JOURNEY TO PEACE

Hiding in the corner of the dark room, Eden clutched her mother’s heart-shaped locket tightly to her chest. Her heart was rattling so loudly she could barely hear the voices in the hall as she tried desperately to quiet her breathing. She prayed over and over for them to pass by without entering the abandoned apartment she’d found refuge in. The place was dingy, and the rooms were small, but it offered solace to this weary traveler. She’d wait until it felt safer to move about before she risked taking a badly needed shower. The horrible day and long bus ride had taken a toll on Eden and she badly needed to bathe and get some real sleep before making her next move. Tomorrow she would find her sister and together they would face the madness this world had become.

Hours later, as the sun began peeking through the curtained windows, Eden tugged her fingers through her dripping hair and settled her backpack on her shoulders. She’d gotten just enough sleep to recharge and was ready to venture out in search of Sophia, a sister she hadn’t seen in over a year. Sophia was the only family she had left in the world and finding her now meant everything. Eden fought back tears as she recalled the day before when her boyfriend Josh was shot and killed. She'd watched in horror from behind their broken-down jeep and was still in shock from the cold brutality of the two men that destroyed her world that day. Long gone were the days when you could trust the kindness of strangers. Now it was “every man for himself” in this harsh, cruel world. The bus ride she managed to catch had been a nightmare of odd characters in different levels of crazy and it was a relief to get off and quickly put distance between herself and the bus station.

It took about an hour walking before Eden finally saw the bridge at the far end of town. She could see the silhouette of some people and prayed her sister would be one of them. Her heart started pounding with both fear and anticipation. The last she’d heard from Sophie was two days ago when she’d gotten her frantic texts. A mob of brutal men had broken into her small trailer and taken it over for themselves. Eden and Josh had been on their way to rescue her when tragedy struck. Her cell phone died shortly after Josh took his last breath and She had no way of contacting her sister again. She clutched the locket on it's delicate chain and promised herself that she would find her sister and together they would figure out what to do next.

As Eden quickened her steps closer to the bridge, she saw three people step out into the sunlight to watch her approach. Two women and a man... and yes, one was Sophie, now waving excitedly at her!

“Eden, you made it! Where’s Josh and where’s the jeep?”

As the two sisters met in a big, welcoming hug, Eden silently dreaded the things she had to tell her sister.

“Josh... Josh is dead, Soph. They shot him in cold blood. I’m lucky they didn’t see me hiding or they would have shot me too, I’m sure of it.”

“Oh my God, Eden... I’m so, so sorry! This world has gone mad!”

The sisters hugged again as Eden sobbed. She had more bad news and it wasn’t going to be easy to tell.

“Mom... she... didn’t make it, Soph.” She died from the virus and they wouldn’t even let me be near her. She died alone!”

Eden shook as the tears rolled down her cheeks, finally letting loose all the pain of the last few days.

“Those sick, heartless bastards!” screamed Sophia, breaking into tears and hugging her tighter.

“I keep praying mom is at peace with dad now, Soph. At least they’ll finally be together again” she whispered through her tears. “It’s just you and me now, Sis. You and me against the world.”

Eden pulled out their mother’s heart-shaped locket and opened it to reveal the pictures of two little girls inside.

“She loved us both, so much, Eden. And she’ll be watching over us even more now than she did in life.”

The sisters embraced with new strength and began planning their next move. Sitting in the cool shade, they counted their money and weighed their options. They decided to hop on the “crazy bus” just long enough to get to a safer region, where police still held some semblance of control. Sophie and Eden knew in their hearts that together, they were strong enough to make it through anything the world threw at them.