Hello everyone!
Hope you had a great summer despite the heat wave. This summer has been quite the adventure in regards to travelling and gathering research for my novel “Withstanding the Fiery Furnace”. Before I delve into that, here are some updates on my other areas of writing. My short story “Piercing the Darkness” will be posted on this website on January 31, 2019. Based on a true story, it talks about a young girl who struggles with bullying at school. On another note, the first two stories of my Doctor Who series can be accessed through my FanFiction section. I am currently working on the second half of my fifth story in this series. Will be posting a chapter or two weekly.
Back to my novel, I visited a museum in St. Jacob’s where I learned more about the life of Russian Mennonites and how they suffered during the Russian Revolution, particularly under the rule of Nestor Makhno, a leader of the Black Army known as the anarchists. In history, sometimes we are taught that everything is black and white, that these are the good guys and bad guys. In some cases, this is true; just look at the genocides the world has experienced. In other cases, the lines are grey; difficult to tell without gathering evidence from both sides. When gathering information on Nestor Makhno through books and reputable sources on the internet; they seemed to glorify him as one of the revolutionary figures behind the Russian Revolution when he partnered with the Bolsheviks. What the articles failed to mention was how he and his army of men plundered and burned villages, viciously murdered families, and brutally raped women and children. One account even mentioned how Nestor and his men enjoyed what they did and reveled in it. I learned the importance of looking at both sides of historical events since history isn’t one sided.
It has been difficult writing this novel in regards to describing the horror and terror of what people went through during that time period and how they were brutally murdered. It also has been a joy to write this by seeing how God led Jacob and his family through these events. Good news is I finished the first draft of my novel and will be starting the second draft in a couple of weeks. Will continue to keep you updated. Thank you for my writing groups who have kept me accountable, my friends who have encouraged and supported me, and for my family who provided valuable information on Jacob and his family and for supporting me through this. Here is a snippet from a chapter I wrote for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty-Two
September 1920 Molochansk Russia
One evening, a stray dog was whining at our door step. It was a skinny German Shepherd with its bones sticking out. Dark patches of dried blood was on his dirty fur. “Mary, grab a small bowl of water. We have a visitor. It seems our neighbour’s dog down the street has ran away.” My family crowded around the dog who shrunk back in fear whining; its eyes darting back and forth looking for a way to escape. “Let’s give the dog some room.” The dog eventually laid down with its ears back letting out a whine every so often. I laid the bowl down on the floor and the dog scampered back giving a small snarl. I stepped back providing distance between myself and the dog. The dog eventually walked forward and drank the water down while keeping an eye on us. When it was done, it scampered back into the corner.
As the night dragged on, I noticed the dog crawling forward towards me. When he saw me glance at him, he stopped and shut its eyes pretending as if he was asleep. I chuckled silently and went back to reading my worn Bible which has survived throughout our journey this far. Eventually, I felt the dog put its head on my lap, its warm brown eyes looking up at me. “Hello boy,” I said rubbing its head. The dog stood up and went to the door barking. “Shush. You will call the soldiers here.” I said to the dog. The dog trotted back towards me and grabbed the cuff of my pants tugging on it before he turned around and barked at the door.
“I think it wants you to follow him,” said my son George. “Something must be wrong.”
“Fine,” I said.
I opened the door and the first rays of sunlight was hitting the streets. The dog raced ahead but turned around and waited for me as I took cover behind buildings, stumps, and broken wagons. “All of this for a dog,” I muttered. “Well, at least it’s heading back to its owner’s house.” I ducked behind a wagon as I saw a flash of red up ahead. The Red soldiers marched past talking amongst themselves. I trotted quietly after the dog until it came to its owner’s house. It whined and lied down in the open doorway. The door was ripped from its hinges.
I stepped inside and silence greeted me. The smell of something rotting and blood filled my nostrils. I pulled out a tattered handkerchief and covered my face. The room was empty though clay was shattered on the ground as if it used to be a flowerpot of some kind. I walked with a hesitant step and peered around the corner into the kitchen. I could hear flies buzzing and noticed a kitchen table and plates of mountainous foods with flies swarming around it. Then I looked at the chairs and noticed eight bodies, four of them I realized had no heads. Then something dawned on me; I shuddered looking at the plates before the headless bodies and what I mistaken as food was the bodies’ heads.
I retched and as soon as I did, I heard a voice, “Who are you?”
I looked up and saw that the other four people were Makhno’s men eating plates of food.
“Get him!” he yelled as I sprinted out of the door.
The dog followed right behind me. A shot rang out and I heard a yelp as the dog collapsed. I forced myself to keep running praying I would reach the other side of town. I struggled with each breath as strength drained from my legs with my sides heaving. Up ahead I could see White soldiers patrolling. I tripped over a root sticking out of the ground and fell forwards onto my stomach. With my legs shaking like jelly I put one foot onto the ground when I felt something cold and hard pressed onto the back of my neck. Terror swept through me as my knees gave up as they hit the ground. I looked up to the sky seeing the sunlight pierced the clouds. As I said, “It’s time to meet you, Father,” gunshots rang out and my whole body jerked my eyes clasped shut.
That’s very intense. I was happy when the dog arrived and sad when he was hurt. The tension was taut.
Thank you Jessica! It was an intense chapter to write.
Fantastic chapter.
Thank you Linda! Glad you enjoyed it!