Excerpt from Unbroken
Circle
Paul Medina
"Zoe, are you in here?" he said as he entered the
kitchen. Obviously not, he thought
and returned to the dining room. "Zoe, where are you?" He slowly went
through the house, even into her bedroom but found nothing. "Must have
popped out for a moment," he muttered to himself and sat on one of the
couches in the living room and waited. He stared out at the Grand Canal through
the windows and watched wisps of clouds float over the marvelous marble
buildings across the waters. He watched several men on the docks directly
across from Zoe's house, readying a boat to launch. He thought how cool it
would be to live in Venice and travel that way all the time, but then his mind
went back to wondering where Zoe had gone this early in the morning.
He sat there by himself as patiently as a young teenager could and thought about their canal adventure that awaited him. Then he noticed a white marble statue in the courtyard that he knew he had not seen before. It was a statue of a figure standing next to several tall junipers on the second tier down from the house. As he stood up to get a better look, a slow tingling sensation spontaneously rippled over his arms and vibrated into his body. He quickly turned around in a circle to see if anyone else was in the room then made a mad dash outside and sprinted towards the statue. He was about ten feet away from the marble figure when he came to an abrupt halt. Even though he viewed it from behind, he knew what the statue was. She stood in a familiar stance he had gotten used to seeing her in, with both hands clutched behind her, her head raised high and noble. He walked around to view it from the front and tears immediately sprang to his eyes. It was Zoe, white and frozen in time. "Zoe," he whispered.
When he realized the full impact of such a spell, he spun in a circle again, viewing everything in sight in one continuous glance. He knew it was the work of the Dreier. "I must go," he said to himself and instantly vanished from the place.
He sat there by himself as patiently as a young teenager could and thought about their canal adventure that awaited him. Then he noticed a white marble statue in the courtyard that he knew he had not seen before. It was a statue of a figure standing next to several tall junipers on the second tier down from the house. As he stood up to get a better look, a slow tingling sensation spontaneously rippled over his arms and vibrated into his body. He quickly turned around in a circle to see if anyone else was in the room then made a mad dash outside and sprinted towards the statue. He was about ten feet away from the marble figure when he came to an abrupt halt. Even though he viewed it from behind, he knew what the statue was. She stood in a familiar stance he had gotten used to seeing her in, with both hands clutched behind her, her head raised high and noble. He walked around to view it from the front and tears immediately sprang to his eyes. It was Zoe, white and frozen in time. "Zoe," he whispered.
When he realized the full impact of such a spell, he spun in a circle again, viewing everything in sight in one continuous glance. He knew it was the work of the Dreier. "I must go," he said to himself and instantly vanished from the place.
