Edelmiro was like a different world from Amelia’s father, as different as day and night. But even Edelmiro had a dark side or, better to say, a dark past. I knew perfectly well what he had done for a living before knowing me. It seemed like destiny always put violent men in my way. But maybe it was unfair to refer to Edelmiro as such. In his case, violence was something he had been trained at and something that paid his bills. The rest of the time, he was the kindest person, and he had always been good to me. Unfortunately, he was spending too much time in the bar lately. Things appeared to have been cooling down between us too. I guess routine takes its toll, and none of us were kids any more.
Amelia and Armiche had started a life together, fortunately giving up that polyamory thing. That might be okay when you are young and want to have fun, but they were obviously in love and wanted to create a family. Now that I had a grandson of my own, I was really starting to feel old. Tiny little lines in the corners of my eyes and a few striae in my belly didn’t help much either. Why didn’t men have this sort of issue? They grow old and become “interesting,” so they don’t have to worry about their appearance. Women simply get old.
Twenty years have passed since I arrived on this island, and it has turned my life inside out. I have become entrepreneurial and have created my own company. Now I have employees of my own and I could be called “the boss.” I guess that I’m now what they refer to as an “empowered woman.” I have my own income, don’t depend on anybody. I don’t take orders but dictate to others what they have to do.
If only things with Edelmiro could be just like they were when we arrived here on the island… Hey! Whose cute little white dog is that sitting in front of our house and looking at us so seriously? It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen…
“Sir, I must admit that I’m a little bit disappointed with heaven…I expected something more…I don’t know…” “Are you disappointed, daughter?” “Just a little, sir, will I be able to stay here and see the face of God?” “I’m sorry but you won’t.” “There’s one last mission we must entrust you with.” “What? Haven’t I had enough troubles in my life? My body isn’t even buried in holy soil! This is unacceptable!” “Amalia, my daughter, this isn’t a client service, and you aren’t asserting a claim because of a washing machine. This is heaven’s door and I am Saint Peter!” “But!…” “You will go back down to earth and do one last service for us.”
This morning, after shopping, I returned to the sloping parking lot and got in my car. I thought I put the stick shift in “Reverse” but was still in neutral. As soon as I moved my foot from the brake to the accelerator, the car rolled forward. Before I was able to figure out the problem, I bumped into the one in front of me. I got out and left a note with my number on the damaged vehicle’s windshield. As I was getting back into my car, before me, like out of nowhere, appeared the same little white, cute hairy dog I saw at our house the other day. His tiny little serious face nodded from side to side in disapproval. When I tried to pet him, he just left.
That same afternoon I was at my company and decided to move a heavy load by operating the forklift myself. I happened to grab the load incorrectly and it fell off, almost killing one of my employees. When I turned around, I again saw the same judgmental, white, cute, hairy puppy, nodding again in disapproval.
Late in the evening, I arrived home carrying several bags and packages and stumbled on a lousy tile in front of my house. All the bags and packages were scattered across the ground, and I sprained my ankle. I noticed that the little, white, cute, hairy dog was in front of the door, nodding again. This time he came and licked my ankle. “Hey, apart from being such a tough critic, have you got a home of your own?”
(…to be continued…)
Transadaptation Volume 5 – Of Flowing Vicissitudes
January: The Night the Stars Stopped Shining – Sarah-Leah Pimentel (South Africa)
February: Three Sides to Every Story – Krisztina Janosi (Hungary)
March: Rain Trap – Adriana Uribe (Columbia)
April: Priorities – Narantsogt Baatarkhuu (Mongolia)
May: The Night in Heaven – Armine Asryan (Armenia)
June: Witches Don’t Burn – Alejandra Baccino (Uruguay)
July: A Regular Flat – Mateusz Tymoszewski (Poland)
August: Many Happy Returns – Svetlana Molchanova (Russia)
September: And Now, It Will All Go Downhill – Jonay Quintero Hernandez (Spain)
October: Planet Qirim – Anastasiia Leonova (Ukraine)
November: You Are Her, Aren’t You? – Seyit Ali Dastan (Turkey)
December: Culture Shock – Veronika Groke (Austria)
Background – Context
Transadaptation Volume 4: Material Dissent – Adulthood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2023)
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): 1. Canary Islands, Spain – Above – Underworlds (Shutterstock), 2. Canary Islands, Spain – From above – Africa Pink, 3. Canary Islands, Spain – Sun setting – underworld (Shutterstock)
Middle row (left to right): 1. Canary Islands, Spain – The town – Maria Bobrova (Unsplash), 2. Canary Islands, Spain – The Teide volcano – Kateryna Mukhina (Shutterstock), 3. Canary Islands, Spain – Firgas – Yury Chernov (Shutterstock)
Bottom row (left to right): 1. Canary Islands, Spain – El Cubo de la Galga – Imag3s4U, 2. Canary Islands, Spain – Descent – Martagro (Shutterstock), 3. Doramas, Gran Canaria, Spain – The tree – Unai Huizi Photography (Shutterstock)
Source: The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed