But not all of them died. Some partisans managed to escape and hide out, be it locally or by traveling to the far west. They kept the fight going, but instead of raids and killings, they evolved into partisans of public peace campaigns, social organizing, making big political connections – that kind of stuff. And soon the tides of history turned; the occupier imploded. One thing led to another, and our land and people became free again. The other partisans, though not all, came home, settled down and lived out their lives in moderate peace. The whole rebuilding of a nation from scratch was a crazy time riddled with chaos and crime, but for those who survived the literal war on the outgunned side, it must’ve still felt like paradise. It’s these guys that make me think about my uncle. Though he died young, the old guys who survived to tell their tale, these genuine heroes, they’re the real stuff.
There’s this story someone recounted to me. They said my uncle told them about this one partisan. This one time during the war when a regiment of the occupier’s army came up to a small village in the dead of night and started pillaging the place, killing people. Among the villagers there was this young boy who barely managed to escape. He ran across a grassy hill field, up to a dirt road. Some of the enemy saw him and gave chase, shooting and yelling. The boy stopped on the dirt road in the dead of a moonless night and stared at the great forest before him. Then he bolted into the pitch black behind the trees. The boy was scared to death. He thought the devil was in that darkness, waiting to snatch him up. But the true devils were coming for him from behind. The boy then dashed into the dark, running as fast as he could, branches whipping his face, stumbling, until he tripped over a knotty old root and fell hard to the cold, damp, leafy earth. The boy felt sick, dizzy and nauseous. And the enemy closed in behind him, roaming back and forth, looking for the boy. Then everything went silent for a moment. And a quiet voice called out to the frightened boy. It was the partisans. They took the boy back to their base and he joined them. It’s a real story. I know the forest, the village where the attack happened. I know the boy too, though he’s a very old man now. He’s one of the survivors who they make documentaries about. He likes to recite the poetry he wrote when he was still a young partisan. Later in life, after it was all over, he went back to his village, started a big family, with over a dozen grandkids, and likes to go to church.
Now as my food and drink settles in, my cigarette burnt out and the smoke clearing, I remind myself one last time that history matters. I turn to leave. Though I don’t have to, I always pay my tab. Today it’s a pleasure to do so since the bar’s worked by the most beautiful young girl on the staff. With wide, bright eyes and a smile like hers, it’s a wonder she keeps working at a place so beneath her like this. I’d ask her out, but what if she said yes and then things didn’t work out? That’d break the whole mystery of attraction. If I ever get drunk enough to really ask her out, I hope she says no. History matters, but love is the most important of all things, and true love is virtual. Better to keep it that way.
As I put on my coat and scarf and go outside, the snowstorm hasn’t hit yet. It’s not far to my home. Up a hill, past main street and by a church. Maybe on the way I’ll head in there and sit for a while. Ponder the best or at least the better things of life. And tomorrow I’ll think about throwing it all away, going on a great adventure and becoming a hero. Or I’ll just forget about it all again. I hope I don’t though.
(…the end…)
by Paulius Limantas
Transadaptation Volume 7 – Via Ellipsis – Continuation of Uncertainty, Instability and Extremes Transadapted
January: An Unexpected Trip Down Memory Lane – Sarah-Leah Pimentel (South Africa)
February: Blow-up – Veronika Groke (Austria)
March: Futuros Murguistas – Alejandra Baccino Uberti (Uruguay)
April: The Nomenclature Man – Paulius Limantas (Lithuania)
May: Amanecerá y veremos – Adriana Uribe (Columbia)
June: Finding Light in Yerevan – Armine Asryan (Armenia)
July: The Last Judgement – Nadia Silva Castro (Brazil)
August: Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Worm? – Narantsogt (Natso) Baatarkhuu (Mongolia)
September: Second Steps – Jonay Quintero Hernandez (Spain)
October: New Normality – Svetlana Molchanova (Russia)
November: Pandemic Love – Li Xiakun (China)
December: Beyond Comprehension – Rahaf Konbaz (Syria)
Background – Context
Transadaptation Volume 6: Meaning? – Uncertainty, Instability and Extremes Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2025)
Transadaptation Volume 5: Of Flowing Vicissitudes – Life Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2024)
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
Center photo: Palanga, Lithuania – Shadows – Kotryna Juskaite (Unsplash)
Photos from top left corner clockwise: 1. Lithuania – Old and new – Kotryna Juskaite (Unsplash); 2. Lithuania – Going home – Kotryna Juskaite (Unsplash); 3. Vilnius, Lithuania – The street – Alex Vinogradov (Unsplash); 4. Kaunas, Lithuania – A summer evening – Egidijus Bielskis (Unsplash); 5. Lithuania – From above – Gantas Vaičiulėnas (Unsplash); 6. Panevėžys, Lithuania – The shack – Kotryna Juskaite (Unsplash); 7. Lithuania – The residential blocks – Kotryna Juskaite (Unsplash); 8. Lithuania – In the woods – Ugne Vasyliute (Unsplash)