Elint's Journey

         Scared and alone, ten-year old Elint shivered in a dark corner of the deserted train station.  The Great War had ravaged his country, reducing the only home he'd ever known to a smoking heap of broken and blood-stained rubble.  Elint wiped away hot tears of sorrow and anger with the back of his dirty hand, leaving a muddy smudge streaking across his gaunt cheek.  He could still hear their screams; his valiant efforts couldn't save them.  He had torn at the flaming debris until his hands blistered and his fingernails bled, but his mother and infant sister perished before his eyes.

         Taken in for a time by his mother's sister, Elint had recovered from his injuries.  He was old enough, however, to realize that his presence was a burden as well as a heavy-hearted reminder of the family's great loss.  Unable to reach his father in America, Elint set out on a journey that would change the course of his family's life forever.

         When the war began, his father had gone to America to seek a better place for his family. 

         "I've joined the American Military," he wrote in one of his first letters, "And I will send for you as soon as I am able."

         Looking around, Elint recalled the day his father had left.  The station had been packed with travelers.  "Take care of Mama and Susanna," he had called from the window as the train chugged away from the platform.  "You are a man, now, Elint.  Make Papa proud."

         "Oh, Papa," Elint sobbed, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his rough tweed jacket.  "Papa, I have let you down."

         Elint sat in the dark corner hugging his knees to his chest until he finally fell into a fitful sleep.  In his dreams, Mama and Susanna waved as he followed his father's path to America, and when he arrived, Papa was there to greet him.

         Waking, Elint knew what he had to do.  A few small coins jingled in Elint's pocket as he walked through his hometown for the last time.  Rijeka, Rijeka he thought.  I'll never see you again, but what do you hold for me now but sorrow?  He stopped for a last look at his childhood home, his childhood within its ashes, a victim of this terrible war along with everyone and everything he ever loved.  He walked on, vowing not to look back.

         Under cover of darkness he headed in the direction his father's train had gone, north toward Hungary and Poland.  Surely he could find a fisherman willing to take him across the Baltic Sea to the neutral country of Sweden.  From there he would cross over into Norway and book passage on a ship heading for America.

         Elint walked for hours following the road until he was too exhausted to continue. 

         'Hey, boy," a voice called out as a hand grabbed his shoulder.  "Boy, are you alright?"

         Elint squinted against the light and saw the outline of a man leaning over him.  "Yes, sir," he answered drowsily.  "I'm fine."

         "What are you doing out here, son?" the man inquired.

         Struggling to his feet, Elint replied, "I've got to find my father in America."

         "America, huh?  Where's the rest of your family?"

         Elint kicked at a tree root.  "Their dead," he said softly.

         "Oh," the man acknowledged.  "You're welcome to ride along and keep me company if you wish.  I'll be going as far as Praha (Prague)."

         "I have no means to pay you, sir," Elint reached into his pocket and felt the coins.  He opened his hand in front of the man, "This is all I have, but I would be happy to give it to you for the ride, sir."

         "Come on, son," the man laughed, tussling Elint's sandy brown hair.  "You may need that to get to America."

---More to come soon---