Note: Kostia wrote this just after high school, a few months after we became friends. We were sharing our stories, and I cherish his young, rough grammar. 🙂 On October 22, 1988, I was born in Russia, about a train … Continue reading A Russian Orphan Testimony
He knew life could be easier. He knew if he let her go, it would be easier. She could have a better life. But the thought tore at his heart. She was the only one he had left. She was a part of him. So he ran. He carried her. He cared for her, in sickness and in health. He used his wits. He kept them alive. Even when it was cold. He woke her up. He watched her as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes silently and looked blearily out onto the alley. She wasn’t looking at anything … Continue reading Control (Valentin’s Story, Part II)
It was cold. It was always too cold. But Anna slept still. Maybe that was a bad thing. Maybe they needed to get up and move around. But the nightmares were too bad, it was rare she slept like this. So he let her. The silence was creeping up and down his spine like a shiver. But that was okay. The prickles of worry hadn’t left him for many years now. It kept them alive. And when he had felt them start to ease, something had always alerted them. Police, an angry shopkeeper, mean drunk men, a pack of stray … Continue reading Let Them Try (Valentin’s Story, Part 1)
A Child Philosopher 