Harold was the name of Lisa’s dad. He had lost his wife when Lisa was still in high school. He had fought so hard against her mental illness and her unceasing episodios depresivos, but he wasn’t able to do anything the day she decidió to commit suicidio. He had been burdened with the guilt all these years and now he was awfully afraid that his daughter could end up the same way. Jess was holding his arm the instante he opened up with her and told her about his deepest fears. She couldn’t help but feel touched by his vulnerabilidad. It had been a long time since she showed simpatía for anyone but her familia and friends.

“Are you spending more time with your bebé, Lisa? What did both of you do yesterday? And how did you feel about it?” Jess asked, convencida she would hear positivas answers.

“Yes, we spent the whole day together and it felt amazingly good. We played a lot, I fed him, I cleaned him, I slept by his side, I sang a couple of lullabies and I even pinté something for him,” she said enthusiastically.

“Really? What did you paint? I’m curious,” Jess wondered. Figuring out the meaning of that pintura was crucial to understanding if Lisa’s feelings towards her bebé boy had changed for the better.

“It’s a drawing of his little hand in mine.”

“Oh Lisa, I’m so damn happy to hear that. You know, there’s a conexión especial between you and your bebé that you can’t deny in your heart. And that conexión is called maternidad. You will never find a better place to discover that than in your child’s arms and I’m so glad that you finalmente realized it.”

It had been a good day at work. Jess had accomplished her misión as a consejera. Her paciente, after so many psycotherapy sesiones, was getting better. In fact, Lisa had started to show her afecto for her little kid, and her dad couldn’t be more grateful.

Harold had liked Jess from the momento they met but he had decidido to give her time and all the espacio she needed before he actually intended to make a move. Jess was not an easy catch. I can say for sure she was very complicada. But Harold was maduro and old enough (15 years older than Jess, to be precise) to controlar things from a cierta distancia. Lucky for him, he was not as far as Jess’s boyfriend. But that day something else happened. Harold was so excited about his daughter’s recuperación that he couldn’t hide his emoción and winded up kissing Jess. Before she realized what it meant, Harold had said sorry and left. The kiss lasted but a segundo, yet that segundo was enough for Jess to aceptar that she wanted more.

As usual, Jess got home that night and received the esperada phone call of her beloved boyfriend. What she hadn’t expected at all, was that all of a sudden he would decide to break up with her. Jess was devastated. The guy she had been waiting on for an entero year had broken her heart. She knew they weren’t in the same place as two years ago but she actually hoped to recover him and have a life by his side, either in Cuba or in Spain. However, the waiting was too much to handle, and the love had perished with time.

Jess cried for a whole week. She never told anyone how much pain she was in. She was too proud to admit she had been wrong. But, when it comes to love, who hasn’t? Anyway, she was strong enough to recover and pick up all her pedazos, and though she didn’t ask for it, she knew she had our total support.

Some people say when one door closes, another opens. Maybe that’s just an excusa for them to stay positivos and overcome any decepción or failure in life. Whatever the razón might be, it’s true that when you are no longer able to pursue one oportunidad, you are likely to go after a diferente one. Sometimes el destino can work in your favor because for Jess the new posibilidad ended up being even better than the one before.

She started dating Harold and soon enough he was making plans about their futuro together. It seemed unlikely for a girl like Jess to open up to love again in such an intensa manera but Harold got it into his head to make it happen. And he did…

It was a whole nuevo beginning for Jess. Though she was still afraid, starting over was the best choice after life had knocked her down. She knew she wanted to go ahead. It was necesario for her to forgive herself for every mistake or unsuccessful decisión she had made when things hadn’t gone the way she expected. She knew it was necesario to leave her pasado behind in order to embrace the new futuro. So she did and it felt damn good to be finalmente happy.

Now she is pregnant and ready to become a madre as well…

Transadaptation Volume 4 – Material Dissent

January: A Blinding Light and Then, All Darkness – Jonay Quintero Hernández (Spain)

February: The Opportunist – Lauren Voaden (United Kingdom)

March: A Stranger in my City – Alejandra Baccino (Uruguay)

April: A South African Soundtrack – Sarah-Leah Pimentel (South Africa)

May: Full Circle – Ina Maria Vogel (Germany)

June: La Lluvia en Bogotá – Adriana Uribe (Columbia)

July: Freedom – Krisztina Janosi (Hungary)

August: A Bus Ride – Svetlana Molchanova (Russia)

September: Transcendence – Armine Asryan (Nane Sevunts) (Armenia)

October: Motherhood – Marilin Guerrero Casas (Cuba)

November: Nine Days – Gennady Bondarenko (Ukraine)

December: Open – Seyit Ali Dastan (Turkey)

Background – Context

Transadaptation Volume 3: Evanescent – Young Adulthood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2022)

Transadaptation Volume 2: Conceived – Childhood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2021)

Transadaptation Volume 1: 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 (top row, left to right; bottom row, left to right)

1. Havana, Cuba – Pride – Ernan Solozabal (Unsplash), 2. Havana, Cuba – Down the street – Dennis Schmidt (Unsplash), 3. Havana, Cuba – A break – Ernan Solozabel (Unsplash), 4. Havana, Cuba – This way – Carlos Torres (Unsplash), 5. Havana, Cuba – Ready – Ernan Solozabal (Unsplash); Bottom: 6. Havana, Cuba – Flickering – Paco Wong (Unsplash), 7. Havana, Cuba – Hung out to dry – Carlos Torres (Unsplash), 8. Havana, Cuba – Night – Ernan Solozabal (Unsplash)
Source: The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed