and friends in Arizona, then hugged Mama Judy and Papa Roy at Tucson airport and got on a plane for the long journey to her mama’s homeland.

When they arrived in Australia, Sophia discovered it was a very different place. Everything was green and the air was warm and humid. Sophia also discovered that she had another set of grandparents, her Australian grandparents: Granny Leigh and Poppy Eric. That year Sophia had her first hot Christmas, where she spent the day at the beach and enjoyed a picnic of fish and chips.

Sophia loved spending time at her grandparent’s farm. They lived in a big steel shed. In the evening Granny Leigh would take Sophia outside to watch the wallabies hop across the paddocks and when it got very dark, they would take their torches (Sophia called them flashlights) with them to look for green tree frogs that lived in the pipes around the water tank. Sophia would fall asleep listening to their “croak, croak, croak”. On rainy nights she lay awake unable to sleep because the sound of the rain on the tin roof was like the pounding of drums.

When Sophia was nearly three, her Mama and Papa wanted her to have a Native American name. They reflected carefully on what her spirit animal might be. In a dream, a big brown bird with a white head, the Brahminy Kite, appeared to her mama. The next day as they drove along the beach road, her mama yelled out, “Look, there it is!” and they all looked up to see a Brahminy Kite gliding powerfully above them.

Her papa thought it would suit her well, because it looked just like the American Bald Eagle. Her parents organised a naming ceremony with a Cherokee elder who lived nearby. How fortunate they were to know a Native American in Australia.

Now Sophia’s name was “Little Eagle”. This was a special name, that she might want to use for a special reason. Her papa explained that the eagle was her spirit animal who could protect her, especially when she needed help. It was also very powerful because it could see far and wide, from up high. Her spirit animal would help her to see like this too.

Not long after her third birthday, Sophia’s baby brother was born. He was tiny and dark and made funny gurgling sounds. Sophia’s mama said he looked just like Sophia when she was a baby and she knew there was something special about him.

They had been living in Australia for a while now and Papa was starting to feel homesick. It was time to visit America and show her American grandparents how much she had grown, as well as her new baby brother. It was autumn in Australia, but it would be spring in New Mexico and Sophia was looking forward to watching the Hummingbirds buzz around Papa Roy’s bird feeder and taking the dogs for a walk with Mama Judy in the early morning sun.

Her great grandmother Mimi was there too and everyone was so happy to see Sophia and her baby brother. Mimi was getting old, but her brown eyes still sparkled with delight when she held Sophia on her lap.

Sophia and her Mama Judy went for long walks along the canal that came from the Rio Grande, which supplied water to all the chilli fields around their neighbourhood. The New Mexico sun beat down and the dry wind made their skin feel crackly. It was fun to hop in the pool nearby and cool off.

Before long, it was time to go home to Australia. Everyone was sad to see Sophia and her mama, papa and baby brother leave on the plane, but they all promised to get together the following year in Hawaii, because that was Mama Judy and Papa Roy’s favourite holiday place and it was half-way between New Mexico and Australia.

Sophia had completely forgotten about the plan to go to Hawaii, then one day, her parents said that they would be going soon. Although it was summer in Australia, it was winter in Hawaii and Sophia was really excited to see snow on the peaks of the volcano with her Mama Judy and Papa Roy.

When Sophia arrived at the tiny island airport with her family, her grandparents were there to greet them and her papa Roy made her feel special, when he placed a beautiful flower necklace around her neck.

The next day they went to a resort which had a dolphin education centre and Sophia was able to join in the kid’s dolphin play programme and feed and hold a dolphin. She loved being so close to the dolphins and thought their skin was so smooth and slippery.

There was something about Hawaii which reminded Sophia about Australia. She wasn’t sure exactly, when she heard her mama say ,“We have many of the same trees here, back home. We have the Jacaranda and the Frangipanni and the mango, star fruit and macadamia nut trees too”. Sophia loved to walk through the orchard where they were staying and pick star fruit for her breakfast.

All too soon their Hawaiian holiday came to an end and it was time to return to Australia. As she sat on the plane, she thought about the wonderful things she had seen in Hawaii. She also thought about the last thing her Mama Judy said to her as she got on the plane.

“Sophia, when you’re flying over the Pacific Ocean, you’ll be able to see us here in Hawaii if you look behind you and if you look ahead, you’ll be able to see your grandparents in Australia waving hello to you from down under, because you’ll be able to see far and wide from up high”.