THE BOX

THE BOX
Sophia Kintsurashvili, Lilian Edvall, Gvantsa Jobava.
Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, 2011

Illustrated by Sophia Kintsurashvili

To all displaced children, who cannot return home, and to people who have compassion upon others…

pg. 6 When I was a little girl I moved to a foreign maritime town together with my parents. My father was a military engineer. Mom was a music teacher. We lived in a city that was really bigger and I’d never seen the sea there.

K_O_L_O_P_I_WWW6

pg. 7 The new house stood in the middle of a vast yard with an orchard. We met a dog in the yard. We made friends with the dog right away.

pg. 9 I liked the house very much. I could peep in under the house and discover too many things that had gathered there in the course of time.

pg. 10 There was a tall chimney in the centre of the house. One could see it from each room.

pg. 11 I used to open the doors and span round the chimney. I liked the never‐ending road too much.

pg. 12 I spent my time mostly in the yard. I just could not be bored with it. A layer’s cackle was a sign that there was an egg waiting for me in the hencoop. It was always warm. Mom had never brought me any warm eggs in the city.

pg.13 We’d even ducklings there. They were fidgety and curious. I gave them different names and I never mixed them up.

pg. 14 Once, when I was playing with the little ducks I heard a strange rustle. A rat darted out from somewhere. It sank its teeth into duckling Mashka and dragged her under the coop. I began cry: Mooommm!

pg. 15 Mom, help! The rat’s taken Mashka!!!!!!!

pg. 16 Mom happened to be very brave. She shoved her hand under the coop and pulled Mashka out of the rat’s mouth. Mashka was trembling all over. The rat made off and disappeared for good.

pg. 17 Mashka recovered soon. The duckling always accompanied me. It was always warm in the town. Many of the trees were green even in winter. I’d never seen how tangerines ripened on trees before.

pg. 18 Once I was playing in the orchard and I noticed something in the grass. It was a box! I swept the leaves and the grass from the box and opened it… There were some pretty pebbles and seashells in the box. I also found a red ribbon and a ring in it. The ring was the right size for me. One could think it was really mine. I took the box to mom immediately. Mom shrugged her shoulders for she did not know how the box could appear over there. I decided to keep the box together with my toys.

pg. 19 One day we saw a strange woman through one of the windows of the house.

pg. 20 When the woman came nearer to the window, she uttered: “Can good ever come out of evil”? I couldn’t understand the words then.

pg. 21 Mom said hello to the woman and asked me to go to my room.

pg. 22 Everything changed that day.

pg. 23 My parents had never quarreled before. And mom had never hurled a cup to the floor.

pg. 24 Once, when they were quarreling again I heard how mom said: “… but they were turned out of here”!

pg. 25 One morning I was walking together with my doll. I had put the ring on. “Take it off”, said mom when she noticed the ring. Mom seemed to be troubled. I felt hurt but I put the ring back into the box.

pg. 26 I often saw that mom was sad. She didn’t want to stay home. She didn’t even play the piano as frequently as she usually did. And my dad didn’t croon any more. “What happened?” I used to ask them. “Nothing”, said mom in a small voice and fondled me.

pg. 27 And I could not enjoy all the playing with the ducklings as before.

pg. 28 We left the house soon.

pg. 29 I had to leave the dog, the ducklings and the warm eggs… I took the box though.

pg. 30 We came back to our country. Mom was cheerful again. And my dad started to croon from time to time. I was glad too. But there was no sea in the city to see through my room’s window.

pg. 31 I went to school and turned into a busy lady. But I often remembered the words that the woman had said: “Can good ever come out of evil”?!

pg. 32 Long after my father told me what it was then. It happened in the evening.

pg. 33 It turned out that there lived some other family in the house before we arrived. A mother, a dad, a grandpa and their little girl, who collected everything in the box. Then the war broke out and they were made to leave the house. They had no time even to take their clothes.

pg. 34 Years have passed but I still take care of the box. The ring too small for me now. Probably it’s small for that little girl too… Sometimes I fancy she’s my sister. I often think about her.

pg. 35 Where’s she now? Maybe she’s returned home?

pg. 36 I have already grown up but I still miss the house. I think that the girl missed the house even more than me because it was her home!

Comments are closed.