Two weeks have passed since I came to live with my new master. There isn’t a single part of my body that doesn’t hurt, but at least I can walk and go places. I kind of like my new master, and it’s not only because he saved my life by taking me away from el poblado. He happens to be a good guy, but he spends the whole day out and sometimes doesn’t get home until very late at night. He has very strange habits and sometimes departs without leaving any food in my dish.
That is the main reason why I began to explore the surrounding area. In search of food. I’ve been lucky enough to meet a lovely young lady named Amelia. She lives in the apartment right across from my master’s. Since the very first time she saw me, I’ve been her best friend. She lives with her mom and dad.
Her mom is also very nice to me, her name is Luisa. She looks quite sad, unhappy even, I don’t know why. She’s very thin and pale and a couple of times I couldn’t help but realize that she had bruises and small injuries on her face and arms. As for her husband… I learned quite quickly that is better to keep away from him. One day he saw me inside his flat and said very rudely: “Get that creep out of my sight, we don’t keep the neighbor’s animals in here!!” He tried to kick me, but I scampered away. I definitely have no intention of going through that again, as I don’t think I have so many lives left.
Amelia and I spend the whole day together, until Evelio gets home. She feeds me, gives me water, caresses me, spoiling me and playing with me by pretending she is a witch and I am her magic cat…
I wish dad was nicer to us. I just can’t understand why he is so mean… Sometimes I can hear him at night shouting at the TV, watching a football game. Other times he is arguing with mom. Other times I hear bangs and then my mom crying. I hide inside my bed, covering my head and ears and don’t dare to go out, until I fall asleep… the next morning I don’t ask, and mom acts as if nothing ever happened. She looks sad, and I know dad is to blame for all her bruises. I want to think of something else, go somewhere else… but I can’t go anywhere. I am always at home or in school, and don’t like it much there either. My only friend is Kunta, strange name, isn’t it? But the other day I asked Mister Evelio, our neighbor, and he told me that was her name. Don Evelio is very serious, but he is always been nice to me, he looks a little lonely though.
I like playing in the afternoons with Kunta. I imagine that I have magic powers I can use just by moving my nose, and he is my “cat-mate,” so we both have many, many adventures. Now that I remember…last night it was very quiet at home I couldn’t even hear the sounds of the TV…
(…to be continued…)
In the Middle – An International Transposition (Fiction)
Introduction to In the Middle – An International Transposition, edited by Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey
January: Forgetting – Turkey, by Seyit Ali Dastan
February: The Unreal in Real – Armenia, by Armine Asryan
March: Catching Water – Argentina, by Javier Gómez
April: Unwanted – South Africa, by Toni Wallis
May: House with a Stucco Ship – Ukraine, by Gennady Bondarenko
June: A Girl Pedaling – Cuba, by Marilin Guerrero Casas
July: The Last Day – Poland, by Pawel Awdejuk
August: Through my Hands – Venezuela, by Veronica Cordido
September: Amelia’s Euphemism – Spain, by Jonay Quintero Hernández
October: Until Love Do Us Part – Uruguay, by Alejandra Baccino
November: A Journey to the Edge – Lebanon, by Rayan Harake
December: I Used to Smoke – Russia, by Kate Korneeva
Background – Context
Peripatetic Alterity: A Philosophical Treatise on the Spectrum of Being – Romantics and Pragmatists by Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
La Syncrétion of Polarization and Extremes Transposée, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2018)
L’anthologie of Global Instability Transpuesta, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2017)
From Wahnsinnig to the Loony Bin: German and Russian Stories Transposed to Modern-day America, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2013)
More work by Jonay Quintero Hernández
Extremism Is Now the New Hype – Jonay Quintero Hernández
The Fear of Not Knowing – Jonay Quintero Hernández
Embracing Instability – Jonay Quintero Hernández
Emblems and stories on the international community
Perception by country – Transposing emblems, articles, short stories and reports from around the world
Credits
Cover photo: Tarragona, Spain – In the water – Alicia Fabregas (Shutterstock)
Source: The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed