Abby L Vandiver [Vandiver - Angel Angst

ChapterOne

Normal Junction is anything but.

You wont find it on any map, but it looksvery much like the place youre most familiar with. It has the same rhythm, thesame pulse and no matter where you are, youre never far from it. The people youmeet there seem just like family, the people you work with, and even the oneswho live next door. And, although you may find it hard to believe, once there,most dont even realize that theyre somewhere other than home.

Thats because Normal Junction is not aplace that one goes of their own accord. Its a place that youre taken to whenyou need a little help. And because of that, some may try to convince you thatit doesnt actually exist. That the idea of a place like Normal Junction is justa figment of ones imagination. Nonsense. Rubbish.

Poppycock.

I could go on, but Im sure you get thepicture.

Okay, maybe just one more.

Balderdash.

So dont be fooled. It does exist, andwhats more, I can assure you that in your time of need you yourself havetraveled there.

Ah, I bet now youre a bit confused,thinking no, not you. Youd surely remember if such a thing happened. But, DearReader, it is true. Everyone has. Maybe even more than a time or two.

Dont be surprised. Or alarmed. Come. Giveme a moment and let me explain.

Have you ever had dj vu? Somethingthat made you stop and pause? Or a gut feeling a sense of something badthat urged you to take a different path, that guided you out of harms way?Perhaps, at the time, you thought it might just be coincidence. Happenstance.Maybe even serendipity?

It wasnt.

I can assure you that that was the timewhen that rocky road of life, your life, was guided by an invisible hand thattook you to that place called Normal Junction. For it is there where Hope, AHelping Hand, Resilience, and yes, even Miracles reside.

Oh no, the streets of Normal Junctionarent paved in gold, the sun isnt always shining, and even things on thesurface arent ever picture perfect actually its quite the opposite. But Iwill tell you this, all those that have passed through have come out on theother side the better for it.

Well, maybe most of the people.

Okay. A few.

And as we look in, well just keep ourfingers crossed thats that what will happen for our photographer, Leah SunnyLeibowitz, who unbeknownst to her, had just arrived.

A tangle of hopelessness seeped through therefuse-filled landscape. Amidst the mounds of reddish-orange bricks fromcrumbling buildings fashioning the broken horizon, nondescript debris litteredabout. It clung to the ice and slush of pooled water, impregnable against thebrisk, festering moan of the impending winter wind. A grayish sky seemedstalled overhead, filibustering against even a sliver of sunlight. It wassurely portent of what was to come.

Sunny pulled her eye away from the lens ofthe camera. Taking in a deep breath, she blew out trying to dispose of thedesolation that had amassed within her, sucked in from the backdrop of hercurrent assignment.

Get it together, she told herself. Sheshook off her feelings of dread and let her naked eye slowly survey theterrain. Theres nothing to be afraid of.

Yes, Sunny assured herself, shed be okay.She wouldnt be among the desolation for long, just long enough to get theneeded pictures for the magazine spread shed been hired to shoot. Urbanblight. Third world poverty in a first world country.

She figured that nothing could go wrong insuch a short time even in a bad neighborhood. Only, as we shall shortly see,Sunny figured wrong.

Never embracing her biblical name theolder, unwanted sister in the Book of Genesis story of Jacob Sunny was theperfect nickname for Leah. Always ready with a smile, she had a perpetualoptimistic outlook to share. An introvert for the better part of her thirtyyears, her life had seemed dull, ragged and inconsequential. Photography herpassion, was also her refuge. Shed always hid behind the lens of her camera,and there shed felt safe and larger than life.

Sunnys mother, wanting her to be outgoingand bold, had often reminded her that the Biblical Leah was the mother of Judah- the lion of the twelve tribes of Israel. So after her mother died,Sunny decided to see just how loud she could roar. She resolved to step out andstep up. Step out from the backside of her cameras, and step up and find forherself a life full of the vibrancy, action and wonder that filled the picturesshe took.

The day after her mothers funeral, beforeshe could change her mind, Sunny packed her camera equipment, her gray andwhite English bulldog, Duke, and her Alzheimer ridden grandfather, Pops, andpacked them into her silk blue metallic Volkswagen Beetle convertible. Leavingher small city hometown behind, she headed to the jungle.

Once they all arrived in the big city,shed gotten Pops settled into an assisted living facility, then rented out astudio complete with upstairs living quarters for her and Duke. She hung up ashingle, and started passing out business cards.

Her grandfather didnt last too long afterthe move, and although soon after she did make a friend, she discovered thatshe was all alone in her big city dreams. She knew she was good enough to makea living with her talent, but whether she was good enough to make it in a worldshed always hid from, especially now that she was mostly alone, was quite adifferent story.

Unlike the tender eyes of her namesake,Sunnys eyes were keen and exacting. In the pictures she took stills thatwere dynamic and moving she could grasp the very soul of any subject andreach beyond its plain, bleak and sometimes ugly veneer to bring out a beautythat, to the awe of others, seemed intrinsic.

Sunny removed her black leather gloves,stuffed them in the pockets of her silver, puffy down jacket and tugged on herblack mohair hat, covering her ears to shield the cold. She dismounted thecamera from the tripod, wanting to shoot free hand. She took out a smallplastic tarp from her bag and spread it out on the concrete, then placed herbag on top of it. She unscrewed the wide angle lens that she had used forpanoramic shots. Digging through her bag, she tossed out light meters, remotetriggers, boxes of filters, and a camera holster until she found the zoom lensshe was looking for. She popped it on and adjusted the shutter to a slowerspeed. Walking across the small courtyard, she stepped over the ice and rubble,then nestled herself under the remnant of one of the dilapidated buildingsdoorway.