Of Children and Peasants – Part XIII

Excerpt from “Anna Karenina Comes to America” by Leia Tolstaya*, Millerskaya Ltd., New York, 2009. For earlier installments please click on the keyword phrase “Of Children and Peasants”.

Levin had used the capabilities of time travel for the benefit of all he was close to. His brother had been restored to health, with the medicinal knowledge he had gathered in his many journeys. Once he realized how much time he had wasted in gathering courage to ask for Kitty’s hand in marriage, he had gone back and done that much, much earlier. Therefore they had been married before Anna and Karenin had even conceived their first child.

Anna and Karenin sat in Kitty’s parlour. Kitty was tending to one of the children.

“I love you so much that I am willing to let you go,” Karenin said to Anna.

“I love you too. I didn’t realize you cared that much. You are always so involved in your work.”

“And I didn’t think you were interested in spending that much time with me. Maybe that’s why I get so wrapped up in my work. But I would give that up, if you wanted me to go with you.”

“Really? You would give up your position, everything, for me?”

“You are everything to me, Anna. Without you, it would all be meaningless. But if you don’t want me, if you married me just because your family pressured you, then I would give you an annulment and let you go.”

In the barn, Levin raised the glass roof off the time machine. Slowly, like coming out of a dream, everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and climbed out of the cab.

They traipsed into the house. They first saw Kitty, looking pretty in her modest, pale blue dress. She had a dainty little figure, toned from the manual work was often did on the farm, voluntarily. Her hair was slightly disheveled from tussling with the kids. Her cheeks were rosy from the long hours she spent outdoors. Her eyes shone like stars. Then they saw Anna.

Once you looked at Anna, you couldn’t take your eyes off of her. Her dark red lips, pale cheeks, and deep brown eyes were captivating. Her black curly hair was done up in the modern fashion of the city, set off by the simple pearl earrings and necklace. Every inch of her was styled to perfection. Her dress was a stark, dark blue, evidently tailored by the best seamstress that could be bought. She held herself as if posing for a picture.

She held Karenin’s hand and boldly announced, “We are both coming with you.”

To be continued…

*Leia Tolstaya is a pen name for Elizabeth K. Miller, and as such her works fall under the same copyright.

Of Children and Peasants – Part XII

Untitled

Excerpt from “Anna Karenina Comes to America” by Leia Tolstaya*, Millerskaya Ltd., New York, 2009. For earlier installments please click on the keyword phrase “Of Children and Peasants”.

“Since we have young ones aboard, I’m going to set the time machine at its gentlest entry speed,” Levin announced.

They were all secured by seatbelts in the spacious cab. The space glass protective shield was lowered and sealed. Levin set the coordinates for his farm. The time was set for 10:01 PM, April 1, 1875.

The children and peasants would be sleeping. Kitty would be up waiting for them, accompanied by Anna and Karenin, who had been persuaded of the truth by various documents written by himself in the future. The marriage was still young and intact; there was no child. Anna had not yet met Vronsky; all could be diverted.

The machine started with a gentle hum, which increased to the moderate hum of a commercial aircraft as the engines powered up.

At first it appeared that the trees were moving away from them. Slowly, then picking up speed gradually, so that the trees sped by like a blur. Then the entire cab lifted, and they were above the trees. They ascended through each layer of the atmosphere, until they were as close to the sun as humanly possible.

Now stars, planets, planetary debris sped past them. There was no feeling of time or place. They just existed. Then things slowly down, as gradually as they had speeded up.

The machine lowered through the strata. All of Europe lay before them; then Russia in general. Both Moscow and St. Petersburg were in view. Then all that could be seen were farms. It was greener than anything they had ever seen. The great farmhouse came into view. They settled by a large barn and glided into it.

To be continued…

*Leia Tolstaya is a pen name for Elizabeth K. Miller, and as such her works fall under the same copyright.

Of Children and Peasants – Part XI

Les montres molles

Excerpt from “Anna Karenina Comes to America” by Leia Tolstaya*, Millerskaya Ltd., New York, 2009. For earlier installments please click on the keyword phrase “Of Children and Peasants”.

Together, they walked into the dark backyard, straight through the acre-long property until they reached its edge, where there was a large wood. Levin guided them to its center, where he had hidden the time machine.

It was the technological version of a small, antiquated house that had been transformed through the generations by dormers, extensions, and modern conveniences. The time machine had begun as a horse-and-buggy, with a train steam engine added to the front, as well as multiple automobile parts, then a jet rocket added to the back. It had dials ranging from simple to futuristic.

Rather than rebuild, Levin had simply added pieces on from many times and places, borrowing the best of each era. The cab was now encased in the most advanced fire-proof, bullet-proof, bomb-proof clear protective glass. It could run on multiple types of fuel, so that he would never get stuck in a place with no energy to get anywhere. In addition, it had solar panels built in that could harness interplanetary energy while traveling; so that the more traveling he did, the more energy it had stored up.

The buggy have been originally intended to carry his own family, it was able to carry Levina’s entire brood.

“I’m setting it to take us to my farm,” Levin explained as he worked the controls. “That’s the safest place to meet. Kitty is expecting us.”

To be continued…

*Leia Tolstaya is a pen name for Elizabeth K. Miller, and as such her works fall under the same copyright.

Of Children and Peasants – Part VI

Excerpt from “Anna Karenina Comes to America” by Leia Tolstaya*, Millerskaya Ltd., New York, 2009. For earlier installments please click on the keyword phrase “Of Children and Peasants”.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about the tragedy of Anna Karenina,” began great-great-great-Grandpapa Levin.

“Yes, Grandpapa, I have heard about it in great detail. I know it weighed heavily on the whole family.”

“I have never stopped thinking about it, Levina. You know she wasn’t Kitty’s favorite person, but when she heard about it she cried for days.”

“I can only imagine.”

“And while I can’t say she was a good woman, I did feel an affinity for her during our brief introduction. And I couldn’t help feeling that she was a woman born in the wrong time.”

“I think I see where you’re going with this.”

“Now I know I’ve said a lot about faith guiding us in the right direction, in God’s way, so that we can be happy, but what if there are so many obstacles to your faith that you can’t even get that tiny mustard seed to take hold?”

There he was taking the farmer’s view of things again. Levina merely nodded and listened.

“Anna was coerced into marriage at an early age, by parents who valued their status over Godly values. Her married brother also never got the right start in life, and wound up straying from his good wife instead of appreciating her and the children as he should have. And her bachelor brother never had the courage to choose the good wife he could have had. All of them unhappy but her most especially; why?”

“Because she was a woman?”

“That’s right. She was trapped in all ways a woman can be. If her mind could be trained at one of your universities, she could have the discipline of thought to really do something with herself.”

“And what of all you’ve said about taking a person out of his or her own proper time?”

“It’s all too late for anything to come of her in her own time. We could give her a second chance. If we could just get her before she left for that train station, convince her to come with us…”

“Us? Why do you need me?”

“You understand, of course, it would be improper for me to spend any kind of time with this woman, for one thing. For another, why would she trust me – men have taken all she has. If you, a modern woman, could speak with her, she would understand what she must do.”

To be continued…

*Leia Tolstaya is a pen name for Elizabeth K. Miller, and as such her works fall under the same copyright.

Of Children and Peasants – Part V

Excerpt from “Anna Karenina Comes to America” by Leia Tolstaya*, Millerskaya Ltd., New York, 2009. For earlier installments please click on the keyword phrase “Of Children and Peasants”.

Grandpapa Levin rested his chin on his hands and look pensively at Levina. “Are you happy, my dear?” he asked.

“Happy? Well, I do get irritated at the kids and their messes. Things aren’t perfect but all in all, yes, I think I am happy.”

“I’m so glad. That’s all I ever wanted for you. Happiness isn’t about things being all peachy all the time. It’s a state of being, deep in your soul, that is always there, no matter what happens.”

“I wish I could feel more content and satisfied. I do appreciate all I have, but I can’t seem to help complaining about things. But when I can make myself cut it out, I can return to a state of happiness.”

“Happiness, like love, doesn’t require that you are perfect either, granddaughter. Do you know how often your great-great-great-grandmother and I get into fights, and about the most insignificant of things? Then we kiss and make up and are happy again.”

“I wish I could meet her.”

“As do I. In the past, I thought it might present too many problems to bring you to my time, or her to yours. But, I may need your help with something, in which case you might have to come and meet her after all. But first, let me ask you this: Is this a good time to be a woman?”

Levina laughed. “Absolutely! We’ve come a long way, Grandpapa! A woman these days can do just about anything she wants. Of course, that presents its own problems, but like we’ve talked about, with faith guiding your choices you can choose a good and happy life.”

“I’m so glad to hear you say that. Let me tell you what I have in mind.”

To be continued…

*Leia Tolstaya is a pen name for Elizabeth K. Miller, and as such her works fall under the same copyright.

Photo is of the happy couple Levin and Kitty, from the 1997 film “Anna Karenina”.