THE ANGEL’S ROAD
Caitlyn McCall
Mr. Chadek
English 2
9/28/08
Christianna was born on a cold December night. Both her mother and father were ill from the disease that plagued Istanbul. Afraid of passing the sickness to their child, they decided to leave her at St. Michael’s orphanage. In the dead of night, when the snow fell silently upon the cold, unforgiving ground, they carried her to a small building that has once been a peaceful church. St. Michael’s Church was a small holy place for the farmers outside of the city of Istanbul. However, it’s been a long time since the fields of Istanbul have blossomed. The farmer’s have long since left and the Church was turned into a safe house for the children of the farmers that could not be taken along. Christianna’s parents left her here, in a small fruit basket, with nothing but a small note card that had Christianna written in childish handwriting and a small necklace locket made of fine silver. It was the only treasure that they owned. They left her on the steps, and after knocking loudly upon the wooden doors, they slipped into the night and did not look back.
Months had past, and soon the young baby that was left at the church’s step was walking and running all on her own. Christi could move as well as any young child could when she was only 9 months old. Even with her rapid growth in motor skills, the nurses were concerned about her lack in speech. At the age of two, Christi had not uttered a single peep. Although, what she lacked in verbal communication, she made up for with her intelligence and her desire to learn. St. Michael’s had a small study room with two bookshelves that supplied a few books that were brought back from Istanbul. Most of the books were very worn and some had pages missing, but Christi read them with serious intent to know everything about the book. She even had some of the books memorized. By the time she was 8, she could read and write almost as well, and in some cases better, than the nurses. Christianna was a true prodigy in the orphanage. Not only was she smart, but she was beautiful. When she was 13 she had long black hair that reached the mid section of her back and glowing silver-blue eyes. Those eyes carried an intensity that very few would be able to understand.
The time came where Christianna had to leave St. Michaels. The children and nurses willed her to stay ant teach, but she was anxious to leave. The orphanage felt more like a prison than a home to her anyway. She planned on traveling to Istanbul and to make a home there in the city. As she was saying her good-byes, the war sirens went off. These sirens were placed all over the region when the Wars started to inform the civilians that something big was happening. The nurses herded the children quickly into the cellar. There they sat and waited. They heard the pounding sound of bombs being dropped on Istanbul and the loud rhythmic hum of the fighter planes that raced across the sky in an attempt at warding off the attack, but failing to do so. Christi waited in the cramped shelter for at least two days before the sounds of the raid faded and eventually ceased. She opened the door quietly, slowly and peered outside. Her mouth took form of a perfect “O” as she gazed upon the clouded ruins of what had once been a majestic city. The streets were lined with rubble from the collapsed buildings and glass littered the once beautiful walkways. The only building that seemed to only suffer mild damage what the huge cathedral in the center of the town. How it survived Istanbul’s bombarding, no one knew. So many lives lost, so much destruction and in such a little time was hard fro Christi to grasp. However, she knew she couldn’t linger here. There was no future left for here in Istanbul, seeing as it was almost completely wiped clean off the map. She turned to grab her things when gun shots fired in her direction. Someone called to her in a language that she did not understand, but she knew whatever he was saying, he didn’t intend to be friendly or a gesture of friendship. The nurses rushed the children into the shelter once more, but this time Christi didn’t follow. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, straight into Istanbul’s Woods. These woods were eerie and silent. A thick mist laid at her feet as she ran and she found it difficult to keep her breath while running through the thick and ancient air. The trees were tall and ghastly, almost as if they could feel. As if they had been through so much and had given up and now hung low in despair. The forest was nicknamed “The Forest Of Whispers” by the townsfolk, and for good reason. When one is in the woods, you cannot helped but get a strange feeling, as if you are being watched. Folklore says that the woods carry the whispers of those that had past away in Istanbul’s region. If this legend were true though, then the forest would have been screaming instead of whispering. Even with the knowledge of the distraught forest, she pushed on. As she ran, she looked for a hiding place. Quickly scanning the trees and bushes for something to take cover in and hide from this person. There she found it. Underneath a tall and drowsy oak tree, surrounded by clutters of violet bushes was a small burrow, not visible to some passerby unless you looked hard. She crawled quickly into the small hole and covered her mouth. She saw her hunters feet tread by, but stayed still. She wasn’t alone in the dirt cavern. She turned her head to see a small girl laying on her side, asleep. At first, Christi was startled, but she did not make a sound. She knew that if she made a noise then the girl would wake up and be equally scared. The girls face was dirty from the burrows earthen walls. She must have been here a long time. An hour or so passed and as soon as Christianna felt it was safe, she touched the girls shoulder. Almost instantly the girl opened her eyes and shifted outside of the burrow. Christi grabbed her by the arm and made soft “Shhh,” noises to calm the child down. Eventually, the girls fright came to a slow stop and she realized that Christianna meant her no harm. “What’s your name?” the girl asked. Christi grabbed the girls hand and wrote Christianna with her finger in her palm. “…Christianna, huh? What an odd name. I’m Kate. I see that your no soldier. But where did you come from? I thought everyone in Istanbul had been eliminated.” Christi again grabbed her hand and wrote out “St. Michael’s Orphanage, I was running from a mad man with a gun.” Kate to the time to decipher Christi’s sentence and then said, “Oh I see. You came from that small church on the outskirts of town. I came here from Central, the capital city, looking for my brother. He was attending that academy in Istanbul. So much for finding him…,” she said in a sad one, “Well, I didn’t know him well anyway. At least someone else found me before the soldiers did. It’s scary being alone here.” Kate took a handkerchief out of the pocket of her dirty denim jeans and wiped her face clean of dirt. She had bright blue eyes and wavy blonde hair that came to her mid-back. Her skin was pale and a bit dirty from not being washed, and her red jacket was worn and burnt on the ends. Although Christi didn’t look much better. Her hair was tangled from running through the forest and her black trench coat that she nicked from the rubble in Istanbul was smoke worn and her once blue jeans now looked a grayish brown from the dust of the buildings and the dirt of the burrow. “Say, did’ya hear ‘bout the safe haven? They call it the Waters of Kain. I overheard some soldiers talking about it one day as they did a sweep of the area for survivors. I thought that if we traveled together, we could get there easier,” Kate said in a hopeful voice, “They say that they have food and shelter, almost like a village!.” The excitement in Kate’s voice grew with every word. “That is, if you’d want to go with me. I’m no good at defending myself, but I know a lot about survival. I can cook anything in this forest, and I’m familiar with most of the animals and herbs here.” Christi grabbed her hand and wrote, “Of course I’ll go along. I hate being alone.” And together they ventured out into the world, not knowing what would happen, or what obstacles would block their paths.
Days passed and those days turned into weeks, but Christianna and Kate still urged on with determination and hope in their hearts. Their journey consisted of sleeping, eating a light mean then traveling through the dense parts of the forest to allude soldiers and bandits. After 3 months of grueling travel, Kate started to fall behind. She was getting slower, weaker. As if she was ill. And she was. Kate grew ghastly pale and broke into what they would call the “Cold Fever”, an illness that drains the body of strength and makes the victim suffer from periods of cold sweats and shivering. Christi knew Kate was ill and insisted to carry her, but Kate always replied with, “I’m no princess. I’m capable of walking on my own and I’m not afraid of a little cold.” Within another week they knew they were close to Kain. The air was thinning and the temperature was warming up, but most importantly, the sun was starting to break through the clouds. Neither Christi or Kate had seen the sun in almost 4 months. That night after seeing a glimpse of a sunset, they saw the rain for the first time in several months. “Oh the rain, it’s always so beautiful. So calm. I know we have to be real close to Kain now. No even a day behind, I hope.” Kate said before falling asleep in the cool rain.
Christi woke up to the sound of screams. She woke up Kate and pulled her to her feet, not bothering to grab her bag of supplies and broke into a dead run. They both knew they had slept to long, and the bandit’s hounds had caught their scent. They ran as hard as they could, but the effort was to much for Kate. She collapsed in a small heap on the wet ground. Christi quickly picked her up and carried her in her arms and ran. Kate was like a sister to her now, and she certainly wouldn’t leave her behind. Not now, not ever. Christi could see the sunrise on the horizon and she felt the hope to run faster. She ran even after the hounds had stopped chasing her. She knew they were so close. So very close. She carried the weak Kate up to the top of the hill and burst into tears. There it was, a haven they had been searching for. The Waters of Kain was indeed a safe haven. Small wooden huts stood around two wells and a small spring to the side most likely used for bathing. There were even merchant stands and a small school for the children there. Maybe 200 survivors lived there and a small group of kids and their mothers waved to the two girls on top of the hill. “Did we…make it…Christi?” Kate asked between deep breaths. “Yeah, we made it.” Christi said. She carried Kate down, and began a new life. Away from Istanbul. Away from war.
Fin~
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