THE THREE LIVES OF CHRISTINA THE ASTONISHING (#12)

As Told by the Holy Woman in Her Own Words
A Hundred or So Years after the End of the World

On the eighth day three bad men tried to drag me into an abandoned mine next to the Russian River. I broke loose from them and ran straight into the water. Traversing the rocky, treacherous river bottom unswayed by the fierce current, I popped up easily on the other bank. The men shook their fists and shouted, but their voices trembled with fear. That was the only time I felt my example might have made the impression Giver wanted. I also learned that walking underwater came as naturally to me as flying through the air. It was very pleasant being at the bottom of a body of water and I hoped to have another opportunity to have that experience.
On the tenth day I met a woman wide as a barn trudging heavily up the trail, using an iron curtain rod as a staff to prop up her weight. When I told her I was bound for the white city, she heaved a dramatic sigh. “I’ve just come from there. A Giverless place, except for the Ladies’ House on one of the hilltops.” Seeing the beguine medallion on her neck, I debated whether I should show her proofs of my indestructible mortal body. I decided not to. She had greeted me with a merry smile, but her little eyes looked angry. After a brief goodbye, we went our separate ways.
Late in the afternoon of the fourteenth day, I reached the edge of a great bay. On the other side stood the white city in all its ruined splendor. Even though many of the tall buildings had collapsed, the shards of glass in the windows of those still standing looked magnificent lit up by the setting sun. It inspired me to know there was a place on Earth almost as beautiful as the world of Light and Love. Following the water’s edge, I found a small harbor where many small boats and pontoon ferries were moored. The next morning I was able to cross over in exchange for the single gold coin I had found on the trail the day before. We had long since melted the “spare change” of the old civilization into the base metals they were made of, and gold money of our own fashioning was now the common medium of exchange among the duchies and kingdoms.

(to be continued tomorrow)