This may end up being a romance, not sure yet. It's going to be set futuristically later, but since this is just a prologue, I didn't want to do too much describing. It's more to just lay some history, let the reader know why events happen later in the actual story.
"Joanna. My name is Joanna."
The girl's voice sounds shy and quiet in the sunlit street. She stares up at the large, heavily-muscled man in front of her, a little frightened, yet fascinated by this stranger.
A broad grin splits his face and he gently takes her heavy bags of books, slinging them effortlessly over one shoulder. She stares at the bags, filled with her most precious possessions, in the hands of a stranger, and cannot keep a little panic out of her heart.
"We were truly destined to meet, then, for I am called John." The strange man's voice is deep and rough, and sends shivers down Joanna's spine.
She draws in a quick breath, unsure of what to do next. If she brings the stranger home, her fate is sealed. If she goes away now, forgets this happened, and doesn't tell her fanmily that she met a man who shared her name....then her fate is yet to be decided.
She takes one small step forward. The watching eyes of the man are disconcerting, and make it difficult for her to think.
"John. You are called John." Her voice sounds dreamy, as if she is in a trance.
"Allow me to carry these books for you, Joanna." the man's soothing voice works it's way into her reasoning and she nods slowly.
"Come with me, John. Eat supper with my family."
The man's teeth flash against his tanned face, and he follows the lovely girl through the dusty street to her home.
***
"This is so exciting, Joanna! You thought you would never be married, and then along came John."
Joanna's cousin chatters as she adjusts the white filmy lace that is draped across Joanna's dark red hair and beautiful, expressionless face.
"You look lovely," proclaims her cousin before turning to get on her own brides-maid gown. "A double wedding, too! Luke and Lucia will be so happy together, I know it."
Joanna nods absently, staring at the strange girl sheathed in white who stood before her in the mirror. She looks ready for a wedding, but her heart is quivering inside her and her muscles are clenched in apprehension.
The ceremony seems like a dream, and Joanna merely a spectator to it, watching her own lips move as she makes the proper responses.
"Till death do us part," intoned the priest.
"Till death do us...death..." Joanna could feel her breath being squeezed out her lungs by fear. Death.
"Joanna." One glance into the concerned, tender eyes of her groom is enough to let her finish the vow.
"Till death do us part," she says, trying to smile.
The priest beams and holds up her hand. "I now pronounce you husband and wife."
Joanna closes her eyes and lets the feel of John's lips, tender and warm, brush away her fears. Marriage would not be so difficult after all. It would not. She had to convince herself of that.
***
The ringing slap hit Joanna's face like the harsh kiss of cold rain. She held one hand to her cheek and stared up at the hard face of her husband.
"Never contradict me again, you little whore!" he says through clenched teeth. Joanna looks down, pressing her cold hand to the heated, swelling skin of her cheek.
"The next time you speak to me like that, I'll take away your books and burn them. Do you hear me, bitch? Burn them!"
Joanna curls up in a corner, pressing her bruised cheek against the cool wooden wall, trying to sooth the cuts and bumps that cover her body. She aches from head to toe, and her soul cries out within her like an eagle in a cage. Silent tears course down her face and she shakes her head, whispering through numbed, tear-salted lips, "Till death do us part."
Despair fills her quiet words, and she lifts her face, as if trying to discern a solution in the high ceiling. "Death, why don't you part us? Better death than one more day of this misery."
Her voice rings out and echoes against the walls, but no one hears, no one answers.
***
"Joanna Stiller?" The man standing on the steps is not familiar to her, yet he looks at her with sympathy, as if he knows something about her. Joanna's knuckles tighten on the doorknob.
"Yes? I am she."
"I regret to inform you that your husband died in a transport collision last night. Here is a letter with the details, if you'd care to read it."
Joanna's hands move of their own volition, just as her head bobs up and down mechanically. She waits until the man leaves, then stares down at the neatly printed words in front of her, trying to make sense of them and failing. Finally she sinks to the ground, letting the letter drop to the floor beside her, and beins to sob. Tears of relief and joy flow down her cheeks, coupled with guilt at her happiness over her husband's death. John was dead, and Joanna could live again. The past year had not been life, merely a living death. Now a weight was gone from her soul and it trembled on the edge of freedom, stretching it's wings, testing them like a nestling trying flight for the first time.
***
"And here she is, Mrs. Stiller. A beautiful baby girl." The nurse's voice woke Joanna from her troubled dreams with a start. She looked up, her pale face registering excitement and exhaustion.
"I'm sorry you had to wait so long. But it appears you got a nice nap, yes, Mrs. Stiller?" The nurse's overly-happy voice grated on Joanna's nerves, but she held up her hands for the tiny bundle anyway. Smiling down at the little wrinkled, red face, she petted the light, downy hair gently.
"How can someone like John have conceived such a beautiful new life?" she mused aloud.
"Have you thought of a name yet, Mrs. Stiller?" The young nurse's fingers hovered over the keyboard, waiting to enter the new child's name in the city records.
Joanna paused for a moment, staring at the baby resting quietly in the crook of her arm. "No, I haven't," she said finally. She smiled a little, then looked triumphantly up at the nurse. "I won't. She'll be my daughter, her husband's wife, and her children's mother. What need has she for a name?"
The nurse looked at her in confusion. "But...but if she doesn't have a name, how will she find her soul-mate? How will the governor aid her in her choice of a life-mate? I am Gabriella, and I have my Gabriel. There is Roberta and Robert, Martina and Martin, Mikaela and Michael..."
Joanna laughed bitterly, cutting off the names that flowed from the young nurse's lips. "You think being married to a man named John made me happy? If someone like him is my soul-mate, I would prefer to live alone. No, my daughter doesn't need a name."
The nurse stared, then turned and without another word hurried out of the room. Joanna's lips twisted in a grimacing smile. Gabriella...she was so young. She probably thought Joanna was just a crazed, bitter woman who hadn't appreciated her soul-mate's virtues. Joanna soothed the cries of her new daughter, caressing her and speaking in a gentle voice.
"Don't cry, my little girl. I'll protect you from all them. I'll save you from the world. My daughter. My little nameless daughter."
and I hate those).
