Titania ripped open the letter, tilting it to let the dying light catch it. Timofei stirred near her ankles, his young, dirty face resting on the cold ground. She paused and searched the shadowy alley for any sign of movement. She relaxed into the embrace of the grinding brick wall. Lev leaned against her side, his sunshine yellow hair appearing almost black with the dirt.
She withdrew the letter from the envelope, peering down at the English letters. She held the paper close to her face and whispered the unfamiliar words as she read.
"Dear T. How's everything there? We heard that the Germans invaded Poland. I asked Mrs. Rollins if Russia was safe and she said it was. I don't think she told me everything, so tell me if anything is wrong, ok? How is Tim? I hope he's ok. Steve's trying to look over my shoulder now. He never pays attention to the teacher. I dragged him out of a fight behind the diner the other day. He's in love with some girl named Ruth, apparently, and these tenth grade boys..."
Titania scanned over the letter and held it to her chest. Smiling, she dumped the envelopes contents into her lap. Two pictures. One was of three girls and a boy, and the other was of the boy and another, skinnier, boy. Titania tapped each one of the faces. "Rebecca, James, Emily, Olivia." She picked up the next one and whispered, "James, Steve. Steven? Steve."
A rustling noise can from the other end of the alley. Titania stuffed the letter and pictures into the envelope. Her hands found the brick marked with a 'I' and yanked it out. The letter found a home on top of a pile of others in the hollow space behind the brick. She shoved the brick back into place and stood quietly, grabbing an empty vodka bottle from the ground. "Hello?"
YOU ARE READING
III: The Soldier and the Fairy Queen: Red Eve
Fanfiction(Previously titled 'LAZARUS') ______ Hopefully her heart would give out soon. That would be wonderful. To finally catch a break from this thing called life........ What is worth living for, anyway? ______ 'HYDRA is dead. Long live LAZARUS!' Who...
