by C. A. Pack
initials J.C. stamped on the front cover. My initials. How did the man at the library know her name?
She began to lift the cover but stopped suddenly, breaking into a cold sweat. What if J.C. stands for Jesus Christ and they start crucifying him here in my living room? She imagined the crowd roaring for blood. She could practically see the dust rising as Christ dragged the cross to the field of execution. She smelled the sweat of the Roman soldiers leading the way. Or is that me?
She didn’t know what to do. She thought back to her early years in school, when her teachers forced her to sit through Bible instruction. She had daydreamed through a lot of it, but was pretty sure no one had ever mentioned Jesus Christ keeping a diary. She had to chance it; after all, her address must have been written on the package for a reason.
She opened the cover. The fly page had been dedicated to her:
To Johanna Charette,
You seek Illumination.
May these pages embrace your imagination and feed your soul.
Regards,
Malcolm Trees, Curator
The Library of Illumination
Malcolm Trees? The little old man in the library had given her a gift. She felt awful about having been rude to him. Maybe she should bake him some brownies to smooth things over. Does he even have any teeth? She made up her mind. She would bake light, fluffy muffins. She wouldn’t add nuts.
Carefully, she turned to the first diary page. It had that day’s date on it. She removed a tiny pen from a loop attached to the book. Then carefully, very carefully, she wrote about the day’s events.
As she wrote, she nervously looked up from time to time, expecting to see her words come alive. But every word she wrote stayed firmly on the page.
When she finished, she locked the diary with a tiny key that had been tied to its blue ribbon bookmark and slipped the key into her purse. She hid the diary in the back of a cupboard, behind her supply of bathroom tissue. It should be safe here.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic, digital or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the publisher with “Attention: Permissions Coordinator” in the subject line, at the address below.
[email protected]
Artiqua Press
New York
www.ArtiquaPress.com
BECOMING JOHANNA
Copyright © 2016 C. A. Pack
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 09915428-8-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-9915428-8-8
About the Author
C. A. Pack is the author of the YA supernatural series Library of Illumination/Chronicles of Illumination, as well as the historical fiction, Code Name: Evangeline, and the fantasy, Evangeline’s Ghost. She is an award-winning former journalist and television news anchor, working in the New York metropolitan area. The author is a member of International ThrillerWriters, and Sisters in Crime, and has served as former president of the Press Club of Long Island. She lives in Westbury, NY, with her husband, a couple of picky parrots, and dozens of imaginary characters who constantly demand page space.
Learn more at https://www.carolpack.com