Chapter 10: Catherine Anna(Part I)
The previous days had not been kind to the people of the island. However, out of the shadow of death and pain comes renewal and second chances. The main characters of the play continue to only play a minor in something larger. And it is something that no one, not even those that are not mentioned do not know. Nor will they ever will. Rather, these people only realize their lives fulfilled through their small role in the overall production. For some it is a bittersweet experience, but the worst had already passed and the time for joy had arrived. For others, it is a moment of serendipity that crosses their path and they inadvertently find it. For the rest, it is a lifetime of things they are owed. For a very nervous young man that will happen this very day...but not entirely for him. For the woman is rather a long overdue dream that came true; it was a long enough wait, but not too late...
February 14, 2012
A hospital on Mallora Island
She shouldn't have lived, and it was a miracle she did. He never expected this to happen. He'd thought it was a nice dream to have someday; but he did not expect that day to come so soon. And she was here now; someone that he knew would look up to him and listen to him(hopefully), and most importantly of all...love him.
She was still somewhat weak and it would be yet another several days before she could be taken home. This was the daughter of iconic pair that was at one time went by the nicknames of Blaze and Edge: Catherine Anna Lovecraft. And they stand front the looking glass of the place several other little angels lay.
But there was something familiar about this...
December 12, 2011
It was a rather strange scenario. It was a bit unexpected of Damien to ask both David and Kei to watch their kid, Evangeline, while the both of them prepared to return to the mainland. It was only a day after both families said their farewells to their loved ones in that freak accident on the second. But today was not one of sadness, it was something to be proud of.
"Wow. She's a beauty isn't she?"
"She has like these...marble like eyes."
"Marbles! They do not look like marbles!" Kei said while
"Hey! I'm an honest man and a master of observation! What did you expect?"
"I suppose."
But there a subsequent memory in the mind of David. He once watched Kei hold a child that wasn't even hers' and yet look at it with the eyes of a true mother. He watched her dream partially fulfilled right in front of him. One that had plenty of weight for both. He remembered her words. She only mentioned them before in a rather vague tone. But it was enough to stun David out of any former ideas about her. She hardly talked about her past at all, and yet despite this mundane action, it had everything to do with the truth Kei told him the same day she also told him she was carrying their own child. All the pieces of the puzzle in a single night came together.
What dreams?
Dreams I've had for a long time. But it was more than a dream. It was a wish. A hope for a better tomorrow. I've spent so long wanting this to happen.
I see. It's family isn't it? I never realized how deep it went for you.
Well...lack thereof.
You told me before that your parents abandoned you like trash. And that was why you wanted to have a family, so that kid doesn't go through what you went through.
You speak as if you already know.
I am good at assuming what I don't know. But I lack the arrogance to say I do. And you told me you didn't want to go into the details, and I cut myself off. I respected your wish, and I still will...if that is what YOU wish.
No...I'm like Quara. I've held too many secrets for far too long. Some part of me is obligated to tell you the truth.
No you're not. If you don't want to, just don't. It's not healthy, but I can't force you. I won't.
It hasn't been healthy. What happened to me affected every aspect of my life, my personality. Perhaps you love me because of that. What I became. So, here goes.
It is a white hot rage that overtakes her for a mere minute. David remembered it. He could feel it himself. It is rage not seen or felt since the war. It is the same he felt at Sand Island, when she dropped Hamilton with a well placed haymaker. It is the same he felt at Chloe's first venomous impression of her. Now she talked of her mother, with every point of poison in her voice.
What he heard was shocking. He heard about her cruel nature, about her erratic, flaunting, and even promiscuous behavior, and even more shocking, about how she blamed an innocent child for death of a father she never even met. But it was the book that most stood out. It was the only thing she had as a child that was of any worth or significance. That purple book...that book he simply glanced at...that book he called Genette several caustic words for reading it, out of a lack of respect; the action itself was tantamount to assuming she was dead.
Her tirade was finished with Kei literally slamming her fist into the table. For the first time, he'd seen all the emotions come out at once. David tried to comprehend. It was all anathema to him. He could never of lived in his own family, if his parents had treated him anywhere close to how Kei's mother treated her. There were things in those memories that cause David to shudder and become appalled. What kind of life was this? No one deserved that fate. But there was far more to the story...
Damn...that's...dear God. That is...I had no idea.
Invisible tears formed on his face. He would not succumb to his own sadness at this appalling tale.
Well, there's far more. So she leaves me on the side of the road in the cold and the rain. I was never more alone in my life. Then, "he" came. This man, picked me up hours later-or at least it felt like hours. It was March 1995.
The Belkan War.
I stayed with him for a mere two weeks. His family was nice. They just fell in love with me; or rather, they just really liked me. But the war happened, and he had to go. I begged him not to go, literally I was on my knees begging; he couldn't change what he had to do...and I never saw him again.
He still feels the tears she shed. They were like acid burning at his own brain as he tried to keep himself from crying. Now he understood.War took one of the only people that cared for her. It was perfect sense. It all came full circle. But the book she had remained. The book she constantly worked on. The one she said was ruined by the rain. The words she memorized, because those words of fantasy were all she had left. Then there were the words. The striking words that summed up everything.The minor details were no longer important. The fact she went from foster home to foster home, her love of flying, etc; it no longer mattered. What mattered was that sentence.
I told myself if I ever finished this thing, and if I had my own kid, they'd know the story too.
February 14, 2012
Reality hit David once again. He looked at a very lucky child and looked into the eyes of one half of a lucky couple. It was a dream come true. They had risked their lives countless times, saved each other's livescountless times, had done many things they had regretted, but now...it was all worth it. It was their true reward for so many trials and ordeals. It was not the solitude of the island, not their anonymityon the mainland, not their friends that visited, not the new friends they made...it was Catherine Anna herself. She was the representation of all their pain and love put into a single being. It melded into one whole, where the fears and hopes were now placed. But it was nothing different. They'd spent their lives trying to live for others; now it was their own. But the legacy of Catherine Anna did not only extend to those who were once the Razgriz...
On a distant road far away from the island, another life would be touched by the love of a selfless couple; ones like David and Kei, had spent their lives living for other people. But in this case, it was not their own extension of themselves. It the extension of another selfless couple that were no doubt somewhere in Heaven smiling down upon one person that only over a year ago was considered an enemy.
To be continued...