Decisions, They Shape Our Destiny.

I Shut The Bathroom Door And Caught Sight Of My Face In The Mirror. I Had No Idea How Quickly It Was To Change, To Fade. If I Had, I Would Have Stared At My Reflection, Memorizing It. It Was The Last Time I Would Look Into A Real Mirror For More Than A Decade.

A Wrongdoing Doesn't Give Us The Right To Do Wrong.

I Left The Jutra To Chop Wood. I Began My Walk Through The Snow, Five Kilometers To The Tree Line. That's When I Saw It. A Tiny Silver Of Gold Appeared Between Shades Of Gray On The Horizon. I Stared At The Amber Band Of Sunlight, Smiling. The Sun Had Returned. I Closed My Eyes. I Felt Andrius Moving Close. "i'll See You," He Said. "yes, I Will See You," I Whispered "i Will." I Reached Into My Pocket And Squeezed The Stone.

I Looked Down At The Little Pink Face In The Bundle. A Newborn. The Child Had Been Alive Only Minutes But Was Already Considered A Criminal By The Soviets.

People I Didn't Know Formed A Circle Around Me, Sheltering Me From View. They Escorted Me Safely Back To Our Jurta, Undetected. They Didn't Ask For Anything. They Were Happy To Help Someone, To Succeed At Something, Even If They Weren't To Benefit. We'd Been Trying To Touch The Sky From The Bottom Of The Ocean. I Realized That If We Boosted One Another, Maybe We'd Get A Little Closer.