DRACULA - Chapter Three (1)

Chapter Three

1. Oct.22nd.1897 Fri. 5:50 pm The office of Jonathan Harker in the interior design company 'Londoner's House' in Westminster, London - Jonathan's Diary

Meanwhile, while his colleagues and other workers prepared to finish each one's work and go back home, Jonathan still sat in the chair in front of his desk in his office, he wrote a diary with an icy blue feather pen, with a look and a heart both of seriousness, he was not only recalling those memories which were truly thankful, meaningful, useful, instructive, and unforgettable, but was also looking back other memories which were nightmarishly horrible, terrible, dangerous, risky, and haunting…

[1] Nov.11th.1887 Fri. 4:10 pm Warsaw, Poland - meeting with 20-year-old 'Maria Salomea Skłodowska'12; 'Marie Curie'13, *Franciszek *Nowak and Fight with five Vampires

In a train to 'Śródmieście'14, sitting on the seat next to a window, Jonathan in a milky white shirt, a suit set, a tie, a coat, a hat, gloves, and shoes; all in nice dark brown and the style of 1887, appreciated the scenery through the window glass, the enormous number of multi-shaped leaves of diverse trees each in bright chick yellow, ardent, vibrant scarlet, deep, dark crimson, bloody, vivid red and demure, soft brown on those fields, hills and mountains, gifted a surprise of mother nature in autumn, and every seat in the train faced each other like other general passenger trains in Victorian era, soon a 20-year-old Polish woman with simple white gloves in a shabby dress, a coat, a hat, and boots; all in modest dark brown and the style of 1887 carrying two bags in her both hands, approached the empty seat on the opposite side of his seat, then at that instant those train wheels passed the twisted part of the railway with several bumpy stones, and at the same time the train shook severely, she instantly missed the handles of those bags, soon she, her hat and those bags all fell to the floor, and at the same time other passangers sitting in each one's seat staggered a bit, soon as soon as the train stopped shaking, Jonathan raised his body, holding the woman's hands he helped her to raise her body,

"Oh dear, Miss, are you all right?" asked he,

"Goodness, I'm all right, thank you very much for asking and helping me, Sir," thanked she, with a bit of surprise and huge gratitude,

"You're welcome, lady,"

Raising her body while she adjusted her clothes, he picked up the hat and those bags, he put those bags on the edge of the empty seat in the direction of the aisle and put the hat in the center of one of those bags,

"Thank you very much, Sir, I really appreciate your kindness," thanked she, sitting next to those bags,

"My pleasure, Miss, it's glad to meet you, I'm Jonathan Harker,"

"It's glad to meet you, too, Mr. Harker, I'm Maria Salomea Skłodowska,"

"All right, Miss Skłodowska."

While she watched the scenery, soon he took a book with the title 'The Fascinating History of Physics & Chemistry' out of his bag next to him on the seat, he opened to page 11,

"I read the book two years ago, and because of the book I've felt interested in physics and chemistry," said she with gladness,

"Really? all right, so your words make me want to continue to read this, actually although I read till page 10, I'm already into this," said he with gladness, too,

"I'm glad to know that, Sir, my father presented the book on my 18th birthday, actually he's interested in physics, he said -'discoveries of physics find applications throughout the natural sciences and in technology'-15,"

"All right, then, technology?"

"He said it means scientific technique, machines, and equipment, and the word will be used in the future,"

"Oh, all right, it sounds interesting,"

"And my life in pain has also made me read and study physics and chemistry, because I needed something good to focus and study hard,"

"Oh? I'm very sorry about your pain, would you mind if I ask you what happened to you?"

"Not at all, would mind if I tell you about that?"

"Of course not, I'm listening,"

Recalling her gloomy past she continued to talk,

-"My mum died of tuberculosis in May. 1878, when I was ten years old, less than three years earlier, my eldest sister zofia died of typhus, so for many years I was too depressed and eventually it caused me to give up Catholicism and become agnostic, after I graduated a gymnasium for girls on Jun.12th 1883 with a gold medal, to treat depression, spent the following year in the countryside with relatives of my father, and the next year with my father I moved to Warsaw and did some tutoring for children in several wealthy homes, and because I'm a woman in this discriminative society, it was difficult to get higher education, but after long struggling, me and my sister bronisława eventually became involved with the clandestine Flying University, it's a Polish patriotic institution of higher learning that admitted women students,-16 and here I am, now I'm on my way to tutor 15 year old twin sisters in new wealthy home during this weekend to earn school expenses and living expenses, and because their parents asked me to let them read university text books of me and my sister have read and studied untill the last second semester, so as you see now these two bags are filled with those books,"

"Oh, all right, so that's why these bags are very heavy, and I'm very sorry about your loss and pain… sincerely… and respect you and your sister's diligence and exertion about learning and education, I'm truly impressed,"

"Thank you very much for your warm words, Sir, of course, to achieve my aims and dreams about physics and chemistry, I'll never stop,"

"What a great attitude, miss skłodowska, of course, you can do it, I trust you, my story is also not always happy and bright, I lived in affluence until I was 11 without any worry, because my father was a CEO running a home appliance company in London, then his colleagues cheated him of his every money including bill fraud and ran away to somewhere in other countries no one knows, so eventually my parents and I fell into poverty, we all had to work in a textile factory surrounded by those dangerous machines easily cut and break hands and fingers, but I also studied hard to escape from the extreme poverty, my parents also supported me wholeheartedly, and eventually I could enter the State University of New York, I majored in interior design, and after the long struggle in pain, I finally got the interior design job in the interior design company, and have earned money very well, so last summer I finally bought my dream mansion and also presented a nice mansion to my parents,"

"All right, Mr. Harker, what a really impressive story of you and your parents, I sincerely respect you and your parents' diligence and exertion about learning and education, I'm truly impressed,"

"Thank you very much for your warm words, Miss Skłodowska, of course, to continue to live my life happy, I'll never stop exerting,"

A little later, when the train stopped at the Śródmieście station, he held those bags,

"Thank you very much, Sir,"

"You're very welcome, lady,"

Leaving the train, they set their feet on the floor of the station, they directly walked out of the main gate of the station,

"It was really nice to talk with you, Miss Skłodowska, I hope everything will be all right," said he, putting those bags down on the floor next to her left foot,

"Thank you very much indeed, Mr. Harker, I think you're too kind to me, and you too, I hope everything will be all right with good books, diligence, exertion, love, and happiness."

While she disappeared into the crowd on the busy street, stepping in the opposite direction, he approached the nearby hotel, the most luxurious hotel in the region,

"Well, Miss Skłodowska, actually this weekend I also have an important job." mused he, secretly,