Volume I - Episode 55 Where: Hod HaSharon, Israel When: 6 years, 3 months and 3 days before E-Day, 12:19 pm Roni had been fascinated by Gorod Drevnih for as long as she could remember. If she had to put a date to it, she'd probably say her interest began when she watched the overly-sensational and largely-inaccurate documentary Gorod Drevnih - The Truth with her father just a few weeks after her eleventh birthday. She had spent the next few days pestering her dad to buy her a model of the enigmatic landmark's most famous feature - the monumental gate known as The Brink. It took her less than an hour to put the model together, but the experience only whet her appetite. Dissatisfied with the model's size and lack of detail, she had spent the next several months building her own from scratch. At first her parents were excited about her new hobby; she had never been a very good student, but now her grades were up, and her sudden interest in archaeology had become almost insatiable. But as time went on, they began to get worried. As Roni's school grades went up, her interest in the world around her plummeted. She only ever watched history documentaries on TV, she stopped playing with her toys, and she never socialised with her friends. Every night, she fell asleep in front of her laptop, her bed hidden beneath a thick carpet of newspaper clippings, maps and hand-written notes and diagrams. She spent days in her room, her nose buried in books, absorbing fact after fact about the mysterious wall that seemed to beckon to her from across the globe. But then, at the age of sixteen, she had met a boy. In the most cliched of all romantic beginnings, their eyes had met across a crowded library. His name was Gilad, and he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. From the moment they met, they had spent every waking moment together. He was gorgeous and sweet and smart and funny. He captivated her every thought. The books that had once so fascinated her lay closed and forgotten on the bookshelves in her room. Her hand-built models were relegated to the closet. There they sat, gathering dust, unseen for years. As with all relationships, Roni found herself making new friends and moving through new social circles. From her nerdy roots, she had grown into a stunningly beautiful young woman. And, much to her surprise, she discovered that when she made the effort, she made friends easily. After all those years of locking herself away in her bedroom, she finally had a social life. And she had to admit it: she was happy. In 2002, they both turned 18. The watchful eye of the Israel Defense Forces fell upon them, and they were called up to serve their country. But even three years of military service couldn't tear them apart. But then 2004 happened. 2004. The year that changed everything. First published: Saturday, 23 July 2011 Credits: Roni played by Veronica Inbar Roni's friend played by Millie Hill Roni photographed by me Israeli soldier photo by runneralan2004 (Creative Commons) Composited in Photoshop CS5 Extended Additional filters using Filter Forge Pro 2