Never Been Born: Part 2

NEVER BEEN BORN:
PART 2

“Can I go to a party Saturday night, please?”
“No,” Dad answered, simply.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I know what goes on at parties. There‘ll be boys there. No, no way, Sophie, you’re not going.”
I glared at Dad for a couple of seconds, then I turned to Mum. “Can I, Mum?”
“Sophie, I said no!!!”
Mum looked me straight in the eye, and said: “Listen to your father, Sophie.”
“Oh, you never let me have any fun!!!” I complained to my parents. I knew I was wailing, but what choice did I have? It wasn’t fair, Donna was going to make fun of me tomorrow when I told her I wasn’t coming to her party.
“Your sister don’t go to parties, and she still has fun,” Dad said.
“Yeah, well, Sarah’s boring.” I turned, and left the living-room. As I stomped up the stairs, I yelled out: “I WISH I’D NEVER BEEN BORN!!!”
I slammed my bedroom door shut, put some loud music on, and sulked for a few hours before I went to bed.

When I woke up, it was dark. In fact it was so dark, I thought I’d been blindfolded at first. My sister, Sarah, once snuck in my bedroom one night, and blindfolded me as a joke. I reached up to tug the blindfold off, but there was nothing there. So, then I thought perhaps it was still night, and that my curtains were pulled across in a way so the light from the street lamps outside weren’t streaming in.
I reached over for my phone to see what the time was, but it wasn’t there. In fact, I couldn’t feel anything but air. It seemed like I was in some sort of Black Universe.
I’d watched a couple of Doctor Who episodes the night before, after Dad had yelled at me to turn my music off, so I thought maybe I was dreaming. I pinched myself, and felt a little pinch. “Ow!!” I yelled out, and heard a little echo. “Ow!!! Ow!!! Ow!!!”
I was at that point I got frightened. If I wasn’t blindfolded, and I wasn’t dreaming either, then that meant I was in some sort of Black Universe. But why? And why me? What did I do? And then I remembered the argument I’d had with my dad last night. I asked if I could go to a party Saturday night, and he’d said no. And I remembered what I’d shouted as I ran up the stairs to my bedroom: “I WISH I’D NEVER BEEN BORN!!!”
So that was why I was here. I’d wished I was never born, and it’s happened. I’d been transported to a universe of nothingness, while in the real world, I’d never been born, and Mum, Dad and Sarah knew nothing about me. I started to cry, there was no way I could get back, and I was going to miss Mum and Dad. I was even going to miss Sarah. There was only three years between us, and there were times I’ve framed her for a vase or a plate I broke, because I didn’t want to get into trouble, but we did get on, and we could be quite close sometimes.
Then I thought of something. I’d wished myself here, why didn’t I just wish my way back there? But I made myself a promise as well. I was going to become a better daughter, to become more well behaved, to avoid this sort of thing ever happening again.
I stood up, took a deep breath, and yelled out: “I WISH TO GO BACK HOME!!! I WISH TO START MY LIFE OVER AGAIN, SO I CAN BE MORE WELL BEHAVED, AND I DON’T END UP BACK HERE AGAIN!!!”
Then I sat back down again. Nothing happened immediately. All that shouting had made me feel a little sleepy.
‘Oh well,’ I thought to myself. ‘A little nap couldn’t hurt…’

I woke up. It was morning. I was glad, it had been a long night. I’d had a bizarre dream. I’d asked Dad if I could go to a party, and he’d said no. After yelling out I wish I was never born, I’d stormed upstairs to my bedroom, where I fell asleep. And then, in my dream, in a place where there was nothing but blackness surrounding me. I was in the Black World for a while before I woke up. The most strange thing was, I was sure I’d had the same dream before. I looked at my mobile phone to see what the time was. 7:20, ten minutes before my alarm went off. I got up early, showered, got dressed and went downstairs to have some breakfast before I went to school.
My older sister was sitting at the breakfast table having a cup of coffee before she went to work. She’d moved back in with us after her husband had kicked her out, so he could keep the house for himself and his new girlfriend. She was reading a book when I came into the kitchen.
“Morning, Soapy,” she smiled, as she looked up and saw me. “And how are you?”
“Fine, I suppose.” I told Sarah about my dream, and about how I felt that I’d dreamt it before.
“Do you think it means something?” I asked.
Sarah laughed. “I shouldn’t worry about it too much, Soapy. Dreams rarely mean anything. If they do, it’s usually because you’re worried about an upcoming maths exam, or whether your dearly devoted husband is cheating on you.” She stopped suddenly, as though she’d said too much. She got up and wandered over to the sink, and washed her cup out. “Anyway, I’ve got to go to work. I’ll see you later, Soap.” She left.
I nosed at the book she’d left on the table, wondering if it was the latest Stephen King. To my surprise, it wasn’t a novel, but a diary. It was dated 1997, thirteen years ago. I opened it up at the bookmark Sarah had placed, and read the following

2.3.97:
Sophie wanted to go to a party, but Dad said she couldn’t go. Sophie then screamed out she wished she was never born. That was the highlight of my day.

3.3.97:
Woke up this morning to find Sophie had disappeared and Mum and Dad knew nothing about her. I thought it was a joke at first, but she really had disappeared. It wasn’t until tonight that I remembered about the wish Sophie had yelled out. I then wished I had a little sister called Sophie.

4.3.97:
This morning, I heard a little baby crying it’s head off. I thought we were baby-sitting my cousin Luke, and that Auntie Jane had dropped him off early. I found out that it wasn’t Luke, but that Mum had given birth to a baby girl two days ago, and she’d called her Sophie. Oh well, I did wish for a little sister. I didn’t mean that little though. But I suppose all’s well that ends well.