As we prepare to release my first novel, The Lazarus Covenant, in several weeks, my thoughts have returned to the days and weeks I first began work on it. I recently found some notes that I typed up as I drove through Bosnia's hinterlands. I found that it was a good construct to help me get my thoughts together and ensure good flow as I continued to write. The Lazarus Covenant isn't a simple story, so keeping the details straight was crucial throughout. After you read the summary/outline for the Prologue below, you can go to my website to read an entire excerpt and even see some photos of the setting described. The outline doesn't exactly follow the final version of the prologue, but ultimately, that's what writing is all about--maintaining the flow (and keeping up the momentum!).
Prologue Sequence and Summary:
Quote from Rebecca West:
"Indeed, it is true that in these acts of revenge on others, men take it upon themselves to begin the process of repealing those general laws of humanity which are there to give a hope of salvation to all who are in distress, instead of leaving those laws in existence, remembering that there may come a time when they, too, will be in danger and will need their protection."
--Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War: 431-404 BC, II 81-85.
SCENE AND SETTING
TIME: 1630-1930, June 28, 1971 (St Vitus Day)
PLACE: Dulici and Brinica Dam, Bosnia-Herzegovina province of Yugoslavia
SEASON: Summer
TEMPERATURE: Hot, Humid
OBJECTS IN THE SETTING: Ceramic Dam, Burnt Car in middle of the road, approaching the Dam. Bull-Dozer, Sentries, Fire
LANDSCAPE DETAIL: Dramatic Hills, high ground overlooking Zvornik, red lake created by dam from Bauxite and Aluminum plant in Zvornik.
LIGHTING: Darkening conditions as afternoon turns to evening.
WEATHER: Clear...rain clouds approaching and then evening downpour.
ARRIVAL: 1730
WARDROBE AND MAKEUP: Mustached and blue-uniformed Yugoslav Special Policemen
SENSE PERCEPTION:
-Sight: Heavily wooded in parts. Dam hidden from the road (2 Km's away)
PROLOGUE SEQUENCE AND DESCRIPTION:
28 June 1971, Brnisi, Bosnia-Herzegovina (night time):
Maja and Milan Mescic (Mom and Dad) are introduced. Father is a Serb professor. During dinner, Maja tells her boys to be home and to stay close to home... They manage to sneak out their father's rifle and Makarov pistol. both Celo and Marko are hunting atop some ancient Roman ruins, are tracking a boar and hear shots being fired...the same shots Maja had heard across the creek in the Direction of Brinisi Dam the previous day. ... At the urging of Cello (and despite Marko's reluctance), the boys decide to go there since the boar tracks go in that direction.
SCENE CONTINUED
Executions of Bosnian Dissidents at Brinica Dam by Tito's Special Police:
-Taste: Both boys are thirsty...stopping at a remote stream they see the trucks and a Police Van. Prisoners are off-loaded from the trucks.
-Touch/feeling: Sweat in eyes from humidity of the day. Oppressive heat.
-Smell: Decomposing bodies in the heat. Human excrement and urine from bodies. Smells like a farm.
CORPSES: 150-- 15 delivered to site and executed at a time.
EVIDENCE: Shell-casings, bone fragments, clothing, unearthed dirt
STRUGGLE: Prisoners do not resist, because they are tied up and their mouths bound with cloth. Sentries killed by boys, and Chief Executioner hit when they are discovered.
DEATH INSTRUMENTS: Machine Guns and pistols used by executioners (Makarov, AKM, AK-47s, MG-3).
WOUNDS: Mostly fatal.
PROLOGUE SUMMARY OF EVENTS
Executions of Bosnian Dissidents at Brinica Dam by Tito's Special Police. The Chief Executioner stands out. Younger Marko (13) and Celo (15) (Both mixed Bosnian Serb-Croats fromSapna) witness the executions and recognize a neighbor of theirs that disappeared a week ago. They dare not move for risk of being discovered. Cello is deeply disturbed. After what appears to be the last of a series of executions, it is turning dark. The executioners depart. Marko sees one of the bodies in the mass grave moving and tells his brother that they should help him. Celo tells him it is too dangerous and points to the sentry along the gravel road and to the guard house on top of the dam site. Marko tells his brother to cover him with thier father's rifle--while he goes down. Marko goes down to the grave and sees the bodies, the personal effects, ID’s, photographs, etc.. All goes well until another truck arrives, shines light on the mass grave. Marko and the wounded man are silhouetted by the headlights. When Marko slides down the dam causing rocks to fall below, they are detected by both sentries who pursue he and the wounded man. Shots are fired in their direction. Marko fires at and hits the guard on top and below. The Chief Executioner is young but distinctive in his appearance of authority. He is approaching Marko deliberately, looking straight in his direction and intimidates Marko with his steady, fearless approach--seemingly dodging Marko's shots until Marko runs out of ammunition. The Chief Executioner sees Marko, who freezes where he lays. As he takes final aim at Marko, he is shot from the side by Celo with the Makarov, hitting him in the shoulder, and giving the two boys and the wounded man an opportunity to escape. The wounded men tell the boys to run, not to worry about him-that he is "already dead."
They run home, narrowly escape being captured and shot themselves.
DEPARTURE: 1930
Marko is sent out of the country with his mother who is a Croat. Cello stays with their father (a Serb) because they will be looking for two boys, and because they don't have enough money. They last see each other atop some ancient Roman ruins, where they are met by the mafia/underground. Maja and Marko are taken out of the country.
Dad is a Serb university teacher, and a leading reformist intellectual in Yugoslavia and is teaching a class in Bijeljina. Simultaneously, the police find the rifle hidden. They meet him at his home when he returns. Celo escapes from his transporters and arrives just in time to see his father's execution by the young 25 year old executioner/special policeman...after he tells the Special Police that his family went to Dubrovnik several days ago.
Appreciations:
A very young Marko and Cello witness Tito's mass executions at Brinica Dam, causing them to lose their innocence. The Special Police find and identify Mescic's hunting rifle and see that it was recently fired. Vojo Saric is killed outside his home, and is witnessed by Celo.
Marko and Cello playing in the Roman Ruins as children.
Objective Story: Signpost 1 -- Learning
Character and Plot Dynamics: Driver -- Action
SUMMARY: The distant bookend in the beginning of the story is the mass execution at Brinica Dam by Tito's Special Police that is witnessed by the two brothers Marko and Celo. Cello's rash action at the site, after being discovered by the executioners leads to their family's split. Both Cello and Marko see the face of the chief executioner. The chief executioner pursues the boys...only finds their father and kills him in front of Cello after telling him "thou shalt not kill." Celo does not forget, and always regrets not having intervened when he felt he could have.
PLANNING:
Count the steps to the killing place.
RESEARCH/HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:
1971: End of "Croatian Spring" Many students and intellectuals are jailed and Party in Croatia is purged of "rotten liberalism." Executions are not widespread, but occur nonetheless—execution orders were not personally signed by Tito (so he could think that possibly they didn’t happen, or if discovered he wouldn’t be found responsible). In 1967, a series of amendments to the constitution were adopted. The most important one was the division of matters of state security between the federal government and the republics. The army was slowly shrinking from 500,000 in 1952 to about 200,000 in 1968. Territorieal defense forces, under republican control, also were created at this time. These TDF forces were not incorporated into JNA command structures. The period of 1971-1974 was one of intense constitutional reform. Amendments in 1971 radically reduced the authority of the federal government. Day-to-day running of the country basically fell to the republics (Burg, 204-207). In the fall of 1968 riots broke out among the Albanian population in Kosovo and Macedonia. The Albanians were demanding self-determination and secession from Yugoslavia. In response, the government elevated Kosovo and Vojvodina to the status of Autonomous Provinces. Minority language rights were also guaranteed. Riots again broke out in Kosovo in March 1981. There are reports that between 10 and 20,000 people took part in demonstrations and that as many as 1,000 were killed and another 1,000 injured in clashes with the police. The federal government sent in tanks, armored personnel carriers, cut off telephone service, imposed a curfew and set up roadblocks. Between 1980 and 1981 about 680 fires were started by arson in Kosovo. violent demonstrations continued through 1982. Other political happenings during this time included the Croatian Spring of 1971 (Ramet, 108-139, Jelavic, 395-397). The Croatian Communist Party was purged and it is believed that thousands received prison sentences. Also in 1971, “Muslim” became an ethnic choice on the national census and in the 1970’s groups of Musllims were sent to prison for expressing what were considered to be fundamentalist ideas.
