Ten Days. John Sheppard

become pensive. What’s up now? thought Jackie.

      “Glenn went to the US embassy yesterday, and they think they can get us out by Tuesday! But they also said they think there will be a peace accord by then, so we won’t have to leave,” Mandy blurted out.

      “So, you could be gone by Tuesday?” inquired Jackie. She knew she should be happy for Mandy, but this was her best friend talking of leaving. What about her own family?

      “Don’t worry about it, Jackie. We’ll get a peace agreement, and everything will be okay,” replied Mandy. “I’ve just got to believe it’s all going to work out.” Changing the subject, “We’re still going to work on the gardens tomorrow, aren’t we?”

      Jackie wanted to say no, because she needed time to process what Mandy was telling her, but gave an affirmative answer instead. Twice a week, the two of them joined a large group of citizens who worked on the capital gardens. They maintained the square’s gardens on Wednesdays and the river gardens on Fridays. In the past, the capital had professionals keep up the gardens, but as the war had progressed, funding was diverted to the war effort.

      10:28 AM

      The nightmare had really shaken Sam; she had experienced bad dreams which included most of those members of her family before, but never all of them together, and never the baby. Seeing all of them in one dream was so hard to take.

      Sam was on her way from her office to the basement of the Annex. She chose to go through what had been the narthex of the cathedral, and the doors were open to the Annex. As she glanced in, the beauty was breathtaking. The light streaming through the rose window opposite her was stunning. She had to enter and sit down to take it all in.

      It was the first time Sam had seen the Annex for the purpose for which it had been built, as a place devoted to worship. While not a religious person, she needed the sense of beauty and peace this place offered at this moment. The dream of a few hours before had broken her heart.

      Sam sat for a long time, not actively thinking anything; she just sat. After a bit, she noticed strange things. Some of the decorative patterns, which at first had seemed symmetrical, were actually asymmetrical. As she studied more, she noticed that the seating was slightly off-center. If you looked carefully down the main aisle, seating gave almost a wavy appearance. “Why,” she mused, “did people who built something so grand make so many mistakes?” As she looked around, some of the stained-glass windows had brass plaques, while others seemed to have had their plaques removed. The patriotic-themed windows retained their plaques, but those which contained figures which Sam assumed were religious were the ones missing their plaques.

      11:15 AM

      Despite his relative youth, Captain Trent was impressive, thought Stephen. Although their shared mission had been to assess the capital’s outposts, Captain Trent was also evaluating the terrain between the outposts. He seemed to be verbalizing the same thoughts Stephen had. Jeremy saw the same strengths and weaknesses, things which would normally go unnoticed by most less-seasoned young warriors. It was during a lull in Jeremy’s verbal assessment that Stephen decided to broach a question.

      “Captain Trent, I noticed your wearing a wedding band. I assume you’re married.”

      “Yes, sir,” was the Captain’s rather clipped reply.