Sometimes There Is Such Beauty In Awkwardness.

I Left The Jutra To Chop Wood. I Began My Walk Through The Snow, Five Kilometers To The Tree Line. That's When I Saw It. A Tiny Silver Of Gold Appeared Between Shades Of Gray On The Horizon. I Stared At The Amber Band Of Sunlight, Smiling. The Sun Had Returned. I Closed My Eyes. I Felt Andrius Moving Close. "i'll See You," He Said. "yes, I Will See You," I Whispered "i Will." I Reached Into My Pocket And Squeezed The Stone.

Andrius Turned. His Eyes Found Mine. I'll See You He Said. My Face Didn't Wrinkle. I Didn't Utter A Sound. But For The First Time In Months I Cried. Tears Popped From Their Dry Sockets And Sailed Down My Cheeks In One Quick Stream. I Looked Away. The Nkvd Called The Bald Man's Name. Look At Me Wispered Andrius Moving Close. I'll See You He Said. Just Think About That. Just Think About Me Bringing You Your Drawings. Picture It Because I'll Be There.

I Looked Down At The Little Pink Face In The Bundle. A Newborn. The Child Had Been Alive Only Minutes But Was Already Considered A Criminal By The Soviets.

It Amazed Me How Some People Could Touch An Instrument And Create Something So Beautiful, And When Others Tried, Like Me, It Just Sounded Like Mangled Noise.

My Art Teacher Had Said That If You Breathed Deeply And Imagined Something, You Could Be There. You Could See It, Feel It. During Our Standoffs With The Nkvd, I Learned To Do That. I Clung To My Rusted Dreams During The Times Of Silence. It Was At Gunpoint That I Fell Into Every Hope And Allowed Myself To Wish From The Deepest Part Of My Heart. Komorov Thought He Was Torturing Us. But We Were Escaping Into A Stillness Within Ourselves. We Found Strength There.