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Attacked by the Past

Abigail was dancing in the rain. Her gown spun majestically as she flung herself into the air, did a twist and landed on the balls of her toes. Her long, dark, hazel hair flicked from side to side, and her perfect hourglass figure seemed to sway in the breeze. She was beautiful, Joseph thought to himself. She glanced up from beneath her frayed eyelashes and, noticing Joseph, blushed and gave a shy smile. Mesmerized by her charms, Joseph smiled back, a feeling of elation overcoming him in her presence. 

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you all over. Where have you been?” Joseph’s brother’s deep rich voice was unmistakable. Smiling, he sat down next to Joseph and ruffled his hair. Joseph realized how similar they looked. They shared the same jet black hair and hard chiselled face, inherited from their father, a well built, 5”9 tall Israeli businessman who had always remained aloof from the family. Joseph remembered his childhood – coming home from school, sweating crazily like any hormone filled teen, grabbing the milk from the local bazaar, only to be met with the brick wall of his father’s passive voice. Joseph knew that his father had loved him, but he never had felt that connection between them. Unfortunately, he had passed away when Joseph was only 15. The doctors had said it was cancer.

“I don’t know. I just woke up and I was here”. Joseph was puzzled. He had no memory of arriving in the area, and had absolutely no idea how long he had been sitting in the same place for. Gliding his hand through the lush grass, Joseph glanced over his surroundings. He was in a small paddock – agricultural land used to herd cattle in, telling by the small balls of dung that spotted the otherwise untarnished region. A mosquito buzzed past Joseph’s nose, and he instinctively swatted it away. Malaria was dangerous around these parts, especially in this weather.

“That’s odd. You must have fallen asleep”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Silence filled the air as the two brothers sat content. It wasn’t awkward by any means; indeed both of them found it pleasing as they slowly inhaled the fragrant smell of flora after rainfall.  Abigail seemed to have disappeared into thin air; Joseph looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. Alarmed, he rose from the grass and shook off the straw-like debris that had accumulated on him.

“Where are we?” Joseph enquired, with an ever emerging hint of panic in his voice. He surveyed the landscape once more, beginning to make out familiar shapes. He had been here before, he was sure of it. That barbed wire fence...he had seen it.........somewhere...

“Ya’Bad, where else did you think you were?”

Joseph froze on the spot. Ya’Bad was the old name for the Rift. This used to be an old farming community before the X1 had arrived and plundered the town. Joseph remembered the horrible fighting. For a month, the Daily Telegram had covered the story as it’s headline. Although the casualty rate was not exceptionally high, the use of guerrilla warfare and the unexpectedness of the attacks had generated a lot of controversy and media coverage. Joseph had lost his aunt. Haunting memories of his mother weeping played over and over in his head.