The Surviving Flowers of War
Part 1
"I'm looking for a group of women. I'm looking for the women of Qin Huai River!" John screamed and begged to everyone he passed.
He had gotten the girls to safety. They were all together and living in another Catholic church, a true, proper convent that was away from the war. John stayed with them. The spoke with the nuns and the priest; he told them everything that had happened. They agreed to let him remain as the grounds keeper; so that he could continue to watch over the girl and make sure they stayed safe… as he had vowed to do.
But, now the war was over and he had a promise to keep. John had promised Mo that he would return and find her… and take her home.
"Father John", Shu called to him, "are you leaving us?" All the girls still referred to him as 'Father John'; the priests and the nuns didn't seem to like it, but after everything the girls had been though they didn't scold them for it.
"Just for a little while", John knelt down to the girls' level as the all huddled around him.
"But what will you do?" one of the girl's asked.
"I'm going to find them. I'm going to find George and Mo, and everyone else I can… and then I going to bring them all here and we'll be together. I promise", John gently wiped some of their tears away.
"But it is too dangerous. What if something happens to you?"
"Nothing is going to happen to me. The war is over. I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can", he spoke as honestly as he could to the girls and then started to leave.
"Father John", Shu yelled out to him, "bring back our big sister's… BRING THEM HOME!"
He turned around to the girls and smiled at them. John was so proud of those brave girls and he loved them all as he had loved his own daughter.
"I PROMISE!"
"PLEASE! Has anyone seen a group of women? HAS ANYONE SEEN THE WOMEN OF THE QIN HUAI RIVER?!"
John searched everywhere he could think of, every place he saw on the way back to that city of death.
The first place he went to was the brothel. He thought, if the women were going to go anywhere, they would return there.
"MO! GEORGE! ANYONE!" John almost lost his voice screaming into everyone room of that place… but there was no one.
From there he walked. He trudged through the city.
Somehow or another he found himself in from of the cathedral. That place where he first met George and all the girls and Mo.
The place was a mess.
The front, gate doors were completely gone. The walls were hardly more than rubble. Everything looked charred. And yet, somehow Shu's stain glass window was still there. It had a few more holes and almost more pieces were missing than intact. Yet, it was still there.
John walked through the place.
Past the window…
Past the father's office…
Past the library…
Past the kitchen…
*CREAK*
John snapped around at the sound. He took a step back toward the kitchen, hopeful, until his foot stepped back down at the floor board beneath his own foot creaked.
"Damn it!" John screamed into the emptiness.