Chosen by Maureen Hummel - Prologue: Introduces antagonist & protagonist, setting, tone, and foreshadows the primary conflict.

Prior to the birth of Grace, a young couple named Mary and Angelo met and fell in love during WWII, in a combated and destroyed tiny island of Gozo, Malta, which floats in the center of the Mediterranean, and is filled with mystical history and magic. During the war, Malta was one of the most central English colonies of destruction. To say it was decimated, is being kind. Everyone wanted this jewel in the sea, the most perfect entry point into Europe with Africa and the Middle east not being too far away.   

Once the devastating war was over, and Angelo was able to return to the love of his life Mary from his time at sea while serving on war ships, he took her hand in marriage and the two began their life together. Severe poverty was their reality, but they believed their love could survive anything. The two found a small room to dwell in, over a small bakery that used their hot stone oven continuously, allowing for a very hot accommodation, but with options being limited with what little they had, they made do.  Angelo would leave spontaneously and continuously to work on the ships for months, turning into years at a time, but Mary always waited for her husband and kept her spirits high, as much as she could with the help of her sisters. 

On Angelo’s last return home, short lived as it was, for three continuous nights the two made love, not being able to keep away from one another for a moment. They engulfed their selves in one another, their passion despite all reason was consuming and liberating. They lavished in it, taking very little time to bathe or eat, not wanting to waste a second apart. As long as they tried to delay the inevitable, of course like every good thing it came quickly to an end and once again, Mary was crying at the dock waving fervently at her husband as he sailed away into the distant sunset. As he waved back and yelled over the loud ship's engines, she heard him say that he promised to be back as soon as he could. Her tears ran quick and hard against her pale soft face and in that moment, she thought she would never stop crying until she sat with her sister Paula and confided that she didn’t know how much more of this she could take. Every visit was shorter and shorter and every time away at sea, became longer and longer.  What was once two months, turned now to nearly a year. Angelo would send money back home to Mary, but it was taking longer to arrive and was less amounts each time, due to work shortages and less hours actually working. Paula promised to help and with that vow, slowly Mary’s solemness turned to joy. 

A month later, Mary began to feel ill at the most inopportune times. She was cleaning for some extra money now and doing errands as best she could for the bakery below her. At times she was permitted to assist in their baking tasks, once she learned the basics. Paula was a friend of the shop owner and convinced her to let Mary work a few hours for extra pay, as a favor to her husband John who was influential in their village. As Mary quickly caught on, the shop owner began to give her more work. This job was great to keep her mind off her agonizing broken heart, and her morale up. Mary enjoyed her time working in the bakery, until the smells out of nowhere, started to nauseate her. Every morning, her nausea became more and more intolerable, until her nausea turned into uncontrollable vomiting. One morning, without any notice, a smell of garlic bread spread throughout the bakery as Mary entered, and without a minute to react she turned her head instinctively and began to vomit all over the freshly washed floor, angering the shop owner who fired her instantly. 

Depressed and ill, Mary ran to her sister Paula for guidance and care, as she was at a loss to where her illness came from, and why it was so persistent and not going away.  As she ran to Paula’s home and banged on the door, with first glance at Mary’s whitewashed face, Paula knew without hesitation that her illness was morning sickness, and that Mary was pregnant. Sitting her down, giving her a cup of tea and what Mary determined was kindness, Paula shocked Mary with the truth that she was most likely expecting, and with that acknowledgment she quickly also added, as was she. The two sisters were both expecting at the same time, Paula’s second child and Mary’s first. Paula was five years older than Mary, but the two were married only two years apart. 

In shock, Mary’s only response was to get up and hug her sister as the tears ran down her face and leave, as at that time she craved her solace and her bed. The thought of having a baby alone terrified her to her core. Returning to her small room, alone and afraid, Mary crawled into her bed and allowed herself to digest the new reality that at twenty-one years old, she would become a mother. At once, a feeling she never had felt before crept in and thoughts that scared her engulfed her. In that moment she realized, she did not want to be a mother. She did not want a child, let alone to raise a child by herself. Desperately, she looked around the room to see if she could make herself lose the baby and with that thought, she grabbed some liquor left by her husband that she had saved for him, and finished the bottle along with the last few aspirin pills she had on hand, hoping that she would poison her fetus and the baby would die. 

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Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. At seven months pregnant, the thoughts of that night still brought a tremor throughout her body, at the realization that she tried to murder her own baby. As she clung to her belly, she profusely apologized to her growing child, begging for forgiveness to both her baby and to God himself for saving her child from her immature reaction to the news of her pregnancy.  Terrified of any repercussions, Mary always kept that secret to herself and never divulged those thoughts of murder that had been something that had never crossed her mind before, or maybe calling it murder is being dramatic, but at the time that is all Mary could relate to. These thoughts were triggers to her childhood trauma, but as the pregnancy continued, she pushed those traumas down and tried to continue with life and be optimistic especially since a larger than usual check had arrived from overseas, along with the news that her husband was enroute back to her, and would be home before the birth of his first child. This gave her hope that things would work out the way they were meant to. Mary realized that this baby would save her marriage, this baby would be the reason that Angelo would always return to her, and with that thought, protecting her unborn child was her priority.   

Paula had now delivered her child, a second daughter, disappointed and saddened by that realization as her own husband had demanded that she birth him a boy. He quickly dismissed her girls and divulged his time with mistresses and whisky; anything to be away from his wife, this a secret she kept to herself. One day during afternoon lunch, Mary had disclosed prior to Paula’s child being born, that if she would have a girl, she planned to name her Grace. Paula did not like the thought that Mary would give her child the name of their mother. Since her daughter was born first, she gave that name to her baby girl, assuming Mary would choose another name. Paula felt entitled and presumed the right to their mother’s name was her first choice, as she was the eldest child.  

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On the week of her due date, Mary was elated when Angelo finally made it home in time to prepare for the birth, as he had promised. Paula, who had been her mentor and confident had been helping Mary prepare, all the while caring for her own little ones essentially alone. Her husband had been sleeping away and coming home on rare occasions only to drop off money and supplies, and to keep up the pretense of being happily married, in hopes his parents wouldn’t find out his misery of being married to a woman he detested. John feared that if his parents knew the truth about the status of his relationship, he would lose his ever-growing inheritance and allowance that allowed him to live a life of debauchery and of great wealth. His friendships were with the elite, servants waited on him and his friends in all kinds of pleasure. These men, most like John, lived double lives successfully and boastfully. They all had grand homes and were dignified in their village and took pride in essentially running most of the essential businesses while most were in privilege posts in government as well, used to all their advantages. 

On the day that Grace was to be born, Paula was in great distress and her jealousy of watching Angelo doting on his wife while in labor, gave her feelings of hatred for her sister that even she couldn’t understand. It was clear as day though, Mary with what little she had, had more than Paula ever dreamed of having. Choosing to marry a man for stability and wealth, forfeited her the luxury of experiencing true love, and at that moment, this realization stabbed her chest with severity that she could never love her sister the same way again. Paula had to be honest with at least herself; if she really allowed herself to look back in time, she never loved Mary and was always jealous of her, and deep down only loved the fact that Mary was and always would be beneath her. Paula loved the feeling of superiority, she never loved Mary.   

Things always seemed to come easier to Mary then Paula, without sacrifices. This wasn’t fair. Mary needed to be punished and learn what it meant to earn her way in life. Paula at that moment recalled when a hungry and poor Mary came to her door, nearly nine months pregnant at dinner time, as Paula was making Rabbit stew, a Maltese delicacy, and the aromas that filled her kitchen were fragrant and mouthwatering. Mary upon entering the home, had a whiff of the smell of the stew and quickly ran to her sister’s kitchen, in hopes of having a taste as she hadn’t eaten all day and was exhausted from her cleaning duties. Paula saw Mary at her kitchen entrance, nearly salivating while walking towards her pot of stew. Paula pushed her away and said she was sorry, but there was just enough for her family and couldn’t spare a spoonful She asked Mary to leave at once, as she would be serving dinner for her husband who was finally home and her children.  Truth be told, there was enough food to feed three families in that pot, but Paula refused to allow Mary a taste, in retrospect due to her underlying jealousy of the woman who was about to have everything in life that Paula would never have, the love of a man. As Mary graciously retreated out of the kitchen towards the door, she touched her throat to savor the final sweet smell of the stew and cried to herself as she ate the last piece of bread and cheese she had saved from breakfast, as that was all she could ration for the day to save money for the impending child’s birth.  

With one final yell, Paula was snapped back into her current reality, as she watched Mary push her baby out, and with a gasp, Angelo cried out, 

 “IT’S A GIRL!”   

Paula was relieved that it was a girl and not a boy, because she knew John would have thrown that fact in her face, that her sister can birth a boy which meant something was obviously wrong with her. In that realization, Paula expected to see a disappointed look on Angelo’s face but was surprised to see tears of joy streaming down his face as he held his daughter and kissed his wife, while the nurse maid continued with pushing out the placenta from Mary’s womb and stitched her up with no freezing. Mary whimpered in pain, containing her agony as the joy of that moment overpowered it. She was the happiest she had ever felt with her husband and child by her side. They were now a family. A true bonded family; this was more than she could have dreamed of. She never wanted this feeling to fade.  

Paula sat away from the couple, giving them space to themselves, but also angered at the scene before her. The jealousy she had felt previously was nothing like the envy she felt now.  This child was the root cause of it. This child could not be, she had to destroy her! Mary could not have the perfect life with a man who loved her and a child he loved. As her thoughts raged in her head, she was brought to a standstill when Angelo introduced the baby to Paula. 

“This is Grace. Grace Carmen Rose.”   

At a loss for words, she held the child, and a feeling of hatred filled her heart as she looked at the baby’s perfectly round face and big brown eyes, in perfect health. She scoured to see if there were any impurities on the baby, and her eyes quickly fell on her throat area, where the signs of a birth mark that looked like the face of a rabbit was visible to the naked eye. That sight brought back the memory of the rabbit stew her sister had craved and she had denied, and it brought a devious smile across her devilish face which gave Angelo a startle. An uncomfortable feeling was at the pit of his stomach; his instinct was to grab his daughter away from Paula that instant, but he did not and instead watched intently her behavior, knowing something was off. 

“Grace? That’s what I named my daughter, I thought maybe you would’ve selected another name, right Mary?”  

Mary looked back at her sister, confused.   

“Why would I select another name?  I told you that was the name I was planning on giving my child, if I had a girl.” 

Paula tried to hide her seething anger; she forced a smile upon her rigid face, that always seem to wear an indented frown; she decided the best way to win this round was to kill her opponent with guilt. 

“Oh, I just thought since my child was named Grace, you would’ve picked something else, but I guess you couldn’t allow me the honor after all I’ve done for you...” 

Angelo, now upset at the manipulation and utter disrespect Paula showed towards his wife interrupted the discussion and wouldn't allow his sister-in-law to take away their joy on this day for another second. He knew he had to keep his guard up with her going forward. 

“Her name is Grace, but thanks for coming, we’re good going forward. I’m back and have taken a leave for a while so we won’t bother you anymore, thank you again. We’re grateful for all your help.” 

Angelo pushed Paula out the door and closed it sharply behind her, as he rushed to his wife to console her obvious upset. The two agreed that they were a family now, and everyone else was just noise; others expectations were theirs to deal with and that was of no concern to them any longer. The baby was planned to be named Grace, and that’s the name she would have. Little did they know at that moment, what was set into motion, would become a curse that would be passed on for generations to come, as Paula behind the slammed door also declared her own vow. 

“This child will not be! I’ll have to figure out a strong enough herb to kill the baby. If Angelo thinks he’ll dictate to me, the nerve! He’ll pay the price so heavily; I’ll make sure, he’ll be forced to leave and never return with my spells! Mary may have gotten lucky with this kid, but once I rid the world of her, I’ll ensure that my curses will leave Mary unable to have another child ever again! This I declare, and decree.” 

As hard as she tried, her declarations and decrees went unheard to whatever spirits she planned to evoke; nothing went as she had planned. Within the next 16 years, Mary had successfully birthed six children including a son, which Paula could never succeed in doing. Paula was only able to interfere with one pregnancy which ended in a miscarriage, before Mary’s second trimester a few short months after Grace’s birth. Every other pregnancy, Paula’s curses were less detrimental; not because of anything she was doing different, but because Mary’s strength fought off any entity after that loss. Her spirit was strong and her faith even stronger, relying on prayer to get her out of any situation. 

Several years after her twisted plot was set into motion, Paula’s chance of revenge finally fell right into her lap. Mary became untouchable, she was essentially a lost cause; but someone else was perfect prey, and that someone was Grace! More importantly, it was Grace’s descendants that would change the trajectory of everyone’s future, till death did them part and lest we forget, Paula put it all into motion.