In my newly discovered feline kingdom, I was starting to feel in my element. I was amazed at the number of cats on the island, how well they were treated and the amount of food available. So much so that I began to get acquainted with the customs and main festivities of my new hometown. The community festival was dedicated to San Pedro the local patron saint.
After a procession in which a group of people played huge drums and flutes, while others danced before the saint’s image in immaculate white attire, there was un baile in the village’s main square. An orchestra was playing music. I was watching from the distance, but it seemed to me that Edelmiro and Amelia’s mom were having a great time dancing together. They were even laughing, something unusual in Edelmiro. I felt very happy for them because I knew they were both good people, both have been really good to me, and I wished nothing but the best for them and Amelia. At some point during the night, Edelmiro said something into Amelia’s mom’s ear and then began to walk away.
I was curious about that and left my watch tower. I was able to see how Edelmiro slowly walked to his horse that was tied to a nearby post. Then he got on the horse and began to ride slowly and carelessly, so I decided to go with him to see what he was up to. I jumped with all my strength and landed on the horse’s rump. I managed not to scare the horse as we were already friends. We rode altogether, up to the neighboring hills that surround my village. Eventually we were riding through the forest in the dark night. I guessed he was going to do something related to the animals or going back home, but I couldn’t tell. On this northern side of the island fog covers everything from late in the evening until early in the morning, and it can get really thick in winter. So much so that you cannot see clearly 20 meters ahead.
Edelmiro noticed my presence behind him, turned around and said “Hey, Kunta, are you coming with me? Are you hungry bandido?” I didn’t care to reply since humans are rather dumb as far as animal language is concerned. I just came closer to him so I wouldn’t fall off the horse. Edelmiro rode slowly through the forest, lighting our way with a powerful flashlight he always carried when going to the fields at night. The fog was so thick that the flashlight drew a yellow circle ahead of us and lots of ghostly figures were projected by the trees on each side of the road. I wouldn’t have cared much in other situations but I decided to go with Edelmiro because my instinct was trying to tell me something. As the hair in my nape started to bristle, I noticed something was about to happen.
Before us, in the middle of the mist, two big black figures seemed to be approaching us. I could feel the tension in Edelmiro’s muscles. “Who’s there!” he shouted out as I could hear the click of his hand releasing the lock of his 9mm Beretta beneath his coat. “I’m telling you!! You better show yourself! And at that moment two donkeys tied by a rope came out of the fog, walking carelessly as if that was something they did very often, and we were intruders in their realm.
Edelmiro couldn’t help but laugh at the misunderstanding. “They certainly scared us, didn’t they, Kunta?”
Then he looked at me, but smiled no more, as a trickle of blood ran down his face. He fell to the ground just before an invisible hand closed its burning claws over my side. There was only darkness afterwards.
(…to be continued…)
2021: Conceived – Volume 2 of a Contemporary Transadaptation
January: The Pack – Alejandra Baccino (Uruguay)
February: The Pink Shirt – Talia Stotts (America)
March: Dragging the Past out into the Light – Kate Korneeva (Russia)
April: Looking Forward to Spring – Marilin Guerrero Casas (Cuba)
May: Every Little Thing – Gennady Bondarenko (Ukraine)
June: The Girl Who Chased the Rainbow – Toni Wallis (Sarah-Leah Pimentel) (South Africa)
July: Another World – Jonay Quintero Hernandez (Spain)
August: Life after Nare – Nane Sevunts (Armine Asryan) (Armenia)
September: Meeting My Homeland – Rayan Harake (Lebanon)
October: Catching Water (Part Two) – Javier Gomez (Argentina)
November: Remember – Seyit Ali Dastan (Turkey)
December: Los Caminantes – Veronica Cordido (Venezuela)
Background – Context
In the Middle – Prelude to a Contemporary Transadaptation, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2020)
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)
Emblems and stories on the international community
Perception by country – Transposing emblems, articles, short stories and reports from around the world
Credits
Cover photo: El Hierro, Spain – Fog – Simlinger (Shutterstock)
Source: The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed